Next up on today’s program was one of the organizer’s of the IFAJ Congress, Marcus Rediger. Marcus had lots of interesting information. He spoke on “The Communication of the Farmers With Society.” One of the very cool things his organization (Agricultural Information Center) does is an annual National Brunch Day where a consumer can go out to a farm and have brunch. It’s a national holiday now. Now that’s promoting understanding between farmers and consumers.
Swiss Ag Publications Facing The Future
First up on the program on the final day of the IFAJ was Ruedi Hagmann, BauernZeitung, who spoke on “The Swiss Agricultural Media In Flux.” Right off the bat I’ve got to say that each of the morning’s speakers said things that I think are probably just like you’re going to find anywhere in the world today.
Final Day of IFAJ
The final day of the IFAJ Congress got started with a morning program on “Agriculture, PR and the Role of Media.” Moderated by Adrian Krebs, this was a panel of 3 people who’ll you’ll meet next who each spoke on a different aspect of this main topic.
IFAJ Awards Presented
One of the highlights of an IFAJ Congress is the awards ceremony for the annual photo contest and Star Prize (writing contest). You can view the powerpoint presentation of the awards from this link: IFAJ Awards
View From The Top
Here’s what it looks like at the top of the Schilthorn. There were lots of clouds (below us) and fog but every once in a while we got a peek at the mountains all around us. This picture was taken by Greg Lamp, Corn & Soybean Digest, by the way. He was closer to the window at our dinner table than me.
Dinner On The Schilthorn
The top of the Schilthorn features a revolving restaurant so you are constantly getting a fresh view while you eat. As is the custom for IFAJ, we sat down to a great meal following a reception featuring Swiss beer and wine. For the first time since we got here there was no cheese! This was probably a good thing at this point.
Dizzy And Loving It
We were just slightly dizzy by the time we got to the top of the Schilthorn. We’re up 2970 meters at the top! One of the claims to fame here is that the James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secrect Service” was filmed here. If you want to get a feel for what it’s like right now on the mountain, use this link to see their live webcam.
Terrace At The Top
Once we got to the top there was a large terrace around the restaurant and shops. We could wander around and look at the view. It was pretty foggy so our view was limited but every once in a while the fog would clear enough to see the stunning peaks all around us.
Swinging Though Space
This is what it looks like as you’re swinging through space a few thousand feet above rocks. At one point we could see the car we had just departed from going back down to pick up another load. Meanwhile we were on a new section of cable.
Changing Cable Cars
Each stop on the way up to the Schilthorn had its own little shops or restaurants so you didn’t have to go all the way. In fact, at one of the stop they had a very nice looking tavern but we had to just keep moving. It’s a process to get several hundred people up since we filled several cars and only one goes at a time.