By Jim Patrico, Awards Committee Co-Chair
Christine McClintic, who has managed the Photo Awards program for the last 18 years, announced her retirement from those duties.
Chris has had a profound impact on that contest. In fact, she helped re-invent it. When she took over, the contest had only recently transitioned from print entries to slide entries. She embraced that “new” format and made the judging process run smoothly. Later, she did the same with the transition from slide entries to digital entries.
Originally, too, judging was a live and in-person event. Chris arranged to have judges come to the Kansas City area and make their decisions at various locations over the years…including her home. The judging now has become an online event, and Chris also helped make that transition become nearly seamless.
The chronology of the contest sounds straightforward and maybe even simple. It was not. Chris spent countless hours organizing, tinkering and re-arranging. She answered phone calls from panicked photographers who couldn’t remember if they had made their entries correctly. She found and hired a list of top notch judges. And she emailed and called photo awards committee members about rules definitions, new categories and questions about whether certain odd entries even qualified for the contest.
All of this is to say that Chris has been indispensible to AAEA for 18 years and deserves a sincere thank you from the Board.
Thank you for your kind words. The photo awards program is all about professional improvement, and I’ve been eyewitness to the creative and technical growth of our members throughout the years. It’s been my honor to recognize and award so many of you over the past two decades.
The photo awards program has grown in so many positive ways, and it’s truly been a team effort. I appreciate all who have served on the photo committee over the years. Your support fueled its growth. I also want to give a shout out to Marilyn Cummins. She really played a big role in making the transition to online digital entry process go smoothly. She, along with many University of Missouri students, were also instrumental in turning the awards night into a cohesive, well-orchestrated annual event.
The photo awards program has been a labor of love. Managing the program gave me the rare opportunity to manage agriculture’s best images and meet some renown photographers who have served as judges over the years. Although my role as program manager has come to an end, I will continue to applaud the creative work of our talented members at the awards ceremonies in the years to come. Cheers to all of you who have participated in photo awards program. I’ve enjoyed your images and, most of all, your friendships over the years.
It was an amazing experience and joy to work with Christine for 16+ years on the photo contest while we managed AAEA at G&G. When we first started, we talked generally about a formal agreement and, as I recall, ended up with a handshake/hug and KNEW the program was in great hands. I am proud to have worked with Christine over the years. On a scale of 1-10, she’s always been a 10+! You will be missed.