Thursday, May 10, 1:45 PM
As I type what will probably be my last blog of this coverage, Jon and I are sitting in a small computer lab in the Kellogg Conference Center where the delegation has been staying this trip. This is graduation weekend at one of the most famous institutions of higher education, so we had to vacate our rooms pretty quickly.

Our final on-air materials are (slowly) making their way through the digital pipeline from the district to KBTX's world headquarters in Bryan. We've been very lucky since the first full day to have had no glitches when it comes to our stories being put together and sent back. Having said that, I'm going to go searching for some wood to knock on.

Yesterday, I did a stand-up (me on camera talking to you, the loyal viewer) in front of the Capitol just outside the Russell Building where Senator Hutchison has her offices. Jon and I found this nice spot with a good angle to shoot me and the dome. I rattled off the stand-up and starting packing up the microphone when I realized what I had said at the end and in previous standups: that I was reporting from Washington.

I'll repeat that for emphasis: I was reporting from Washington.

In my travels growing up, my parents and I lived in the DC area three separate times. The second of those is when I really started thinking that journalism was a field I wanted to get in to. Covering politics wasn't something I had in mind, but I do love this city. There's something comforting about this place. Maybe it's the familiarity. Maybe it's the history. Who knows?

What I do know is that I've walked past the old Senate offices of Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson, that I've interviewed the men and women who shape this nation's future, and that I've stood in front of the White House, the Capitol and the Washington Monument with a microphone, Jon holding a camera, and reported on a key trip of dedicated leaders.

That is pretty cool in my book, for whatever that book is worth.

Big thanks to Jon for capturing the sights and sounds on the trip, to the folks back at the station for reeling them in, and to you for logging on.

-Steve

Wednesday, May 9, 8:25 PM
Everyone has punches they have to roll with in whatever profession they are in.

We showed up with the delegation at Senator Hutchison's office, only to find out Senate policy is that meetings between senators and groups are closed to the media. Ms. Hutchison's staff could not have been nicer about it, though, and allowed us to grab a few shots of the very beginning of the meeting, and also arranged an interview following the session.

Jon (my partner in crime on this trip) and I figured it would be half-an hour or so, but 10 minutes later, the meeting ended. Votes needed casting, and the senator had to be off, though not before graciously granting us that interview. Turns out she will be at Prairie View and Texas A&M for graduation this weekend.

I have to say that all the offices we've been through on this trip have been more than gracious and helpful, even when the rules don't let us see everything we'd like to see. The interviews here at the website are only possible when there's somebody holding the microphone and someone else talking into it. For the two Texas senators, Chet Edwards and Kevin Brady to take the time to speak with us in the midst of their busy work day is something we really appreciate.

You likely watched the photo session the delegates had with Senator Cornyn. That's pretty much the same thing that will happen with Senator Hutchison tomorrow. Jon and I will be passing on that photo-op (though we are invited) in order to put together our final stories from Washington, which should air tomorrow night at 6 and 10. While that's airing, Jon and I will be in flight back to College Station. I'll go ahead and predict that I'll be asleep the entire way back. It's been a long but fun week.

Thanks for reading.

-Steve

Wednesday, May 9, 2:10 PM
Just wanted to get a quick blog in this afternoon. It's been our busiest day so far, as we went to three meetings this morning, including one with District 17's Chet Edwards.

I asked Chamber President Royce Hickman how long he was expecting the meeting to last, and he guessed half-an-hour. It turned into a 75 minute marathon session. The congressman was very inquisitive throughout, asking the delegation a number of questions on issues like
the nursing shortage and what A&M's Health Science Center can do, the potential for consideration of B-CS for high-speed rail in the future, and one of the newest issues to come to the forefront: the wrangling over water service for newly-annexed portions of cities. The delegation has been really pushing that topic...you'll likely be hearing about it more soon.

We're literally about to walk out the door to meet with Senator Hutchison. We had to skip the second meeting with Senator Cornyn in order to send our stories back for the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts, but we'll catch Kay Bailey shortly.

A Chet Edwards and (hopefully) a Kay Bailey Hutchison interview will go up here at the website in the near future. A big thanks to one of my web colleagues, Rodney Harris, and a couple behind-the scenes folks, Steve and Peter, for all their help making this coverage online possible.

-Steve

Tuesday, May 8 -- 2:15 PM
Hey folks...sorry I wasn't able to post anything yesterday. Technical difficulties are about the most spectacular thing in our business (end sarcasm).

So this morning, Senator John Cornyn made some time for the chamber delegation. Then, he made some time for them tomorrow, agreeing for he and his staff to get together with the delegates at 3 PM Eastern, just an hour before his Senate counterpart, Kay Bailey Hutchison gets to hear the chamber message. It was news the delegates were really thrilled about, though it made their Wednesday that much busier. Their theory: they can sleep on the plane or back at home.

Guess what that means for us media types?

Senator Cornyn made some time to talk to us for a couple minutes. He's been in the midst of all the emergency war spending fun the nation has been focusing on (save for this week with Queen Elisabeth II in town). The senator was hopeful a bipartisan argeement could be reached. He said regardless of opinions on the war, the troops need funding desperately. Surely, that would get a 100-0 vote on the Senate floor.

The delegation split up from there and headed in about four different directions for different sets of meetings. What we present on the news for the most part are the big meetings, the Cornyn, Edwards, Hutchison face-to-faces. However, the vast majority of the meetings are with staffers, but don't think they aren't important as a result. It's the staffers that do the meat of the research for the elected officials. Get in their ear, and with any luck, you'll have the attention (eventually) of the representative.

We sat in on a 45-minute meeting with District 8's Kevin Brady. I doubt there will be another one longer this trip. The congressman was very gracious, and jokingly added that he would have been insulted if the chamber hadn't stopped by while in DC. He's keenly interested in the area, which was very much demonstrated when the group engaged in a brief-but-lively discussion on Billy Gillispie's departure and Mark Turgeon's arrival at Texas A&M. There was also hardball talk...Brady loved that Sam Houston State had former Aggie coach Mark Johnson at the helm.

More (technology-willing) to come here on the blog.

Thanks for reading.

-Steve

Sunday, May 6 -- 2:45 PM
Hello all, and thanks for logging on to KBTX.com. I'll be trying to update this blog fairly often during our trip to the nation's capital.

First off, a big thanks to the B-CS Chamber of Commerce, Royce Hickman, Dena Gaskin, the whole staff and the delegation for having us along again this year. For the third time in three years, it will be a different KBTX duo going on the trip (myself and photojournalist Jon Burke this time), so hopefully our initiation won't be too painful. Joe Brown and Crystal Galny haven't given me any scoops, but they may have been sworn to secrecy.

Chamber officials described their trip to Austin a few weeks back as one of their most important and, in the end, their most successful. While going to the state capital is a critical day, this three-day charge up Capitol Hill may be the most critical on their calendar. How often do you have the chance to get in the ear of a single national representative or their staff, much less dozens. That's what's fixing to happen this week.

You can read the same material people like John Cornyn, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Chet Edwards and Kevin Brady will be looking over by clicking on the links on our B-CS in DC page here at KBTX.com.

In any event, as I write this, we're about 16 hours from staring our journey. We'll be in touch from Washington. Feel free to leave your comments and questions using the form below.

-Steve

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