My first stop traveling on the agriblogging highway as the ZimmComm summer intern was at Ag Media Summit in downtown Indianapolis. Over the course of three days, I attended several skill building workshops given by professionals in the ag communications field, conducted audio interviews with company spokesmen at the InfoExpo trade show and snapped tons of photos at events that took place.
Aside from this, I had the opportunity to mingle with several college students from across the country and learn more about their Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow chapters. I also got to meet several of Chuck’s long time friends in the field who shared some pretty entertaining stories about him with me.
Looking back on the trip, one of my favorite sessions was the very first session I attended. It was an ACT Welcome and Student Professionalism session, and it focused on teaching students how to become a servant leader. This type of leader naturally assumes the role and always puts others before them. During a group conversation, I thought a student from Tarleton State University gave the perfect analogy on servant leadership. She said, “It’s not about the Grand Champion calf. It’s about the Grand Champion kid.” Growing up in a livestock family, this really hit home for me.
Overall, the trip provided me with a great first glance into the ag communications world, and I look forward to my next trip.
