Save the Date: Midwest Regional Workshop is Sept. 21

July 6, 2018
By Cynthia Clanton, CHS Inc. Sharpen your writing and photography skills and get a glimpse of new tech solutions at the Midwest Regional Workshop planned for Sept. 21, at CHS headquarters, 5500 Cenex Drive, Inver Grove Heights, Minn. Featured speaker Stephen Wilbers is a nationally recognized writing coach and award-winning author. His interactive, entertaining workshop will provide keys for effective writing, practice sessions and useful examples to help you add clarity and value to your writing. Workshop attendees will receive Wilbers’ presentation and helpful handouts; a PDF with additional resources, searchable quick-reference guides and links to dozens of exercises; and steps for developing a one-month writing self-improvement program. Afternoon breakout sessions will include tips from leading photographers, a look at online analytics tools to understand audiences and unearth story ideas, and a sampling of what’s new on the tech horizon. A lively panel of communications professionals will close the afternoon with a thought-provoking discussion around our role as ag communicators. CHS is located about 10 miles east of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Check the workshop agenda and find hotel suggestions here. Give your career a boost and enjoy time with other AAEA members and friends at this workshop created especially for you. We hope to see you in Minnesota in September! Workshop schedule 9:00 a.m.: Registration/networking 9:30 a.m.: Welcome 9:45 a.m.: General session: A Guide to More Effective Writing: Finding Your Voice (presenter: Stephen Wilbers) Noon: Lunch/networking 12:45 p.m.: 2019 AMS and IFAJ preview 1:00 p.m.: Breakout sessions 1
  • Photo/video track: Getting the Most from Every Shoot
  • Content track: Online Listening Tools – What’s New, What Works, How You Can Use Them to Understand and Connect with Audiences
2:00 p.m.: Breakout sessions 2
  • Photo/video track: Strategies for Selecting and Optimizing Photography in Print
  • Content track: What’s the Next New Technology? Augmented Reality and More
2:45 p.m.: Panel discussion: Finding the Balance: Are We Ag Supporters or Objective Observers? (Moderator: Kurt Lawton; expert panelists) 3:30 p.m.: Adjourn   Stephen Wilbers’ Bio: Stephen Wilbers is a keynote speaker, speech coach and award-winning author. His training seminars in effective writing have helped more than 10,000 creative, business, technical, legal and academic writers. Wilbers’ columns on effective writing have appeared in newspapers and magazines across the country, and he has taught written and oral presentation skills at the University of Minnesota’s Technological Leadership Institute since 1998. He has also taught in the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management M.B.A. Program, the Program in American Studies, and the Program in Creative and Professional Writing. He has written several books on writing, including Mastering the Craft of Writing: How to Write with Clarity, Emphasis, and Style and Keys to Great Writing: Mastering the Elements of Composition and Revision, as well as three books about northern Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Learn more at www.wilbers.com