At the conclusion of the IFAJ Congress and Ag Media Summit there were a number of tours.
Thanks to Denny McClintic I have a photo of the group that went on the South Texas tour. He also sent a few more which have been added to the IFAJ Congress/Ag Media Summit Photo Album. I think I have more coming from the other tours which will be added to the album when I receive them.
Looks like this group had a good time.
We’ve got lots of photos for your viewing pleasure in our online photo album. We had some problems with it and had to delete them and re-upload them this morning. We might have a few more to add too but I think you’ll find plenty to provide you with lasting memories.
Here’s the link to use for IFAJ Congress/Ag Media Summit photos:
We are so happy that all of you were able to attend the Congress and the Ag Media Summit. We will continue to make entries here with pictures and coverage. If you have something you want to post, let us know so we can create a link to it or post it here. Thanks to everyone for your support — we hope you had a great time!
All registrants to the IFAJ Congress 2009 received a great wild west souvenir to take home with them. These leather note pad holders were all printed with our names. We certainly hope you enjoy them.
If you attended this year’s IFAJ Congress for your first time I’d love to know your thoughts on meeting with fellow ag journalists from other countries. Did you find it helpful? What did you get out of the relationships you made?
Although I could not attend the combined IFAJ Congress/Ag Media Summit that doesn’t mean I didn’t stay in touch. I called Greg Lamp, Corn & Soybean Digest, and Co-Chair of the event when he was on a break to find out how it went.
Greg says the mix of U.S. and international visitors has worked out great and the event is a success. Many of our international guests commented that the “cowboy spirit” they’ve experienced is just what they hoped it would be. Greg says he’s caught that spirit too. Sounds like a lot of hats and boots are going home from this conference.
So listen to my chat with Greg to hear his thoughts on the conference. Just click on the audio player below.
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The president of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists Mike Wilson of Farm Progress Companies opened the general session of the 2009 Congress in Fort Worth Saturday morning with a few words about the direction of the organization.
Mike reported on the further development of the IFAJ website and plans for future congresses that may include the first ever congress in South America. “We’re trying to go to as many different countries as possible,” Mike said. IFAJ is adding two new countries this year – Slovenia and Kenya.
He also talked about a history of IFAJ which is being compiled. During an interview with me, Mike related how in the ’60s the United States first became involved with the group, which originally started in Europe over 50 years ago. “It was called the International Union of Agricultural Journalists and when the Americans were approached and they said we will join but we really have a problem with the word ‘union’ so they changed it to ‘federation’ and the Americans became a part of it.”
He also talked about hiring the first IFAJ part time executive secretary Connie Siemes from Holland and what that has done to help free up the officers to do less paperwork and more member work.
Listen to an interview with Mike here:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
It was the Flinchbaugh-Stenholm show Sunday morning at the first combined session for the IFAJ Congress and the Ag Media Summit. A full house was entertained by the musings and mutterings of “The Great Debate” between former Texas congressman Charlie Stenholm and retired K-State ag economist Barry Flichbaugh.
The crowd had lots of questions for the two after their debate over ag and international trade policy, as did several reporters after the fact. It was interesting to hear the international journalists ask questions about climate change policy and animal rights activism. Our own Joanna Schroeder and Kansas Ag Network reporter Greg Akagi also interviewed them both.
Listen or download to a mix of reporter interviews with Charlie Stenholm here – international questions followed by Greg and Joanna’s interview:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
The executive committee of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) has already met and the program is underway. President Mike Wilson of Farm Progress Companies reported that the organization is working on increasing membership from different countries and that the website is becoming a more effective tool in getting information out about what IFAJ is and what it does. They hope to expand the website into different languages in the future. There are currently brochures about IFAJ available for download on the website in five languages – English, German, Spanish, Russian and Japanese.
We’ve got an online photo album started which will be added to throughout the combined IFAJ Congress and Ag Media Summit: IFAJ/AMS 2009 Photo Album. Please check it often and feel free to download photos for your use.