A labor of love

Twenty-five hours till show time.

Thirty Scholars from the West Coast already are on airplanes headed this way. The remainder will arrive tomorrow.

They're ready. The question is: Are we?

Hotel rooms? Booked.

Name tags? Printed.

Participant bios? On their 10th revision.

T-shirts? Folded.

AP Stylebooks and dictionaries? In house.

Tour buses? Reserved.

Professional photographer? Scheduled.

Balloon brigade? On its way.

Cake? Ordered.

Agenda? Always a work in progress.

Last-minute requests by presenters? We deliver.

The Chips Quinn team? In search of its second wind.

Not to worry. We'll find it. We always do.

-- Karen Catone, Michelle Hedenskoog and Kristen Smith

(a team effort -- like everything we do)