That big phallus-looking thing in the photo above is Washington, D.C.’s Washington Monument, as seen from the hotel where the Society of American Business Editors and Writers just hours ago wrapped up its 53rd annual conference. The three-day get-together was held partly to recognize the best U.S. business journalism done in 2015, and North Texas figured in the meeting in a few ways.
Thomas E. Perez, the labor secretary under President Barack Obama, gave a keynote talk and praised Dallas’ Southwest Airlines—in contrast to its competitors—for what it pays some of its workers. Irving-based ExxonMobil didn’t fare as well. A news outfit called InsideClimate News was a finalist in SABEW’s Best in Business competition for its series about Exxon’s “shift from a champion of climate science to climate-change denier.”
And—oh yeah—yours truly accepted D CEO ‘s General Excellence award for magazines with circulations up to 100,000. (Bloomberg Businessweek snagged the other top mag award, for circulations over 100,000.) The recognition was a major shout-out to the 2015 D CEO staff—including Christine Perez, Hilary Lau, Matt Goodman, Lauren DeLozier, and Hamilton Hedrick—who all worked their rears off to make it happen. Now, if I hadn’t sworn off booze in 1982, I’d head over toward the big monument to get drunk and celebrate.