By Julie Deering, PIF Chair The Professional Improvement Foundation (PIF) Trustees met April 29 in the midst of a national shutdown stemming from COVID-19. Like many businesses and organizations at the time, we had more questions than answers. Are on-site internships still feasible? Will there be an Ag Media Summit (AMS) this year? If we … Read More
News
Thoughts from AAEA Past President: Jack Pitzer
By Jack Pitzer I grew up on a 240-acre grain and livestock farm in central Illinois. I was active in 4-H and was in FFA at Toulon Township High School. I was particularly interested in the chapter history and getting articles about our chapter into the newspaper. I served as a state officer before going … Read More
IFAJ Brings World to Your Home Office
By Steve Werblow and Elaine Shein Next week was supposed to be the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) 2020 World Congress in Vingsted, Denmark, bringing hundreds of agricultural journalists and communicators together for tours and workshops. Though the Congress was cancelled due to COVID-19, IFAJ is bringing friends and colleagues together through a series … Read More
Mentoring in a Virtual World
By Laurie Bedord, Chair, Future Agricultural Communicators Committee Faced with a fast-spreading virus, nearly two-thirds of Americans have been forced to work from home since the middle of March. As days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, the nationwide lockdown also caused employers to rethink their summer internship programs. Amid the uncertainty, many … Read More
Janis Gandy of Successful Farming Retires
By Gil Gullickson, AAEA President, Successful Farming If you’re ever looking for a “ghost” byline on every story Successful Farming editors write and on every award plaque we receive, it would belong to Janis Gandy. That’s because every issue, Janis as copy and production editor patiently shepherds each page that goes not only into Successful … Read More
Past AAEA President and Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Bill Fleming Dies
William Dean “Bill” Fleming passed away on Wednesday May 13, 2020. Fleming was a valued leader and teacher within the ag media communications community, where he served as president of AAEA in 1980-81, and of the Livestock Publications Council in 1991-92. He was a recipient of the AAEA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. More information … Read More