ORLANDO -- NAREE members sat riveted to their seats last Thursday as
Greg Thomas of The Times-Picayune recounted the days after Hurricane
Katrina to a group of 130 actives and associates at the Peabody Hotel
in Orlando. Thomas, who covers real estate for his paper's Money
Section, was one of a the staffers who saw the flood waters rising from
the back of newspaper truck as his newsroom colleagues evacuated New
Orleans and then continued to cover the bleak days and nights that
followed.
Showing photo after photo of people trying to survive in the
aftermath, juxtaposed with pictures of reporters in their makeshift
newsroom in Baton Rouge, and the front page of several online and
printed editions of the paper, Thomas paused with emotion a few times
as he described the devastation and what it was like to be a journalist
covering it. While the staff never stopped, The Times-Picayune's new
presses, although ultimately untouched by the flood waters, were halted
and an on-line version of the paper took over during the worst part of
the flooding.
President of NAREE in 2003, Thomas spoke to members and took
questions during the association's Media Reception Jan. 12 during the
International Builders' Show (IBS) in Orlando. After the storm, Greg
received many emails from concerned NAREE members and was touched by
it.
NAREE president Al Heavens of the Philadelphia Inquirer offered
a moving introduction to Thomas' presentation emphasizing the grit it
took to do the job in the face of personal loss and chaos for weeks on
end. Heavens then stood back and videotaped the presentation. His video
will be available to members upon request, and the Pod-cast will be
downloaded to the Members Only archives of this Web site.
Heavens later auctioned off a tee-shirt from The Times-Picayune
carrying the newspaper logo and "We Publish Come Hell AND High Water."
Members Laura Bennett of Bennett & Company and Ken Plonski of WCI
won the bid for the shirt at $400. A check for the full amount is being
sent to The Times-Picayune's 106-year-old "Doll and Toy Fund," a non
profit that gives gifts to city children from low income families
during the holidays. Additional donations can be sent in Thomas' honor
to the following address: The Times-Picayune Doll & Toy Fund; P.O. Box 61065; New Orleans, LA 70161.
WCI provided refreshments for the Peabody reception. Bennett's client,
Intrawest and its Village of Imagine sponsored the NAREE Suite at the
nearby Rosen Centre Hotel for four nights.
NAREE also had a table outside the IBS press room at the Orange County
Convention Center for members to pick up the NAREE Journalism
Competition brochures (deadline Feb 5) and information on NAREE's
Annual Conference Real Estate Journalism Conference (Charlotte, NC
April 26-29).
