The definition of AMS

We want to be sure that everyone who is planning to come to the IFAJ Congress in Fort Worth, Texas, has all the information that we can offer to make your experience enjoyable. We also want to be sure to explain our U.S. traditions and make sure that you, as our international friends, feel welcome.

As you read through all of the Congress information, you will see AAEA, LPC, ACT and AMS, and might start to wonder what all of these letters mean!
AAEA means American Agricultural Editors’ Association (American guild’s official name)
LPC means Livestock Publications Council (organization consisting of mostly livestock magazines)
ACT means Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (student organization at our universities)
AMS means Agricultural Media Summit (combination of AAEA, LPC and ACT members’ annual meeting)

Here is a more detailed explanation of AMS:
AMS is for Agricultural Media Summit. You can kind of look at it like the U.S. version of the IFAJ Congress. It is our annual conference and its purpose is to provide professional development and educational opportunities for the attendees. When we refer to professional development it means that we have workshops that focus on making us better writers, photographers, and graphic designers (plus much more). We also learn how to be productive in our jobs and even learn about new computer programs which may include becoming better workers in such programs as Adobe and Microsoft .   

The AMS also has a trade show with more than 70 companies who promote their products, new innovations, technology and with editors, writers and others who are interested in creating a business network. Many story ideas are created from the trade show which we call InfoExpo.

This year the IFAJ Congress is going to start as it has in the past and you will all be together as the Congress starting on Friday, July 31. As the weekend progresses, the AMS will begin and the two events will “blend” together. Even though each one will have its own identity, we want all of our international friends to get to know the AMS friends. This event has been discussed for many years and our U.S. attendees are very excited to get to be a part of such a great Congress.

I’m going to keep posting on some more details, but please let us know your questions!