I’m in Iowa, one of my favorite places, for the Gnomedex 3.0, a tech conference started by Chris Pirillo. I’m on the program tomorrow afternoon (the schedule in today’s local newspaper didn’t include my talk).
I spent a lot of time in Iowa in the mid- to late-1980s, when I worked for the Kansas City Times (now part of the KC Star). The job included regional politics, so I found myself almost living in Iowa as the state’s famous presidential caucuses drew huge numbers of candidates and supporters. In particular, I followed Dick Gephardt, the Missouri congressman who first ran for president in 1988.
I also came to Iowa on many other stories including the ’80s farm financial crisis (and the turmoil in much of rural America in those years). For a time I chased some radical right-wing nutballs around the Farm Belt; they got more traction in Nebraska and other states than they did in Iowa, which I attribute to Iowans’ good sense and civic responsibility.
Posted by: Bryan Baker on July 26, 2003 09:48 PM
Thanks for a great talk. I’m really glad that you came to the conference and that Chris was able to squeeze you into the program. It’s nice when a lecture makes you think. You gave us plenty of food for thought. Glad you like Iowa, I grew up here and, even though I’ve lived in California and Texas, which I enjoyed, I still came back here and am happier than I ever was in either place. It’s nice that a journalist from the west coast “gets” Iowa. Thanks again.
Posted by: Dan Gillmor on July 27, 2003 08:01 AM
The presentation is a mega-file. I’ll convert it to a web presentation and post it, probably on the “Making the News” site that we’re creating for the book. When it’s up I’ll put a note in the blog.
Posted by: Tom Bridge on July 27, 2003 03:09 PM
Thanks a lot Dan!
Posted by: Marshall Hiner on July 28, 2003 11:12 AM
Well Dan, I’m a republican from Iowa, and you are no Iowan.
Posted by: Tom Bridge on July 26, 2003 06:16 PM
Dan, any chance we could get a copy of your presentation from Gnomedex?