By Bill Spiegel, Byline Editor
The Ag Communicators Network has selected Corner Window Communications of New Prague, Minnesota, as its management group. The Board made the decision in August, following a round of interviews at the Ag Media Summit.
“As we looked at our organization’s mission to provide superior professional development and member services, plus cultivate new members and grow our sponsorship network, it was clear that Corner Window Communications checked all those boxes,” says Pam Caraway, ACN past president.
Corner Window is led by owner Kristy Mach, a veteran in the association management profession. For her, ACN is a familiar entity; she worked at Gardner and Gardner Communications, the ACN management team nearly two decades ago. Mach has also worked in television news, marketing and public relations.
“It’s a bit like coming home,” Mach says.
Corner Window has eight clients, including the Agricultural Relations Council, with a team of nine staff members to support those clients.
“We have an amazing team, and we are really excited to come back to ACN,” Mach adds.
Kristin Harner will be Corner Window’s team lead on ACN. A longtime communications professional, she worked at the Minnesota Farm Bureau for more than two decades and spent two years as the Director of Agriculture Communication at North Dakota State University. She grew up on a farm and graduated from South Dakota State University, before moving to Wisconsin, where she spent several years working at the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce, as director of agricultural programs. Her strengths also include committee and board management, fundraising, grant writing and leadership development, mainly for non-profits, not-for-profits and foundations.
While there will be a learning curve for Corner Window, Mach and Harner agree on four immediate priorities for ACN, including revenue/sponsorship, membership development, bolstering committee structure and organizational governance, plus the organization’s strategic intent going forward.
“We want to get in, see what ACN is doing, and work toward growing this organization,” Mach says. “The first year is always a learning curve. But [Corner Window] is not just going to sit back and do nothing.”
Corner Window succeeds Association Services Group, which has provided ACN’s management services for the last decade. ASG continues to be the manager of record for the Ag Media Summit, the joint annual meeting and professional development conference hosted by ACN, the Livestock Publications Council and Ag Media Council/Connectiv .