By Mike Wilson, AAEA 2017 Past President
The wonderful aspect of my life in ag journalism is that after forty years of chatting up farmers and meandering along dusty country roads, I still feel challenged. I still wake up every day thinking about how to write a better lead, conduct a better interview, take a more striking photograph. I still love learning.
Fortunately, agriculture feeds this mindset. It changes every day. Reporting on this industry never gets dull. If it did, I’d swap this job for a new Stratocaster or some shiny golf clubs.
Even so, when I was called on to serve as AAEA president I had no idea just how much change our organization would go through in the following years. AAEA was going through what can best be described as a soul-searching moment. A year earlier we had held a ‘strategic intent summit’ that revealed some 40% (!) of our members would reach retirement age within the next 10 years. It exposed a host of challenges AAEA would need to confront as our main medium, print, gave way to digital. We took a hard look at member benefits such as our monthly ByLine newsletter, networking, and professional development. Online and social media brought a raft of talented new communication specialists, including bloggers and content managers – and they were all potential AAEA members if we could figure out how to connect with them.
And this was all happening at a very challenging time in the ag economy as sponsorship support consolidated.
Our leadership team had agreed on a vision that would mean significant change over several years, concluding at our 100th anniversary in 2020. This included rebranding with a new name and reaching out to this diverse group of ag communicators. The new name – Ag Communicators Network – would reflect a growing, diverse membership of professionals who communicate about, to, and for agriculture. It was a signal that AAEA was not just for editors anymore. And that alone drew a great deal of debate among long-time members who worried the association was losing its focus.
And our newsletter? We were forced to admit there was little “news” if we only reached out once a month. After an update to the website – thank you Jamie Cole – we made the AAEA “ByLine in Brief” into an online-only, weekly must-read for members.
We were also transitioning management. Our long-time executive Den Gardner was moving on and we needed fresh eyes to help move the organization forward. After meeting with a select group of management hopefuls we hired Association Services Group (ASG) out of LaGrange, GA, with Samantha Kilgore as our lead executive. AAEA had hired its first female executive director and its first manager based outside the Midwest. And, we never looked back.
Like agriculture, there was never a dull moment for AAEA in those days. Like so many who have led the organization, I’m truly grateful for the support not just from our management team but also other volunteer leaders like my predecessor Elaine Shein and our vice president Julie Deering. And we could never have gotten through those big changes without the leadership of Steve Drake, who sadly passed away May 22, 2021. Steve, a veteran ag communicator and consultant, led the strategic visioning effort; he also guided us through the executive search that helped us land ASG and Samantha. AAEA will forever be in debt to Steve for his wisdom and guidance through that period.
All those changes took place with the overarching aim for AAEA to be recognized as the leader in professional development, engagement, and recognition of excellence through our contests. This goal is ongoing, challenged by retirements of many core editorial members and now, the pandemic. It’s hard to promote one of our association’s key benefits (networking) when experiences such as the Ag Media Summit are forced to go virtual – and on our 100-year anniversary, no less.
But that’s behind us now, and I thank President Gil Gullickson for his leadership during this strange time. As he wrote in a recent ByLine story: Certainty is replacing uncertainty. I believe this summer’s AMS will be a big step forward – a welcome chance to reconnect and meet some new folks face to face as they enter our ever-changing profession. A chance to swap stories and have some fun again – this time face to face.
Further, I believe AAEA / The Ag Communicators Network has a bright future. As president, I spent a lot of time cheering for young people to step up and take the reins of leadership. As I look at the current board of directors, it’s clear that’s been happening. The future of AAEA won’t look anything like what members my age experienced the last several years, and that’s how it should be.
I’m grateful for the many friends and new business relationships that have sprung from AAEA activities. I still consider my membership the best professional investment in time and money.
It’s the people and volunteer efforts that make every organization succeed.
Mike Wilson is the director of content for the Farm Futures market commentary and Farm Progress.