By Holly Spangler, AAEA Communications Chair
As I write this, the 2017 Ag Media Summit is a hair over three months away. But the AMS Programming Committee has been tirelessly meeting, calling, brainstorming and rounding out professional development sessions since…well, since last year!
With all that work behind us, we thought it might be helpful to know some of the background behind the sessions we put together: why this topic, why this speaker, what you’ll get out of it.
Like the session I put together: 20 Questions You Never Thought to Ask. I pitched the idea for an interviewing session during one of our early conference calls for two reasons: one, I never feel like I do a great job interviewing. And two, I don’t remember ever being taught to interview. Not one ag communications class taught me how to interview people. You pick it up as you go. You learn, you grow, you try different things.
But wouldn’t it be great to hear how the best writers interview their sources? What are their favorite questions? How do they make sources feel comfortable? What are their best tips? Or in short, how do their best stories start?
Personally, I say yes and amen – I want to hear all those things, from all the best writers and interviewers. So I started making some calls and before long, this is what the panel looked like:
As I write this, the 2017 Ag Media Summit is a hair over three months away. But the AMS Programming Committee has been tirelessly meeting, calling, brainstorming and rounding out professional development sessions since…well, since last year!
With all that work behind us, we thought it might be helpful to know some of the background behind the sessions we put together: why this topic, why this speaker, what you’ll get out of it.
Like the session I put together: 20 Questions You Never Thought to Ask. I pitched the idea for an interviewing session during one of our early conference calls for two reasons: one, I never feel like I do a great job interviewing. And two, I don’t remember ever being taught to interview. Not one ag communications class taught me how to interview people. You pick it up as you go. You learn, you grow, you try different things.
But wouldn’t it be great to hear how the best writers interview their sources? What are their favorite questions? How do they make sources feel comfortable? What are their best tips? Or in short, how do their best stories start?
Personally, I say yes and amen – I want to hear all those things, from all the best writers and interviewers. So I started making some calls and before long, this is what the panel looked like:
- Jamie Cole, Red Barn Media
- Pam Smith, DTN/Progressive Farmer
- Martha Mintz, Corral Creek Communications
- Max Armstrong, This Week in Agribusiness/Penton Agriculture