Today’s meeting was very well attended. Mike Wilson, Greg Lamp and Diane Johnson helped the various committees working on next year’s event. Also making sure all the heavy lifting gets done behind the scenes were Den Gardner and Kenna Rathai who are the AAEA staff. We’ll also be updating the committees list but there’s a whole bunch of people making sure this program turns into one of the best ever.

We had quite a few people who had not been assigned to a committee but that got corrected and I’m happy to say that my marketing and communications committee now has more than two members and we came up with some great ideas that included incorporating some new social networking tools in our efforts.

We’re looking forward to showcasing American agriculture in Ft.Worth, TX next year!

By the way, if you’d like to see pictures from this year’s AMS, which just ended today, then feel free to visit the online photo album. It contains some pictures of Florida from a few days before the AMS got started too: Ag Media Summit Photo Album

For questions about InfoExpo, please contact:
Laurie Potter, InfoExpo chair, (515) 284-2853

In the meantime, plans are continuing for next year’s Congress which will be held in conjunction with our Agricultural Media Summit (AMS). In fact, at this year’s AMS we’re holding a planning meeting for everyone in attendance to provide their input and volunteer to help. It will be held from 8:30am to 11:00am on Wednesday morning, July 30 at Saddlebrook Resort.

I’m sure we’ll have some more updates for you after that time.

Sponsorship packets are almost ready and will be published soon. For those of you who have been AMS sponsors, keep in mind that in 2009 we’re going to be having hundreds of international agricultural journalists coming to the event.

I’m looking for your input and ideas on ways to continue to develop the Congress website. Please feel free to send me an email.

Fort Worth is home to the 53rd IFAJ Congress

Howdy y’all!

That means “welcome” in Texas. You had better get used to that greeting because you’ll hear it frequently at the IFAJ Congress in Fort Worth, TX, in 2009. This will be a one-of-kind Congress because IFAJ will be sharing some of the professional development programs that are planned for the U.S. Agricultural Media Summit (AMS).

Don’t worry, there will be plenty of IFAJ-only events, but we have a unique opportunity to capitalize on some excellent seminars and speakers that the AMS group is planning.

For example, there will be sessions on:

• How to take digital photos like a pro.
• Ways to kick-start your writing with better story ideas.
• Designing web sites to boost online traffic.
• How to keep your team creative and happy.
• Ways to work effectively with different generations.

As with all Congresses, plan on seeing Texas up close. For perspective, Texas – known as the Lone Star State – is slightly larger than France.

During the meeting, we will have tours to family farms with a variety of agriculture products, and ranches with real cowboys. Plus, we’ll offer three, post-tours you won’t want to miss – trips that will take you to north, south and west Texas – each with unique looks at this vast state with infinite variety. Watch the web site for details on what tour each will provide, and for Congress updates.

Mike Wilson, Farm Futures and Greg Lamp, Corn and Soybean Digest
Congress Co-Chairs

The dates for the joint IFAJ Congress and Ag Media Summit will be July 29 through August 5, 2009. The location is the Worthington Renaissance Hotel in downtown Fort Worth. We are expecting this to draw more than 200 international IFAJ members and guests.

On the 29th, our international arrivals will begin with the majority of the IFAJ activities taking place on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, August 2, the two events will “blend” and the IFAJ delegates will start to take part in the AMS activities. The AMS basically stays on a similar schedule with the big welcome party on Sunday night followed by our usual schedule of workshops on Monday and Tuesday. The grand opening of the InfoExpo will also take place on Monday afternoon and extend through Tuesday, just like it does now. The Congress always ends with a big send-off party on the final night and we will adhere to this tradition and incorporate our awards functions into the biggest party this event has ever seen! Officially the event will be over Wednesday morning August 5th, although that day the post-convention tours will begin.

Traditionally the Congresses emphasize tours so we want to showcase American agriculture with the obvious emphasis being in Texas. At the same time we want to show off our quality professional development seminars so the schedule is being designed so that everyone has the chance to do some of each. Right now, there are tours scheduled for Saturday afternoon and all day on Tuesday plus a set of three post-convention tours to three different areas of Texas that will start on Wednesday. All of these are geared to the IFAJ delegates however everyone is welcome to go on them.

The AMS Steering Committee has been working on this for many years now. There is a separate committee structure for this event and it is going full force right now. If you are interested in participating in the planning it is not too late! The committees include:

Program
Sponsorship
Marketing and Communications
InfoExpo
Hospitality/Appreciation
Finance & Budget
Registration
Transportation and Tours

There will also be an opportunity for the local Fort Worth and Texas members to become involved as the event gets closer. There are mountains of things to do and we need you!