If you won’t be attending this year’s Ag Media Summit you can still meet the AAEA intern online. She’s Leah Bigham and she’s blogging away. Uh, Leah, can you give Den a few Twitter tips too while you’re at it!
Hello! My name is Leah, and I am an Agricultural Communications Student, attending Fresno State University where I anticipate graduating next spring. I have been given the opportunity to intern alongside JoAnn this summer, at Farms.com in Iowa. I am excited about the opportunity, and all of the experiences I will be exposed to. I will use this blog to frequently update my readers about those experiences, and am confident this summer will provide me with the memories, experience, and contacts I drove across country in search of. Thank you for visiting!
Now this is the kind of experience the ag editors of tomorrow need to be getting.
Category Archives: AAEA
Tour de Texas This Summer
Thank you to Greg Lamp for pointing out that you can attend post IFAJ/AMS tours this year even if you’re not a member of AAEA, LPC or IFAJ. So how about some NAFB’ers joining in the fun?
Looking for a whole new way of seeing the U.S.A. this summer? Look no further. The Ag Media Summit in conjunction with the International Federation of Ag Journalists is offering three post tours immediately after the Summit. What an opportunity to see more of Texas than just Fort Worth, and be able to get photos and stories along the way.
There’s no early sign-up discount for these tours so you can mull it over for awhile before you decide. Also, if you want to bring a friend or family member along, there are no restrictions. You don’t have to be an AAEA, LPC or IFAJ member to join this inquisitive group of Texas travelers.
For details on the three tours, log on to www.agmediasummit.com or www.ifaj2009.com. In the meantime, here’s a quick recap of the Texas tours planned for you this summer. Continue reading
IFAJ-AMS Planning Committee Meets
I found the IFAJ/AMS planning committee meeting. Fortunately for me I walked in just as it ended! Actually I just couldn’t get there earlier but I wanted to. If you haven’t registered yet for this year’s combined meeting please try to do so soon.
I interviewed Andy Atzenweiler and will post it when I get back to my room later. He says that the program is finalized and I got a copy of it. You can see the latest version on the Ag Media Summit website. It sounds like we’re a little ahead of normal with sponsors and the program but then we’ve been planning this one for two years since we’re overlapping with the international folks from IFAJ.
You can listen to my interview with Andy here:
I hope to see a lot of you in Texas.
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IFAJ and AMS Planning Meeting
The IFAJ/AMS planning committee got together since so many of us ag media types were in town for Commodity Classic. Yesterday the group went to Billy Bob’s and the Stockyards before heading to the upcoming conference hotel, the Worthington Hotel in downtown Fort Worth.
Cindy and I joined the group for a reception meeting last night. The local convention and visitor’s bureau and hotel provided a tour and hosted our reception. We covered the program, which is mostly set now, including speakers. I’ll have more information about this shortly here on AgWired and I’ve got quite a bit of new information to get posted this week on the IFAJ 2009 Congress website.
For those who don’t know, this year the Ag Media Summit is overlapping with the IFAJ Congress for the first time. It’s going to be a big meeting and I’m looking forward to a great program.
2009 Commodity Classic Photo Album
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For Ag Journalists
For Ag Journalists is a website published by Fred Meyers, a freelance writer who shares his expertise in the field with those wanting to enter into the wild field of ag journalism, too. As a student learning the ins and outs of this profession, I like to reference Fred’s columns from time to time. Fred shares articles, tips, a forum, quotes and more on his interactive website that is dedicated to helping others share the food production story. Fred’s insights into the future of agriculture are quite interesting, and his quotes on life will inspire you in your own. Here is an excerpt from his website…
“I have always been driven by the search for excellence in this profession. I seek the facts, encourage my imagination and often go where no one has gone before. A test a few years ago confirmed what I’ve long suspected. That is, I am a visionary. If you don’t already know this, visionaries are often obstructed in what they attempt to do and criticized for the way they view the future. In the end, however, I have no regrets. I have always firmly believed life should be an exciting trip, a time of doing only what is enjoyable and of supporting and promoting a chosen profession.” -Fred Meyers
Take a look at Fred’s website. Whether you are a writer or not, he has quite a few tips on how to conquer the challenges we face in agriculture. Why don’t you head over there now? It may just perk up your Tuesday afternoon…
AAEA Members Please Take Survey
Hello AAEA members. Your cooperation is requested in taking a short survey. AAEA Members only!
Can you help us out? AAEA members Karen Simon, Jim Evans, Owen Roberts in addition to Stephen Banning are conducting a survey of AAEA member attitudes as an update of a published study that was done with AAEA members ten years ago.
We hope you will take the survey so that it will really represent the attitudes of AAEA members. There are no right or wrong answers. Your opinions are very important.
All responses are confidential and it takes about 9 minutes to complete.The aggregate results will be available in the near future.
Will you help us out? Just click on the link below:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2fdSJfjmj5q6BlKwLerEIfQ_3d_3d
If you have any questions, please contact Karen Simon at KSimon@iasoybeans.com.
Fred Myers is For Ag Journalists
If you’re an AAEA member you probably know Fred Myers. If you’re not, then you can get to know him online via his new website, For Ag Journalists.
This website is the latest of many contributions I have made to agricultural journalism, much of it through the American Agricultural Editors’ Association (AAEA). Take a few minutes every month to look at what I have prepared. I hope you will enjoy the reading as much as I enjoy the writing.
But this isn’t only about me. It’s about all of us and about our profession and our lives. So I encourage you to share with me your thoughts, comments and any news you believe others should know. I will then post them. You can either be identified with them or contribute in anonymity. I will honor your choice.
Complete List of AAEA Awards
I’ve received several releases from companies that won AAEA Awards but there’s just too many to post easily. That’s why I was happy to receive a complete list yesterday.
So if you’re wondering about all the awards presented at the Ag Media Summit for AAEA, you can see them for yourself: AAEA Awards (pdf).
AMS Awards and Memories
The Ag Media Summit 10th Anniversary Celebration on Tuesday night was an evening of fond memories and awards for achievement and service.
Among the awards presented were the AAEA Lifetime Achievement Award to Claude Gifford, long time associate editor of Farm Journal and USDA director of information, and to the late Larry Harper, editor of the Missouri Ruralist.
The AAEA Distinguished Service Award went to Dwayne Best of SD State University’s Dakota Lakes Research Farm. LPC’s Headliner Award was presented to Bud Snidow, Jr., with American Hereford Association for 32 years and currently serving at the organization historian at the age of 90.
LPC’s Hall of Fame award was given to Greg Henderson of Drovers, the first chairman of AMS in 1999. And the Andy Markwart Horizon Award winner was Corey Geiger, Hoards Dairyman.
A power point presentation showed 10 years of memories, some of them bittersweet, and a salute to American agriculture. We hope to get that posted here at some point.
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New AAEA Leaders
At today’s annual meeting of the American Agricultural Editors Association, new officers and board members were elected.
The new President is Holly Martin, High Plains Journal, pictured in the center of the group here. Holly says that the big push this year for AAEA will be the combined AMS and IFAJ Congress next year in Ft. Worth. She says they’ll be working on organization and developing additional support for the event which will be a great opportunity to showcase American agriculture to the world. AAEA appears to be in great shape and has 400 members.
I spoke to Holly after the meeting and you can listen to our conversation here:
You’ll find photos from the AAEA annual meeting in the photo album.
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AAEA Update
John Walter, Agriculture Online, is President of AAEA and he’s got a lot to smile about.
After today’s board meeting he told me that the organization is very healthy and that it’s been a pleasure for him to preside over continued growth in membership and sponsors. Topics discussed at the meeting include, new member benefits like professional development webinars, new award categories for multi-media like video, continued ethics discussions and an expanded role for affiliate members. John says that Holly Martin, High Plains Journal, will be taking over the reins at the end of the AMS.
You can listen to my interview with John here:
I’ll be talking to John again about what his company is doing online since they’re one of our event coverage sponsors.
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Board Meetings In Progress
Registration is now open here at the Ag Media Summit and after lunch the first programs will start.
The board meetings of the two main ag journalism groups are going on right now. Here’s the Livestock Publications Council going at it hard and heavy.
I’ll try to get a report from LPC after lunch and post later.
While LPC is meeting, the American Agricultural Editors Association
is also getting some work done.
I’m sure next year’s AMS, which will be combined with the IFAJ Congress is a big topic of discussion in these meetings. There’s a need to make sure we integrate multiple programs and it should provide an opportunity for AMS growth too.
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Planning IFAJ/AMS 2009
The dedicated IFAJ/AMS planning committee is meeting early this morning to continue planning for the 2009 combined IFAJ Congress and Ag Media Summit. We’ve been reviewing the program and fine tuning things.
Sponsorship packets are almost ready and will be published soon. For those of you who have been AMS sponsors, keep in mind that in 2009 we’re going to be having hundreds of international agricultural journalists coming to the event.
My little part is the IFAJ 2009 Congress website which is up and running. If anyone would like to help, please let me know. Right now I’m seeking input and feedback on the site.
Call for Entries: Markwart Horizon Award
Members of the American Agricultural Economics Association, active or affiliate, who are 35 years of age or younger are eligible for this year’s Andy Markwart Horizon Award. And, interested applicants have a little extra time on their hands. The application deadline has been extended to May 15. So get those apps in!
Winner will be recognized at the 2008 Ag Media Summit, July 26-28, 2008, at Tampa, Florida, and awarded a $2,500 stipend to be used to attend a class, seminar or workshop to improve his or herself as an agricultural communicator. Examples include attending the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) annual congress, or the Ag Media Summit. Last years recipient, Progressive Farmers Jamie Cole, sought the stipend to attend a three-day, professional Web publishing course offered by Stanford University. The class/seminar/workshop must be approved by the AAEA Professional Improvement Foundation.
Award Criteria: Award will be made to an AAEA member who embodies the youthful vigor, energy, passion, dedication and creativity shown by Andy Markwart in his volunteer work for AAEA for many years. Continue reading
Writing and Podcasting in Iowa
This week I attended a portion of the AAEA/LPC Regional Design & Writing Workshop in Johnston, IA. Some of you are probably thinking, “Why didn’t he stay since he so obviously needs help?” Yeah, but I had other places to be too.
So in this week’s program you’ll hear from LPC Executive Director Diane Johnson who talks about the workshop and the fun and games we did last night. The Workshop was held at Pioneer Hi-Bred’s Carver Center and I also spoke with Jerry Harrington about how he got involved in providing us with the auditorium where the Workshop was held. You can see pictures in the Workshop photo album.
After I left the Workshop I visited the Iowa Soybean Association office to conduct some precision ag interviews for Precision Pays. While I was there I got to meet Linda Funk, Executive Director of The Soyfoods Council. We talked about the Soyfoods Podcast project we’ve been working an and you can learn more about why they decided to use podcasting in the program.
This week’s program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. It’s called “Writings on a Page” by Jonathon Dewveall. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.
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ZimmCast 166 (16 min MP3)
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Learning How To Design and Write
The AAEA/LPC Regional Design & Writing Workshop is about to kick off here at the Pioneer Carver Building in Johnston, IA. This is a beautiful facility and we appreciate Pioneer providing us with this location.
I think there are about 80 people participating which is a great turnout. I’ve got a couple interviews and more pictures that I’ll post later. I’m not actually staying for the workshop though. I’ve got some interviews scheduled over at Iowa Soybean Association and then I’ll be heading back to ZimmComm World Headquarters in Holts Summit, MO.
Today’s program includes topics like, “Shifting Demographics of Agriculture” and “What You Should Be Doing in Photography, Writing and Design.” It’s a good one and I wish I could stay for it.
AAEA/LPC Reception
We certainly had some fun tonight at the AAEA/LPC Regional Writing Workshop Reception. Diane “Vanna” Johnson had volunteers help her run a very good Jeopardy game.
Pictured here are the first round of contestants for the competition. It wasn’t easy and sometimes the audience didn’t have the answer.
Our emcee was Tom Trebek, local celebrity. He did an awesome job of keeping the contestants honest.
We had categories that ranged from photography to the history of AAEA/LPC/ACT. I think we learned as much from watching as competing.
It was pretty dark in the room but I did capture a few minutes of video for those of you who missed tonight’s festivities.
Fun And Games
I’m not sure what Diane “Vanna” Johnson has planned for us in Johnston, IA tomorrow night but I’ll be there and you can count on learning more here on AgWired.
It’s a social gathering prior to the Midwest Regional Design & Writing Workshop which takes place at Pioneer’s headquarters on Thursday. I’ll be there for a while too.
Prior to and after all this agricultural journalism fun and seriousness I’ll be doing some interviews (ag journalism?) with the John Deere AMS folks and at Iowa Soybean Association for Precision Pays. It’s nice to stay busy don’t you know?
Are You An Ag Journalist of the Future?
I’ve got to say “Thank You” to AAEA President John Walter, Successful Farming, for his latest column in the organization’s newsletter (pdf), The Byline. John told me he was writing this and we did have a phone/email interview to go with it. Here’s how he starts out.
The first time I met him was at the 2005 Agricultural Media Summit in Milwaukee, and to tell you the truth, I found the experience to be a bit unnerving. He was running circles around the rest of us, shooting photos and video, conducting audio interviews in the corner of every room, dashing off to the media room to file Web reports multiple times
daily, and generally practicing our profession at a pace I’d seldom seen before. Ag journalism on steroids.
At that time most of us had not even heard of the inelegant word, “blog,” and he had already coined the term, “agriblogging.”
Read the full column to find out who’s he’s talking about.
I think the take away is that things are sure changing in the profession of agricultural communications. That’s why I think it’s so important to participate in the professional improvement opportunities offered by organizations like AAEA, LPC, IFAJ, NAFB, NAMA and others. I wouldn’t stop there. I highly recommend other communications activities like those offered by the National Press Photographers Association and shows like MacWorld Expo, New Media Expo, etc. Sometimes we get so caught up going to all the farm shows and events that we neglect our own professional development. And don’t forget reading up on these subjects. You’ll also be amazed at how much there is available online that’s free, including how-to’s on YouTube!
The best way to learn how to use some of these new tools is to jump in and just do it. Start a blog and a podcast. Create a Flickr photo album or YouTube account and upload some of your materials. Share and be shared with!
I’m just starting the chapter in Clay Shirky’s new book, “Here Comes Everybody” that’s titled, “Everyone is a Media Outlet.” Mull that thought over. These new media tools allow everyone to be part of the online conversation that’s changing our world.
LPC and AAEA Regional Workshops
I know the deadline’s today but maybe you can get your registration in still for the Livestock Publications Council and AAEA Midwest Regional Workshop on design and writing. It’s going to be held April 10 at the Pioneer offices in Johnston, IA. If you come in early the night before then you can play games with Diane Johnson at the Stoney Creek Inn. What kind of games do you have in mind Diane? Go to their website to get registered right away.
You can also keep in mind the first ever LPC Workshop on Sales and Marketing which will June 16-17 in Kansas City. Yes that’s a sales workshop. I think it only makes sense. Who isn’t involved in sales today? Do you “pure” editors think you don’t do sales when you’re out at a conference? Of course you do. This is a great idea for anyone in ag communications today.