Last week I told all my friends the first thing I would be doing once I got to Chicago was to go directly from the plane, to my hotel room to the Sky Deck at the Willis Tower, formally known as the Sears Tower.

I was ready and determined to walk the 10 city blocks in downtown Chicago. The SkyDeck Chicago has a glass balcony called the Edge and you can stand there, four feet outside the balcony and look down 100 floors down. This was something I was really looking forward to doing, but as luck would have it, I did not make it. Why was I in Chicago? I was there for the 126th annual Inland Press Association conference.

As an Inland Press fellow, I am required to attend their annual meetings. Which in my opinion, this requirement is not that hard to follow.

At the meetings we get to listen to different speakers talk about the future of newspapers, what other papers are doing to improve and the future of the newspaper industry.

This was my third time in Chicago as part of this fellowship, and every time I go, I try new and different things. The first time I was there, I walked downtown and checked out Millennium Park and ate some Chicago Pizza, and then I checked out the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun Times buildings and got to experience the big city.

This time, I wanted to try something new and exciting and was looking forward to the cold weather as well!

But I didn’t make it to the SkyDeck.

The conference started with a reception on Sunday and there I caught up with all my fellow fellows from the program. They are from all over the United States. We laughed, we joked, and we caught up with life and met the new class of fellows as well. I only get to see the fellows group twice a year, but every time we see each other it’s like we never lost touch. It is exciting when a new set of fellows come on board, but sad to see the third year fellows go.

And saying good bye to them at the end of the conference makes me sad. I keep a smile on my face, but I hug them all tight. The friendships I have gained from this fellowship will be one of the greatest things I will cherish.

I also spent some much needed time with my mentor, Joyce McCullough, publisher for the News Tribune in LaSalle, IL.

I was at the fellows’ dinner on Sunday night; we all met at Maggiano’s Little Italy for a big family style dinner.

As I sat there, listening to everyone talk about what they have been doing back home, I realized that I didn’t need a skydeck to experience the high that I wanted to experience. Here I was, in Chicago, with people that believe in the newspaper industry – print or online – and listen to those that have had challenges in the newspaper industry as well as the opportunity to make it better.

That’s one thing this program has taught me, we may be running different newspapers, we may have different roles and responsibilities, but the goal is all the same – to help each other by giving each other input, suggestions and ideas so we can grow and keep this going.

And I am one of those that love this industry. There is still so much for me to learn, but I know I am on board for the long run!

And here I was, a small weekly editor from Texas listening to the editor of the Chicago Tribune talk about their success in print, meeting Jeffrey Zaslow, columnist for the Wall Street Journal and co-author of “The Last Lecture” (which he autographed for me!) and being a part of meetings where we all got to exchange ideas that will help us in our every day in the newspaper world. (And believe me, I got some amazing ideas that I will implement soon!)

And what other program is ever going to give me such an amazing opportunity to be a part of something so big?

I guess this was my high this weekend. I didn’t need a skydeck to give me that thrill I was looking for.

This annual conference started my second year as a fellow and I have more duties and responsibilities.

This year I will be a part of an Inland Press committee that meets during the year to plan programs and activities on cutting-edge newspaper topics.

I am a little nervous, ok, I am a lot nervous, but I look forward to the challenges and opportunities I am having now because I know that this will help the Matagorda Advocate become a bigger and better newspaper.

What inspires you? Email me: aacosta@vicad.com