| Join The One Club By Betsy Freese, chair of Membership Committee The membership committee is kicking things up a notch with an exciting new plan this year. The goal is to have 400 members by the end of our fiscal year -- July 31, 2008. We have about 385 members now. The goal may not sound like much, but in an industry that could easily shrink in numbers each year if we let it, this will take some work. First, we are offering a steep discount to new members. Our normal fee to join AAEA is $170. For new members in 2008, we will entice them to sign up for just $100! What a deal. Plus, there will be an incentive for current members. If you sign someone up who hasn't been a member before, you get a $25 Visa Gift card. Surely everyone can find one person in the industry who should be a member and isn't, whether it is a freelancer, photographer, graphic designer, or communicator in a company or agency. The idea is to create a great incentive for people to join (especially affiliates). The committee is preparing a special email message to a group of at least 100 prospects we've identified. What is The One Club? That's a new club we've created to encourage everyone to find new members for AAEA. Find just one new member and you are now a member of The One Club. You get the $25 gift card for each new member you recruit, and you will be invited to a special event at the 2008 Agricultural Media Summit. Stay tuned for more details. All you have to do is notify us when you find out a new member you recruited has joined our organization. It's that simple. Bottom line: this is for new members only between now and the end of the fiscal year, July 31. The One Club is a plan to get all our members engaged in finding just one new member. Questions, comments, ideas? The membership committee wants to hear from
you. We are:
Remember AAEA PIF in Your Year-end Giving By Paul Queck, AAEA Professional Improvement Foundation chair Watch for a mid-November email asking for you to remember AAEA's Professional Improvement Foundation (PIF) in your end-of year giving. Your donation to PIF will be used to continue and expand professional improvement opportunities such as Webinars, regional professional improvement meetings, scholarships for ag journalism students, and grants for AAEA members to attend courses, seminars and International Federation of Agricultural Journalists congresses. Last year AAEA's past presidents led the way by challenging themselves to each give $200 for professional improvement. A dozen met the challenge last year and plans are to continue the Presidents' Club for 2008. Donating will be quick and easy this year as the AAEA Web site is set up so you can make your donation online. PIF is a non-profit 501 C3 organization, so contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Paul Queck can be reached at pqueck@aol.com.
Harold Johnson Fund contributes $5,000 to PIF The AAEA Professional Improvement Foundation (PIF) has received a $5,000 grant from the Harold and Joan Johnson Family Fund. Harold, as many long-time AAEA members know, worked for many years as an ag editor, first for Farm Industry News, then as creator and owner of Farm Show magazine. Harold died of Parkinson's disease about a year ago. His wife Joan had passed away in the late 1990s. One of Farm Show magazine's long-time editors, Bill Gergen, said the disease took its toll over the years on Harold, but "he still had a sharp mind and wanted to contribute to AAEA." Mark Newall, editor and publisher of Farm Show magazine, said Harold always loved attending AAEA meetings. "He loved AAEA because of the way it brought ag editors together," he said. Harold also made numerous other contributions to organizations through his family fund. On behalf of the entire membership, AAEA says thank you to the surviving
family of Harold and Joan Johnson for this marvelous gift to PIF. A letter
of thanks was sent to the family upon receipt of the gift. Stay Tuned for Distance Learning By Linda Smith, Member Services Committee chair The Member Services Committee is finalizing plans for two Webinars. The first will cover how to size and imbed a graphic element into and format an email, tentatively planned for 30 minutes on Dec. 18, 2007, at a cost of $30. The second will cover editorial blogs -- benefit to publications, how to make them valuable to readers, and the ins and outs of blogging. It will last one hour and take place in January, at a cost of $40. This is a great chance to learn new skills from the comfort of your office. Watch your email and the AAEA Web site for more details. Join us! Linda Smith, executive editor, Top Producer, can be reached at 215-557-8960 or lsmith@farmjournal.com.
Save The Date -- Regional Workshop Please mark your calendars for The Nuts and Bolts of Ag Communications: Midwest Regional Design & Writing Workshop jointly organized by AAEA and Livestock Publications Council (LPC) members on April 10, 2008, in Des Moines, Iowa. This is the second workshop in Des Moines and we are hoping for an even bigger crowd. The agenda includes traditional media, non-traditional and emerging media as well as interactive and motivational speakers to get us fired up or recharged. The workshop also includes a farmer panel, so come hear what our audience needs and wants. Registration information will be available in early 2008. Hope to see you there! |