Ten Opinions About AAEA

By John Walter, AAEA president

Timothy Egan, who won the National Book Award last year for his book about the Dust Bowl, "The Worst Hard Time," recently started blogging for The New York Times' Web site. Egan says there is a conventional wisdom, at least among his friends, that everyone has 10 opinions.

Reading this and having a column due, I thought, heck, I bet even I have 10 opinions about AAEA. Well, anyway, I'll try:

1. The ethics committee's work in revising the code of ethics in 2006 is one of the major milestones in recent AAEA history. We need to keep circling back to ensure we're all still on the same path.

2. Working with your colleagues who are in some cases your competitors in the industry is a gratifying experience.

3. You should recruit one member this year. Join the One Club. You'll feel like you gave something back to our organization, and you'll get to join the party in Florida.

4. You should add attendance at an IFAJ Congress to your list of X things to do before you die. And if you're anywhere near as old as me, you might want to think about going to the Congress in Austria and Slovenia this year.

5. We should have an AAEA blog. Maybe we could pass it around. Who wants to go first?

6. AAEA is doing a good job of helping us keep up with communications technologies. Witness the recent work of the membership services committee with planning Webinars, and the upcoming regional workshop in Des Moines.

7. We have a world-class professional staff, making our work as volunteers so much easier. Den, Kenna, Barb, Liz, please take a bow.

8. The awards programs are the sticky glue of membership. What better incentive to renew your membership than winning an award or aspiring to win one? Plaudits for the ongoing fine work of that committee.

9. PIF is cool. You feel good making a contribution to a fund that helps take care of our profession. And, there are ways you can be awarded a grant from the AAEA Professional Improvement Foundation, if you pay attention.

10. The Agricultural Media Summit should be on your list of 10 things to do this year. If you haven't been in a while, you'll see that this thing has grown into one of ag's premiere events. See you in Florida.

John Walter is director of multimedia at Successful Farming/Agriculture Online. You can reach him at 515-284-2802 or john.walter@meredith.com.