Not-Norwalk photos: NoN in Minneapolis

NORWALK, Conn. — Claire Schoen was annoyed that Norwalk hadn’t had any snow this year, so she suggested we go to Minneapolis. Of course, I said yes.

No, that’s not what happened. We were invited to Minneapolis for Shop Talk, a gathering of small nonprofit news organizations. Of course, we said yes, joking at the lunacy of heading to Minnesota in late February. Who wouldn’t?

Don’t worry, we’re not staying.

Shop Talk gathered leaders of six hyperlocal publications founded within the last decade and serving geographic areas of 20,000 to 100,000 people. The goal was to “exchange ideas and best practices for journalistic impact, financial health and organizational resilience.” Expenses were paid by the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) and an anonymous donor.

They were looking for “scrappy” news sites, they said. We’re honored.

Claire and I added a day so we could sight-see; stops included The Mall of America, George Floyd Square, The Walker Art Museum and a statue of Mary Tyler Moore.

Our plane took off Thursday from Laguardia without delay, despite the snowpopcalypse you may have heard about. I was surprised to see clear pavement everywhere as we landed. We’ve been told we hit it just right – there was a little window of availability, and we were in it. Our hosts said the snow was intermittent, allowing snowplow drivers to clear the streets before it started again.

Another participant was not so lucky. The smaller plane he was in didn’t have enough fuel to fight the headwinds and had to land in Milwaukee, where he spent the night. We were two-thirds through the first day when he arrived.

Minneapolis had 71 inches of snow this winter, well over the average of 45, our hosts said.

I decided to run these photos today. Back to Norwalk news tomorrow.

Information added, 4 p.m.