Kari Miller, director of marketing and public relations for the Batavia Park District, contacted me a few months ago via email.

“I wanted to run an idea by you,” she wrote. “I’m the director of the communications and marketing section for the Illinois Park and Recreation Association. Our annual conference is at the end of January. ... One of the sessions, ‘When the Press Calls,’ is going to be a panel of speakers. We have a couple speakers lined up, but we’re looking for possibly an editor, commissioner or legal counsel. I wondered if you would be interested in being on the panel.”

After getting some additional information from Kari, I told her that I’d like to be part of the event, which takes place Jan. 26 at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago.