By Elaine Shein, International Committee Chair
Now’s the time to think of some great professional development opportunities coming up, thanks to the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists. As a member of the Agricultural Communicator’s Network (ACN), each of you is also a member of IFAJ and can apply for these opportunities.
First, there’s The IFAJ-Caterpillar Development Bursary Fund where selected scholars can do special projects related to personal professional development and wider IFAJ progress (application deadline is Dec. 20 by 23h59 GMT). A total of €4,000 is available. Individual awards will likely be €1,000 to €1,500 each. Visit the IFAJ website for full rules, details and an online application.
Applications are open now for the 2020 IFAJ/Alltech Young Leaders Award. Each of IFAJ’s 53 guilds (including ACN) may submit one nominee for the prestigious award, which recognizes outstanding young journalists who demonstrate great potential to become leaders in the agricultural journalism industry. Young journalists, age 35 or younger by Dec. 31, 2019, are selected by an international jury for the prize, with free registration to the 2020 IFAJ Global Congress in Vingsted, Denmark in June. The Young Leaders will also participate in a Boot Camp in the days prior to Congress, which includes farm visits in Denmark, as well as professional development and networking workshops. To see full rules and application, please visit their website. Note that first you must apply to ACN, and a selection will be made by ACN for the official guild nomination submitted to IFAJ. More information on submissions to ACN will be in the Jan. 10 Byline newsletter but potential entrants can already fill in the submission form. Deadline for an individual application is Feb. 7, 2020. Deadline for the official Guild nomination is Feb. 21, 2020.
For those who are planning to attend the 2020 IFAJ Congress, it’s being hosted in Denmark June 24-29, with tours planned before and after the Congress. This year’s theme is Farming Today for the Society of Tomorrow. TO see more about the program and tours, go to www.ifaj2020.dk and already start planning your trip. Registration will open at the end of January or beginning of February. Stay tuned to the Byline and ACN Facebook page for more information about the Congress — as well as how you could earn a stipend to attend, thanks to the Professional Improvement Foundation.
It’s also IFAJ Star Prize contest entry time: find the full rules, here, for categories in print, photography, broadcast (audio, video and digital media have separate categories). In some of the categories, individual IFAJ members may enter themselves (ex. photography) while in others only one entry is entered per member country (so ACN will select which print entry to submit for the U.S.) Entry deadline to IFAJ is Feb. 21; more details will be posted in the Jan. 10 Byline and also check ACN’s Facebook page for updates.
Lastly, want to be on the Ag Communications Network International Committee? Please contact [email protected].