By Bill Spiegel, Byline Editor
Participants in a session at the 2024 AMS in Kansas City
When it comes down to it, the reasons you should plan on attending the 2025 Ag Media Summit, July 28-30 in Rogers, Arkansas, are too numerous to count. But we’re going to try:
1) Professional Development: More than 15 sessions over two days, with hands-on tips to further your career in writing, photography, leadership, and design.
2) Networking: Ample time to connect with old friends and meet new friends during social events, breaks and meals. One or more of those conservations could turn into your next lead, a new story or perhaps a new gig.
3) Recognition: AMS is where we find out who earned ACN’s Writer of the Year, Photographer of the Year and a slew of writing, photography and marketing communication awards.
4) Story ideas: Take part in the Northwest Arkansas Ag Tour and Photography Workshop on July 30, and gain insight into key ag industries, including poultry, catfish and regenerative ag–with an amazing conclusion to AMS 2025: an evening photography workshop led by Lindsay Kennedy, assistant professor at Texas Tech and a native of The Natural State.
“No matter where you’re coming from, no matter where you are in your career journey, or your practice–whether you’re a designer, writer, or more on the PR side or marketing–there is something here for you, something you can take to your office and begin deploying right away,” says Julie Deering, chair of the AMS Program Committee.
You won’t want to miss acclaimed author, columnist and musician Sean Dietrich, aka, Sean of the South, a columnist and storyteller whose work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, and seven published books. He is an incredible storyteller and will help attendees hone the craft of storytelling, Deering adds.
“He has a way of leaning into all the characters on his keyboard, sometimes in a little bit of an unconventional way, but I think that’s what makes him unique. How can we all take a piece of that and better connect with and reach our readers.”
The main event’s general and breakout sessions are designed to foster thought and conversation, and attendees will be able to carry those conversations forward into networking opportunities.
The topic of AI comes up in several sessions, Deering adds, including how ag companies are investing in farmer-focused tools and technologies that center around AI, plus how to write for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), so that writers can leverage their expertise and experience, while thwarting disinformation.
AI is going to take up a lot of oxygen at this conference. Some people are uncomfortable with it, and others feel like they don’t know enough about it and others are using it,” she explains. During one general session, Eric Braun, Farm Progress and Emilie Hitch, broadhead, will talk about their respective companies’ approach to using AI: what are the red flags, what are they learning, what did they discover along the way?
There is so much more to AMS, and more reasons to attend than you can count. But the most important one? This conference lets you focus on yourself.
“There are very few spaces where you can come and focus solely on your own skillset and your own network,” Deering says. “What I’ve learned over the years is that I may fill a notebook and have a few ideas I can use right away. But a few years later, I can still reference those notes, or refer to a speaker I heard, or a connection I made.
“For me, Ag Media Summit has been invaluable in terms of helping me with editorial and content planning goals and providing me with tools and technologies that help me put together stronger editorial plans,” she adds.
You can attend the full event, which includes an off-site welcome party Sunday evening, at the member rate for $500 before July 11 or $620 starting July 12. The post-conference tour is an additional $250. Click here for registration.
Deering credits the hard work of the AMS Planning Committee, which includes Morgan Boecker, Certified Angus Beef; Lisa Bryant, Cowboy Connection Designs and Communications; Anna Miller, Western Livestock Journal; Chel Terrell, Gulf Coast Publishing; Mike Wilson, Farm Progress; Jamie Cole, Red Barn Media; Jeff Miller, University of Arkansas and Pam Caraway, Farm Progress.
AMS is the nation’s largest gathering of agricultural industry writers, editors, photographers, publishers, and strategic communicators. ACN, Livestock Publications Council and the Ag Media Council host it.