AgWired

I have suggested to several people looking for a job that they start a blog. So far only 2 people have done so. The first one got a job right away. The second one is my friend John Davis. I hired John to be a farm broadcaster for the Brownfield Network in early 2000. He was an Air Force broadcaster who impressed me and he did a great job. He soon moved to the company’s state news network in Missouri.

He’s now looking for a new gig and is blogging his way along.

Imagine that you’re applying for a job and you call a prospective employer. They say, “Send me a resume.” I think it would be cool to say, “Why don’t you download it from my website.” That’s what John can do. He can also say, “Want to see/listen to some examples of my work?” Instead of making your prospective employer wait for your resume or a “tape” of your work, let them have instant access even while you’re on the phone with them.

I know it would impress me, while showing me that you’ve got some initiative that will set you apart from the pack.

Covering the visit of President Bush to the Advancing Renewable Energy conference in St. Louis made for an interesting day. It was most amazing to me how incredibly tight security was, especially for the press. The general convention attendees had more freedom than the press. The “local media” were confined to a “pen” – that’s what they called it – and we were not allowed on the floor where the attendees were. The White House press corps had a special “pen” right up front. We were relegated to a riser behind the chairs. What was cool was being able to post live on Domestic Fuel because we did have live, high-speed internet access. My pictures were not great with our little digital Canon, but usable for the web.

The last time I covered a presidential event was when his daddy was in the White House and he addressed the 1992 American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting in Kansas City. We had just moved to Missouri from Florida to work for Brownfield Network and I hosted a live telecast of the event with Lynn Ketelsen of Linder Farm Network. There was nothing like this type of security there. But, there also was no high speed internet, digital cameras or digital recorders either.

I had the president’s full remarks posted on Domestic Fuel about ten minutes after he finished talking today – probably faster than anyone else did, which is very cool. Is it not amazing how far technology has come in such a short time? It certainly makes me believe that we are capable of making renewable energy the rule rather than the exception in this country within just as short a time period, if not shorter.

Thanks to the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council for sponsoring coverage of the Advancing Renewable Fuels Conference on Domestic Fuel.

The Advancing Renewable Energy Conference this week in St. Louis is subtitled “An American Rural Renaissance” and the media here have gotten an eduation in the importance of agriculture to the future energy security of this nation. The farm media here, like Peter Shinn with Brownfield Network, already knew that. It’s been very gratifying to hear so much about agriculture and energy and how this emerging industry will help to revitalize rural America. This has been an awesome event. As I write this, President Bush is addressing the crowd of over 1200 people, talking about using tax dollars on research for renewable energy. More later.