Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority CEO Phil Keene and Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin will be accompanied by their wives to an international travel show in London this week. Taxes will finance the trip costs, which will include $15,000 to rent a booth at the show and $369 per couple, per night for hotel costs.
--News item
They say London is nice this time of year. I bet it is especially nice when your trip there is free, thanks to tax dollars paid by We, The People.
According to an excellent article by John Stearns in this Sunday's Reno Gazette-Journal, Phil Keene and Jeff Griffin say this trip to London is necessary. They want to broaden the tourist Northern Nevada's visitor base, they say, and that the tens of thousands of dollars spent for them to go on this trip will be worth it in the long run.
Jeff Griffin (to potential European tourists): Hey, come to Reno. It's spiffy here. Really.
Potential Tourists (obviously impressed, dropping their crumpets in awe): Oh, wow. We must go to Reno! Who needs to see the Grand Canyon or go to Disneyworld when we can go to Reno and see Topsy the Clown???
OK, I'll buy this argument. And, I hearby suggest that This Fine Newspaper follow the lead set by Jeff Griffin and Phil Keene, and allow Tribune staff members to take similar trips:
--I could be sent to Lake Titicaca, in South America. It would be a magical experience for me, as it would help broaden the base for my alleged humor column. I mean, Lake Titicaca arguably has the funniest name of any place in the world.
--Education reporter William Puchert should get sent to Oxford, England, as it is a bastion of higher-learning respected around the world. This would undoubtedly help him cover the University of Nevada, Reno better, because it and Oxford University have so much in common. Like, for example, the word "university."
--I also believe city reporter Willie Albright should be sent on a trip to Mexico City. After all, Mexico City is one of the biggest cities in the world, and such an experience would help him in the long run as he covers the goings-on in the City of Sparks--which includes Pancho and Willie's restaurant in the Western Village.
--Of course, it goes without saying that crime reporter Jennifer Martens should be sent on an all-expenses trip to Washington, D.C. That is the most crime-ridden part of our entire country. And I'm only taking about Congress and the White House.
--Photographer David Hunter should be sent to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. This would allow David, who himself is tall, skinny and lurky, to see exhibits about people to whom he can relate. This would also be very beneficial to broadening David's understanding of life and stuff, and help him in the long-term. Whatever that means.
--The Tribune sports department, consisting of Ben Kwasney and Chad Hartley, could visit North Carolina. This way, they could see the epicenter of college basketball, including Duke University and the University of North Carolina. This would help them cover Nevada basketball, because the community did not get a chance to see a real college basketball team on the UNR campus last year. Also, Chad would get to see where tobacco comes from, which would probably mean a lot to him, seeing as he smokes so much of it.
Of course, I have a hunch the Tribune will refuse to pay for such trips. After all, the Tribune needs to spend its money on more important things--like on putting out a newspaper every day. And if the Tribune ownership does not want to fork out the cash for such trips, well--it's their money.
I guess the RSCVA does not have more important things to spend its money on. Except for the debt-ridden National Bowling Stadium. Or the aging Convention Center, or the Livestock Events Center.
And, hey, that money they're spending? It only belongs to the taxpayers, after all.
Jimmy Boegle is a fifth-generation Nevadan who is proud to have used the word "Titicaca" for the first time ever in a column this week. His column appears here Tuesdays, and he can be reached via e-mail at jiboegle@stanfordalumni.org.