By Carley Calico Morrison

As a new assistant professor, Ag Media Summit (AMS) was a great experience. I have a master’s degree in agricultural communications but have been absent from the discipline for several years. Attending AMS reaffirmed why I chose agricultural communications in the first place. I attended several of the sessions hosted by AMS as well and the research sessions hosted by the Association of Communications Excellence (ACE).

While every aspect of the conference was enjoyable, I found the most value in the technical design sessions. I appreciated how John McWade, the presenter of Design Deep Dive part I and 2 and Let Art Work, took a practical approach to quality layout and graphic design. His sessions were a great reminder of the importance of design principles. He shared excellent examples of good, and not so good, designs that I am looking forward to sharing with my students at Mississippi State University.

Everyone who attended the meeting was passionate about telling agriculture’s story. This was evident in short conversations between sessions, during meals, and at the awards banquet. I feel lucky to have been able to experience this joint meeting between AMS and ACE. I learned and networked with experts in our field and left the conference energized and ready to share what I learned with my colleagues and students.