Agricultural Communication & Journalism Internships

Ringel Farms- Sarah Krehbiel

Posted on November 27, 2017 by kmtully

I interned with Ringel Farms out of Alma, Kansas this past summer. They grow grass fed beef, pastured pork, and chickens. They marketed their products at the Downtown Topeka Farmers Markets throughout the spring and summer. They also have a website. My duties were to create a brochure about their farm and products, create a monthly (which ended up being bimonthly) newsletter, keep their Facebook page up to date, and various other promotional posters. I learned about this internship through an email from the ACJ department. To apply next year, there will be an email sent out through the department next spring.

My favorite part about this internship was attending farmers markets and interacting with the consumers. My least favorite part of this internship was that it was unpaid, however the internship was remote, so I was able to live at home and work with them via email and phone calls.

I learned that you have to be extremely clear and concise when promoting agriculture to the public. My biggest growth is being able to better convey a clear, concise and truthful message about agriculture to consumers, farmers, and ranchers.

I plan to have a pick-your-own vegetable farm with my sister next summer. Our main goal is to educate the public about agriculture and where their food comes from and how it is raised. This internship has showed me how to better educate the public and even farmers and ranchers, on agriculture and promoting agriculture. It has showed me just how important it is to educate the public!

This internship is not just for any individual. Ringel Farms is looking for an individual that can help them better implement agricultural communications to promote and disseminate their products. At the end of the internship, I realize more than before, how very important it is to convey a truthful message about agriculture not only to the public but also to the farmers and ranchers.

International Grains Program Institute -Taylor Belle Matheny

Posted on November 7, 2017November 7, 2017 by kmtully

The start of a new year is a time many of us enjoy to begin something new. For me, the beginning of 2017 was the start of my internship at the International Grains Program (IGP) Institute. The IGP Institute focuses on serving Kansas and U.S. grain commodity organizations through education. Each month Manhattan welcomes domestic and international participants that are attending a course hosted by IGP.

As an intern, my responsibilities include developing the Stakeholder News Brief, writing press releases, writing year in review story’s, updating the website, and taking course photos. The ability to develop my skills and grow in these different areas has opened my eyes to an entire new side of agriculture.

From the beginning, I wanted to challenge myself and grow during the internship. The courses I took prior to my internship taught me the basics of writing, photography and design, but I knew that I needed to develop a stronger set of skills. Throughout the semester I have been challenged in each area and have seen improvements in my skill set. One of my greatest improvements was being able to use Adobe software to create graphics that are appealing to our target audience.

Looking toward the future and a career, each aspect of my internship will be useful in the workforce. The skills I learned will be applied to my future career, but I believe other parts of my internship will be just as beneficial. Learning to communicate with others in the office outside of the communications department has taught me how to work with all types of coworkers. These lessons have allowed me step outside my comfort zone and network with other individuals.

The most exciting part of my internship can be tied to the famous line; “no two days are the same”. Each morning I enjoy being assigned new tasks that aren’t in my normal day-to-day routine. The various projects with IGP commodity partners and within the institute make that line come to life. This has made each day different and has given me the chance to use my creativity on projects.

The ability to learn about a different aspect of the agriculture industry has been the most rewarding part of my internship. Being raised on a beef cattle operation in Kentucky, I didn’t have a true understanding of the grain segment of our industry. My internship has given me the chance the combine my passion for learning, agriculture and communications into one remarkable experience.

Land O’ Lakes- Shaylee Arpin

Posted on October 16, 2017 by kmtully

Many people see the name Land O’Lakes, Inc. and recognize it as the butter company. But what they don’t know is that Land O’Lakes is so much more than that.

This summer I interned for Land O’Lakes in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a communications intern for the multiple Land O’Lakes entities: Purina Livestock Nutrition, WinField United and Land O’Lakes Dairy Foods.

Land O’Lakes is a national, enterprise cooperative made up of smaller, regional or local cooperatives. The member cooperatives can either be dairy or crop cooperatives, or both. Cooperatives makes up the enterprise of Land O’Lakes that includes a farm to fork view.

Throughout the summer, I had opportunities to work with producers all over the U.S. and write articles for the Land O’Lakes member news website and intranet along with completing a summer-long project.

The communications team at Land O’Lakes is made up of smaller teams, each having a particular communications focus. This summer, I focused on member and governance communications.

The Land O’Lakes member news site is updated with stories almost daily. Over the summer, I wrote more than 10 articles that were published on the news site and internally through Land O’Lakes’ intranet. My favorite article I wrote was about two Kansas producers who attended a conference in D.C. representing Land O’Lakes.

I also wrote direct member communications for our governance department. This included information from new board member elections to new regulations passed through legislation. I also got to design a campaign surrounding leader elections. This included a new look and new messaging.

This summer, main project was developing the communications plan and media for the Best Talent Survey. A survey taken every two years and used to benchmark the Land O’Lakes workplace environment and how employee feel about their team and job.

Overall, I really enjoyed getting to learn about the differences between a regional and national co-op and my summer projects. Land O’Lakes provided me with the opportunity to improve my writing and editing skills. Additionally, being able to develop and work through a communications plan will be an important skill for my future career.

Land O’Lakes has a ton of opportunities for interns. From working in the field to working in the corporate office, students have many options for internships. To find out more about their opportunities, visit the Land O’Lakes website landolakesinc.com. In addition, Land O’Lakes has expanded their Global Food Challenge to include Kansas State University. The Global Food Challenge is open to all sophomores, regardless of major and provides students with a summer learning about global agriculture and trips throughout the U.S. and to South Africa. For more information visit foodchallenge.landolakesinc.com or contact me.

American Shorthorn Association- Leah Giess

Posted on October 16, 2017October 16, 2017 by kmtully

Growing up in the cattle industry I knew instantly that I would love to intern at a breed association. I am very active in my Junior Association and knew I had the knowledge and experience to feel comfortable in this internship setting. However, going behind the scenes of a junior nationals or leadership conference is A LOT more work than what it seems when you are just attending or participating in the event, it was truly a learning experience.

In May I started my position as the Communications and Marketing intern for the American Shorthorn Association in Kansas City, MO. In my position I assisted in the planning and scheduling of the social media pages for ASA, AJSA and NJS. I researched for promotional items and assisted in the production of the Association’s publications. Other duties included graphic design, press releases, website updates, photography, and videography.

Some of the projects I enjoyed the most this past summer, were working on the exhibitor folder for the National Junior Shorthorn Show, and interviewing junior exhibitors for spotlight articles in Shorthorn Country magazine that will be published continuously throughout the year. Another fun activity the other interns and I did was weekly blog posts. These blog posts included everything from beef recipes to our go-to stockshow jam playlist.

Another exciting opportunity about this internship that I loved was the opportunity to travel. The National Junior Shorthorn Show was in Tulsa, OK and the IGS-Summit Youth Leadership Congress was in Lincoln, NE. These trips were filled with hard work but also spontaneous trips to the Tulsa aquarium and Karaoke nights in Lincoln.

The most important thing about this internship is that it is amazingly fun. Everyone in the Shorthorn office is so kind and really wants the interns to learn and grow. The other interns and I would host spontaneous hula-hoop competitions and insist on fiesta potlucks. I would recommend this internship to anyone who has a strong connection or interest in the cattle industry and would like to understand the ins and outs of a breed association.

Kansas 4-H Foundation Intern- Janae McKinney

Posted on October 16, 2017October 16, 2017 by kmtully

As a freshman it was a bit of a struggle to find an internship which was welcoming and inviting to underclassmen. However, I found my perfect fit at the Kansas 4-H Foundation where I worked with two other interns, Mikey Hughes and Ben Yarnell. I started in April, where I tried to help complete as many projects as possible before I left on my Italy study abroad trip. In May, I would be gone in the thick of the foundation’s event planning. Luckily my trip finished just two days before the first event I helped with, the 4-H Emerald Circle Banquet.

I had attendee the banquet before but I had never seen the ins-and-outs of the operation. After helping with both the banquet and Friends of 4-H Day, I discovered my passion for event planning which has led me to dual-major in Hospitality Management and Agricultural Communications.

Throughout the summer I was able to work well with different mentors in various areas of the foundation. I started with events, completed writing and press releases, made donor contacts and finished the summer with a well-rounded experience. I loved getting to dabble in multiple areas of communication and work with a team. Coming to work and catching up with everyone in the office was always fun.

I would highly recommend this internship to anyone interested in communications, agricultural or otherwise. This internship would also work well for a person with a background in 4-H since I worked with 4-H projects and donors all summer. For a first-time interning opportunity, I loved getting to see how a great team works together and communicates effectively. It created a high standard of a working environment for me to work in one day.

My Summer Working for Monsanto- Danielle Comstock

Posted on October 16, 2017 by kmtully

Oh, the sweet silence of the office at 7 a.m. This is my favorite time at work because it is the time that I leisurely check my email, sip on my coffee, and mentally prepare what I need to accomplish for the day. However, today I am reflecting on my summer at Monsanto because today is my last day.

I first heard about this opportunity when my little, Kaylyn, sent me a screenshot of the job posting. “Corporate Employee Communications Intern,” it said. I’m not going to lie, my heart dropped a little when I read the job description and found out that the internship was doing internal communications. I said “Thanks, but no thanks,” and moved on with the job search. But something kept tugging at me to give it a second thought. Internal communications was something I’d never considered, but it would be a great opportunity to challenge myself and grow professionally.

I opened my laptop and applied. Weeks later, Dierdra Yates, my future manager, offered me the job. She gave me three days to accept, but me, being the eager student I am, asked if I could accept the job right then. After Dierdra said “of course” she gave me all the specifics of the job. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t listening. I was already out the door and walking to go tell my best friend the good news when she got out of class.

I began the internship on May 15, where most of the interns gathered in a room for our orientation. There, I met some really cool people. Monsanto hired interns from many different backgrounds. Some who came from farms, and some who didn’t know the difference between a corn plant and a soybean plant. There were interns from all over the globe, and interns who I consider to be way smarter than me. There were science and research interns, finance interns, even legal interns. And then there was me, one of the communications interns.

At orientation, University Relations encouraged us to begin networking right away. One of my favorite things about Monsanto is that no one is too good to talk to you. I met with several people from all over the company. It didn’t matter to them that I was only an intern. Everyone was willing to share their knowledge and experience with me. Whether they gave me an hour or 15 minutes, they took time out of their schedule to learn about my career goals and offer their insight.

During my internship, my two main responsibilities were to manage the weekly St. Louis Scoop newsletter that went out to the 4,000+ employees in St. Louis, and help with planning and promoting for the company Ambassador program.

The Ambassador program trains employees to have meaningful and informed conversations about Monsanto and modern agriculture. Working with the Ambassador program was a great experience because, if you haven’t heard, Bayer is in the process of acquiring Monsanto. A lot of employees were asking the question “Why do we need to talk to people about Monsanto if Monsanto isn’t going to be a thing anymore?” The thing is, agriculture is going through a lot of changes right now, and the Bayer deal is just one of them. It was my team’s job to show ambassadors why we needed them now more than ever.

My main project with the program was to create and implement a campaign to recruit employees to the program. My team also just created a survey for members to fill out that would help them personalize the program to each individual ambassador, which I also promoted. With this project, I learned how to create a campaign using goals, strategies, and tactics.

Kristen, the person I worked most closely with on the team, challenged me to step outside of my comfort zone while we were running the campaign. When we were promoting at the Chesterfield campus, we were having a hard time getting people to stop at our booth. Kristen made me leave the booth, *gasp* and go talk to people while they were eating lunch. *bigger gasp* I felt terribly awkward the entire time but it worked! After employees finished their lunch, they came to our booth.

We didn’t meet all our goals for the project, but that is another thing I learned. It’s okay to not meet every goal you set. When you don’t meet a goal, it gives you an opportunity to learn from it and try again with new strategies. I have struggled with this personally my whole life. It becomes easy to feel less of yourself and grow weary when you fail. But the path to success isn’t all green arrows. As our CEO, Hugh Grant, might say, red arrows are okay sometimes. They motivate us to improve.

Monsanto evaluates all employees on five core competencies: Relationships and Networks, Courage and Candor, Agility, Initiative and Foresight, and Results Orientation. Three times this summer, we were asked to evaluate ourselves on these competencies. At the beginning, where we identified which ones were our weaknesses and strengths; halfway through, where we reflected on how we had progressed on each one; and last week, our final evaluation of how we had grown in each competency. While Dierdra and Kristen told me that I possessed courage and candor on my first day, I know differently.

When UR told us that we would be evaluated on these, I knew my weakest one would be courage and candor. I often am self-conscious and afraid to share my ideas. So, during orientation, I made it my goal to be courageous and confident this summer. At the beginning, it was definitely me putting on a lion’s mask and pretending with all that I had. However, now, I feel confident and courageous. This is where I grew the most this summer and I can’t wait to carry it with me in my future.

In closing, Monsanto has been an amazing company to work for. Not only because I am passionate about everything the company stands for, but also because the people here are amazing. They are all caring, whole-hearted, passionate people who work diligently to pursue agricultural innovation and each person knows the value of investing in people. I am so grateful for the people who chose to invest in me this summer. I would recommend this internship to anyone, and you can apply for this internship and many more here when they start recruiting!

With that, I’m off to my last newsroom meeting. *sobs quietly*

Kansas Wheat Commissions – Hannah Schlapp

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Courtney Boman

Since October of 2016, I have had the pleasure of working at the Kansas Wheat Commissions office as a communications intern. Working at the wheat office has given me a completely different perspective on the wheat industry, and for the better. Coming from northern Illinois, wheat is not something we typically see, so even though I was the communications intern, I have learned a manifold of information about wheat and the industry surrounding it.

Kansas Wheat’s main goal is to produce profitable innovations in wheat. They are in a cooperative agreement with Kansas Association of Wheat Growers to help fund research projects to get new wheat technology to the producer’s hands more quickly.

Since working here, I have had the opportunity to write articles, help design monthly magazines in InDesign and design ads. I also had the opportunity to help with the National Festival of Bread competition by interviewing all competition finalists and writing a bio.

Working for Kansas Wheat has been a huge benefit to me in terms of knowledge and growth. I have learned so many things about the communications side of a business, that there are multiple different types of wheat (because I really had no idea), and I have even had some of my articles get published in the High Plains Journal and other sites.

Since I had recently switched my major, I had very little experience with most things in communications and journalism going into my internship. While interning I have grown my writing skills and design skills, including InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator.

The Kansas Wheat Commission is an internship I would suggest to anyone who is looking for a communications job. Between the great people who work there, a snack table with goodies, and the work required, you are able to learn so much and have fun at the same time.

Mid Kansas Cooperative – Shaylee Arpin

Posted on April 17, 2017 by Courtney Boman

Most kids growing up in a large town or city have little access to knowledge about agriculture, farming or even something as simple as where their food comes from. My story would have been the same if my parents had not put my siblings and me into the Central Kansas District 4-H program. For twelve years, I dove head first into learning and soaking up as much information as I could. Because of my experiences with the 4-H program, I chose to major in agricultural communications and journalism with a minor in animal science and industry at Kansas State University.

Through the past 10 months, I have interned with Mid Kansas Cooperative (MKC). I joined MKC in January as part of the Collegiate Career Development Program. A program designed to turn interns into professionals and hopefully retain interns for full-time positions with partners of the program including MKC, Dow, WinField, CoBank and Land O’Lakes. Normal internships run from late May to early August.

To share my experiences, I built a list of the most valuable lessons I learned and my experiences learning them.

Writing is THE most important skill you will learn.

Throughout my ACJ and journalism classes, I had professors tell me that even if I was not as interested in writing as I was in photography or graphic design, I would still have to know how to write. Boy, were they more right than I knew. For MKC, I wrote feature articles that were placed into the employee newsletter and online.

Fake it until you make it or just ask.

I learned as I went further into my internship that if I did not know how to do something, I could sit and try to figure it out or I could just as easily ask! My boss was always willing to show me how to do something. One of my main responsibilities was to produce the employee newsletter. When I started I had trouble working with the formatting of the newsletter. My boss was more than willing to teach me how to do something or what I could do to change an element to make it better.

You probably don’t know exactly what you’re good at.

Throughout an internship, you will get lots of experience in various areas. I found through my internship that I have a passion for graphic design. Before, I focused on working on my photography skills. Now, I have a passion for both and can work on both skills!

You’re going to grow a lot.

My internship at MKC has made me grow both professionally but also personally. I think my biggest area of growth throughout the internship has been learning how to work in a professional setting and how to share my opinions or preferences in writing, photography, or design. MKC has helped me build my professional portfolio and taught me professional skills such as email writing and best interview practices.

My favorite part of interning with MKC has been growing my professional network. Over the summer, interns visited MKC locations, as well as the KDA and Wheat Innovation Center. Although most days were great, I found that there are times when there is a lot of work to be done but also times when there may only be one or two projects.

These experiences described above are going to carry over into my professional career because I gained both writing and graphic design skills as well as professional knowledge. I would recommend this internship to a person invested in advocating for the agriculture industry through writing and social media. To learn about and apply for an internship, students need to contact MKC at career fairs or the MKC Coordinator of Talent and Industry Partnerships, Hilary Worcester.

Department of Agricultural Economics – Jamie Morrissey

Posted on April 17, 2017April 17, 2017 by Courtney Boman

When I came back from my semester abroad in the spring of 2016, I was looking for an on-campus job that would help further my career and give me the experience I was looking for. A friend of mine told me the communications coordinator in Kansas State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics was looking for a student and that I should send him my resume. I did, had an interview and got hired on the spot.

Even though I was in college, I never considered working in communications in academia. Working in this capacity in academia can be very comparable to working in an agency but not all departments are like this.

The ag econ department is quite large compared to Communications and Agricultural Education, not only in faculty size but in the number and size of business units as well. The research that goes on in the ag econ department is interesting and diverse and the business units range from risk management to local government.

I compare working for the department to working for an agency because there are multiple points of contact throughout the department and we must work with the various programs and business units to create the content they want and the content that fits with our branding.

When I first started, I did not know how big the department was. One of our biggest challenges was figuring out how we would manage all the different aspect of the department under one umbrella and one message. This is something that my boss and I are continuously working on a year and a half later.

My primary responsibilities include social media management, website management, design and writing. I have also gotten to learn quite a bit about how to edit videos in Premier and After Effects.

Throughout my time with the ag econ department, I have been able to take what I learned in the classroom and apply it to really world situations. I have built so much on top of the excellent foundation I got in the ACJ program and I will be able to apply these experiences to what every profession I end up in after graduation.

Orca Communications Intern – Ashley Tercero

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Courtney Boman

7 Things I Learned Being an Intern

1. You won’t get along with everyone

I worked with a lot of different personalities and most of my conversations were either over the phone or over email. I learned rather quickly that everyone had different email etiquette and phone etiquette. I am use to emailing in a way that nothing can be misconstrued so when I would receive certain emails my mind would automatically think someone was mad at me or that I had done something wrong and I then had to take a step back and re-read the message and realize it wasn’t what I first thought. But with that some people did not like the way that I sent emails or that I communicated because it was very different from one another. And while I wanted to plant my feet in the mud and say this is who I am and how I communicate that wasn’t the right thing to do and I had to remember that it wasn’t personal but personality of professional. I then knew to transform the way I would talk to certain people to allow them to know that I was trying my hardest.

2. The age gap is real

Orca had not taken on an intern in a long time. When they began to transition to all online employees they stopped using the office thus, didn’t feel the need for interns. I had thought that I would talk to people that were at least somewhat close to my age but boy was I wrong. Almost everyone in the company was close to twice my age if not older. I learned a lot about how to communicate electronically with all my co-workers as they were not the texting kind so many emails were sent throughout my experience. Phone calls were also made multiple times a week, where I am more use to texting and some emailing, phone calls were the way that they preferred to do business. With the age gap was a social media gap as well and the learning curve there was hard. They have integrated some social media but have not found how truly important it is in this day and age.

3. Not everyone is tech savvy

Being a millennial I have had the opportunity to watch technology change and also had it in my hands for most of my life. I am always excited to try and work with the newest gadgets that are out and try to have the newest ones whenever I have the opportunity. When it came to downloading some of the software that everyone was using it was hard, they all had Dells that were pretty old. So some of the software my updated computer wouldn’t work with and then wouldn’t work with what they were doing. Many times the tech person for the company also struggled to do things that I could do within a few minutes. They are also very old school in that the tech person did all the design work as he was the only one that knew how to work certain programs. This is somewhere I would have loved to have had the opportunity to show off some of my skills but never got the chance to because “communication” is not synonymous with technology in the minds of older generations.

4. Flexibility is key

Being willing to do whatever is thrown at you is key. Most of my internship I did the same things on a daily basis, but when I would get a call that they needed me to do something else I always was up for the challenge and do the best I could with it. The different random projects I would get thrown at me were the ones when I really got to show off my skills and put my own twist on it. I was willing to work hours that were conducive to different time zones, sometimes that meant waking up on east coast time when I was on the west coast and then having work done on pacific time.

5. Don’t be afraid to speak up

During the beginning of my internship I was doing a lot of random work. There wasn’t a lot of organization to it and for a while I wasn’t enjoying what I was doing and wasn’t really learning anything. It took a lot of courage but I spoke to my manager and let her know that I wasn’t happy in the spot they had me and she immediately changed what I was doing and told me over and over again thank you for speaking up so that we could put you somewhere where I was useful as well as learning as much as I possibly can. I was so scared that I was going to rock the boat if I said anything and it ended up being the best thing I could have done for my internship. Of course do it with tact and make sure to not complain all the time but, if you aren’t happy then talk to you intern manager, they are there to help you learn and want to see you succeed.

6. I can bring agriculture into a non-agriculture company

My first project with orca was to try and find agriculture companies that they could work with and research what kind of PR was popular among agriculture companies. I began to search for young companies that had not had any exposure yet and fund so many wonderful companies. Some of my co-workers were shocked at just how many companies were out there and the different products they carried or the different business sectors they were in. Unfortunately, the account manager left the company but, I was able to help secure a few companies that are with them now and bring agriculture to Orca.

7. Sometime you have to do the work no one else wants to do

An important part of being an intern is understanding that not everything you do is going to be fun or what you want to do. What helped me the most when doing things that weren’t that exciting to me is remembering that you’re helping someone and you are proving to others that you are capable of doing any work they throw at you. If you are willing to do the grunt work the tasks you will be given will get better and better until you get to be working on things you really enjoy.

A Summer at Look East – Topanga McBride

Posted on January 3, 2017January 3, 2017 by Courtney Boman

This summer, I had the privilege of interning at Look East, a public relations firm right outside of Kansas City. Unlike other PR firms, Look East’s clients are agribusinesses and agricultural organizations. One of their biggest clients is The Center for Food Integrity. From the end of May to the beginning of August, I spent every day doing something new.

My summer was a success because of my mentors and advisors at Look East. I started off with a list of goals to accomplish and by the end of the summer, I had achieved them all. I gained experience in multiple outlets of media, published my writing and even tried ghost writing, and gained a completely new appreciation for analytics and strategy. I tracked The Center for Food Integrity in the media all summer long through Cision. While design was not my strong skill, I was able to work on it and create some great infographics. My co-intern and I even ran an agriculture advocacy training program for other college students.

My biggest area of growth was not necessarily a skill but in my ability to hold myself up in a professional setting. Prior to this internship, I had little experience in a professional setting. By spending my summer at Look East with great role models, I was able to get great advice for my professional life.

My internship, like all, had its ups and downs. My proudest moment was writing an op-ed that was published in The Huffington Post. It took many edits to get it there, but it took that kind of work to get it published. I was trusted to represent The Center for Food Integrity, regardless of my position. I loved the internship, and I only wish that there wasn’t as much downtime. My co-intern and I got through some work faster than anticipated and found ourselves searching for more work to do.

My experience at Look East has actually helped me get a media relations internship at Monsanto. Outside of my immediate plans, this experience has helped me realize what sort of path I want to take in agricultural communications. I enjoyed The Center for Food Integrity work the most because I felt more connected to the client. Going forward, I think I am best suited for more of a corporate communications role where I work for the organization I am representing.

I was lucky enough to find this experience through an email from Dr. Kris Boone. If you are looking for an opportunity to gain very diverse experiences and have plenty of support from a great staff, Look East would be a great fit for you, especially if you enjoy educating the general public about agriculture.

Look East is looking for more interns this summer. If you’re interested, you can apply at: http://lookeast.com/position/2017-public-relations-internship/.

Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement – Anissa Zagonel

Posted on January 3, 2017January 3, 2017 by Courtney Boman

At the end of May when I pictured my summer internship working for the Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement, I never imagined the variety of experiences I would end up with.

To begin, I should explain the Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement. Drum roll please!

The Center for Rural Enterprise Engagement is an organization dedicated to generating research-based knowledge related to new-media technologies and rural enterprises. As I like to put it, we strive to make life easier for rural businesses by researching, teaching and analyzing new-media and its methods.

I began my communications intern position with the Center starting in June and currently still work for them. During the summer, I worked via distance, and I visited Manhattan several times during the summer to attend team meetings and participate in brainstorming activities. Since I worked from home this summer, I don’t have many pictures to share besides the ones I’ve taken this semester. Enjoy these funny gifs and photos instead.

“Don’t let this picture fool you. I cleaned my desk for this picture. Usually it’s cluttered with coffee mugs.”

Starting out, my duties included scheduling social media content to our Facebook page and writing blog posts. Quickly that spiraled into more responsibilities, which is something I am very grateful for. In my position now, I handle our Facebook page, where I create a social media calendar for the month and schedule content. Within this task, I get to test and analyze different post times and conduct A/B split testing for successful posts.

Another one of my biggest time commitments is blogging. (You’d think I would’ve been quicker and better at this blog since I’ve been doing it for six months now… Nope!) For my blogging duty, our team would create a blogging calendar of ideas to write about. It was then my job to research and carry out the post. This could consist of researching on my own or conducting an interview. We write about new technologies, how-to’s, advice, spotlight stories, etc. Producing blog posts has been a great outlet for honing my writing skills, while also keeping the creative juices flowing.

via GIPHY

Most recently, my responsibilities have encompassed some aspects of event planning. We have been bustin’ tail this summer and semester to host a New-Media Marketing Bootcamp. For this event, I’ve worked with a team to create a logo and conference pamphlets, find a consistent brand theme, contact companies for partnerships, develop sessions, reach out to potential attendees, teach sessions (eek!) and market the conference on social media. This undertaking has given me such an insight to event planning elements I never would have thought about if it weren’t for this position.

Looking back on this internship, my favorite part of the internship was adding my own flair to my work. As you can tell, I thoroughly enjoy incorporating memes/gifs/pictures/personality to the content I publish. It’s been incredible to work for an organization that allows your imaginative spirits to flow. I don’t think there was a “least favorite” part of my internship for me. Although working from home greatly improved my communication skills and online task management with others, I would’ve enjoyed working in an office with people. As much as I treasured working from home, I’ve realized there are always people to meet and connections to make. Since I’ve been back in school, I’ve been working in the main office, and it’s been such a privilege to get to know everyone. I only wish I could’ve done it sooner.

This is the part where I tell you my dream job and want I want to do when I grow up. Well, I’m here to say, I don’t have that answer quite yet. What I do know is that all of these skills and resources I’ve become proficient in are highly versatile and will be useful in any communications position I find myself in. Through this internship, I’ve discovered traits about myself and learned about tasks I find a little less enjoyable than others. All these concepts will help me in my future job-hunting endeavor.

Since the Center is fairly new, I have been the first student intern they have hired. I previously worked as a student researcher for Dr. Lauri Baker, and I was lucky enough to obtain this position through her since she was one of the founders of the Center.

If you’re an agricultural communications and journalism student looking for a multitude of opportunities to experience and add to your resume, this is the position for you. There is so much room for personal growth and to grow the Center’s following. It’s exciting to be the driving force of an up-and-coming organization. Side note: If you’re at all interested in new-media marketing (which all communicators should be!), you should go ahead and give our Facebook page a like. Ready to apply yet? Interested applicants can contact Courtney Boman, Interim Manager, at cdboman@ksu.edu or myself at anissazagonel@gmail.com. I may even let you write a blog post… or two.

Kansas FFA Foundation – Chance Hunley

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Courtney Boman

This past summer, I worked as the Events and Marketing Coordinator for the Kansas FFA Foundation in Manhattan, Kansas.

In my position, I worked on a wide range of tasks, from event logistics during the Kansas FFA State Convention to social media and public relations. For most of the summer I worked to develop materials that could be provided to donors and supporters of the Kansas FFA that showcased FFA members and their accomplishments.

During my internship, I learned and became proficient in several Adobe Creative Cloud programs, including Illustrator, InDesign, and After Effects. These allowed me to create graphics for social media, handouts and flyers for donors, and highlight videos for the various programs that the foundation supports. I also learned about the inner workings of the foundation, and the basic framework of a nonprofit organization.

My favorite work this summer was the ability to create videos using Adobe Premiere and After Effects. The videos included highlights of how the Kansas FFA has grown in the past year, as well as a recap video of the Kansas FFA State Convention. The highlight video was played during one of the convention’s sessions, so that was a very gratifying moment. These projects did take a while in terms of fine tuning and processing, which was probably my least favorite part of the summer, but the time passed quickly and also let me get to know those that worked around me even better. The skills that I picked up this summer have allowed me to grow my portfolio, as well as allowing me to be more confident and comfortable with future projects that involve creating media.

My internship became my part-time job during the school year after the summer concluded, so the dates of the summer internship were May 16 to Aug. 19. I heard about the internship through two ways: I was friends with the previous intern who was graduating, and a notice for the position went out over the ag communications listserv. Upon my graduation in May there will most likely be an open position, and those that are interested can contact Jodi Mason, the executive director of the foundation, about any potential opportunities. I would recommend this internship to anyone who had a strong connection to the FFA and has an interest in being involved in a behind-the-scenes way, likes social media management and/or wants to see how a nonprofit organization operates and grows.

Kansas PRIDE- Madison Blevins

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Courtney Boman

I worked for a non-profit organization known as Kansas PRIDE, which is located on K-State’s campus. This organization strives to promote an enhanced quality of life for citizens of Kansas communities through education, leadership development and recognition. My responsibilities included daily tasks such as answering phones, customer service, attending meetings and other jobs.

My responsibilities included daily tasks such as answering phones, customer service, attending meetings and other jobs. My main responsibility, however, was to use my major of Agricultural Communications and Journalism to write press releases, create documents and write newsletters.

My most exciting moment while working with Kansas PRIDE was when I got my first article published in the High Plains Journal. I was able to build a great portfolio by working with this organization and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a friendly environment and utilizing their writing skills.

One size does not fit all when it comes to internships – Kenzie Curran

Posted on January 3, 2017 by Courtney Boman

This summer, I had the opportunity of serving as the Neosho County Extension intern in Erie, Kansas. Neosho County is part of the Southwind district along with two other counties. From May to August, I gained exposure to all aspects of an extension program. This experience allowed me to learn about the different roles within a district and discover my interest in working in extension. As an intern I got to take on many responsibilities of my own, including planning and hosting a district-wide event. Additionally, I was able to design flyers and promotional materials, assist with county and district events and help coordinate the Neosho County Fair.

My biggest accomplishment was the event I coordinated. It was incredible to see the positive reaction to my barn quilt painting workshop. From choosing my event, to picking a date and designing and distributing a flyer, to getting all the supplies and materials ready for the big night. At first, I was very nervous that I would be doing this with little to no assistance, but once I pulled it off, it was very rewarding. It was my favorite and most challenging but fun thing I did during my internship.

While there were a lot of fun and new components to being an extension intern, there were also times that were not quite as exciting as others. One of those times was when I was in charge of the bucket calf show during the fair and, again, pretty nervous to handle it on my own. I read the wrong sheet of names to come into the arena and there were some pretty upset parents. Luckily, my supervisor defended me and diffused the situation.

All I can say is if you think you are interested in extension in any way, you are going to want to have some experience before you make the decision. I was not all that sure it was something I wanted to do for a career, but thought parts of it sounded fun. I’m so glad I did this internship because now I know that, even though there are parts of being an extension agent that aren’t as fun, it’s all important and I want to be the one doing it.

I found this particular position by contacting the office directly. However, similar internships in other counties are sometimes listed with Kansas State University. Students can apply through K-State and be place in a county if chosen. I hope more offices advertise with K-State in the future, because young people should not miss out on these opportunities.

9 things you learn as a KWO intern – Amanda Sales

Posted on October 3, 2016October 3, 2016 by Courtney Boman

After three years and three summer internships, here I am entering my final year as a K-State student. It’s a crazy thought! To sum up my most recent intern experience at the Kansas Water Office (KWO) in Topeka, I created a list of 9 takeaways from my time there.

9. You will inevitably have to explain what the Kansas Water Office is.

The KWO office gets myriad calls per day from people seeking the City of Topeka’s Water Office. Our receptionist is a pro at fielding these calls and directing the callers to the right place.

Example: Saying “I work for the Kansas Water Office” is usually followed by a load of questions. We’re the state’s water planning, policy coordination, and marketing entity. Imagine that we are an umbrella over the Kansas Department of Agriculture-Division of Water Resources and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s water bureau.

8. People will be people.

One of the most undervalued skills, in my opinion, is people relations. I learned a lot about people and personalities at KWO. In a realm where situations fringe around politics, you see many types of people.

7. Some people are really passionate about water.

I’m one of them now. I cringe when I see inefficient irrigation systems and I’m thankful for the conservation technology and research of this technology that KWO is funding to recharge the Ogallala Aquifer rather than deplete it. One major event over the summer was a field day for one of KWO’s three Water Technology Farms. The event showcased a combination of soil moisture sensors and mobile drip irrigation to help dictate when to start irrigating, when to stop, and most importantly, if it is even necessary at all. On the flip side of irrigating, it also frustrates me to see lawns being watered after a rainfall event. Save your water, people!

6. Working for the government is exactly what you would expect.

KWO interns are lucky to be paid, for one, as I know many state intern counterparts who are not. There’s also the importance of watching what you say and picking which political debates are safe to join. Usually it is better to stay neutral while in the public eye, because your actions represent the state government as a whole.

5. Being an intern for the state can lead to cool adventures.

KWO interns are allowed the opportunity to participate in the Governor’s Intern Program, which consists of six professional development sessions with fellow state interns. We covered the basic professional development topics like resumes, politic-related careers as a young professional, interviews, and how to act like an adult. We also participated in a lot of fun activities. For example, Wildlife, Parks and Tourism hosted us for a fun day at the Shawnee State Fishing Lake. The day included wingshooting, archery, kayaking and fishing. When was the last time you fished during a work day? KDA also led an agriculture-related tour to exhibit the facets of our state’s economic driver. In addition to these fun field days, we visited Cedar Crest and were presented networking opportunities.

4. There are still Kansans that believe water conservation is not their concern.

These people are quite the opposite of the water-passionate people discussed in number seven. It’s too bad there are still individuals unwilling to re-evaluate their water consumption because fear of risk outweighs the prospect of having water for future generations. Did you know that the Ogallala Aquifer, at current depletion rates, will be 70% depleted by 2064?

3. The optimal size for a Facebook graphic is a 470×470 pixel square.

This is the height/width size that appears on timelines. A major portion of my role at KWO included developing social media graphics, so I used this size standard to dictate my setup for creating the graphics we shared. In addition, I really enhanced my Adobe Illustrator skills when it came time to create engaging infographics that were worth sharing or retweeting. My advice for any students with interest in design—grab an easily portable notebook and every time you learn a new tool, technique or shortcut, write it down so you’ll easily know how to do it for future applications. I have one of these books and it helps immensely to speed up the design process.

2. Talking on the phone never gets easier.

No matter how much intern/job experience I have had, talking on the phone still gets me. There was one afternoon during the summer I was in charge of answering the phone while several staff members were in a meeting. Ironically, the first call was a person asking for the City of Topeka Water Office (see number nine). Soon after, a gentleman called asking for one of my co-workers. After accidentally hanging up on him twice, I finally figured out the correct way to transfer the call (#internfail). I suppose I am doing all right, though, if the hardest task of the summer was figuring out the phone system.

1. Real-life journalism isn’t like what they teach you in school.

Another part of my intern role included assisting with press releases. I came to discover that writing releases doesn’t always follow the clear cut rules taught at college. Call the source and ask for a quote? Writing something he/she would say and running it by them is perfectly acceptable. Write according to inverted pyramid style? Sometimes the person of most stature actually gets the first mention and quote block regardless. And like many places, gubernatorial entities follow their own style when it comes to writing. There were a few examples over the summer that in some way contradicted what professors taught me.

KWO was great to me and I now have the opportunity to extend my full-time summer internship into a part-time work-from-home job during the fall semester.

Overall, I recommend this internship to someone with an interest in politics, or someone looking to expand his or her knowledge of our state’s resources. Water is actually fascinating, and I encourage you to pay closer attention to it.

Mid Kansas Cooperative – Braidyn Rucker

Posted on October 3, 2016October 3, 2016 by Courtney Boman

Merriam-Webster defines the word Co-op as, a business or organization that is owned and operated by the people who work there or the people who use its services. I jumped into the true meaning of being part of the cooperative system this summer.

This was my third summer working for Mid Kansas Cooperative (MKC), but my first in the internship program. Based out of the Haven, Kansas location I spent most of my time under the direction of many leaders within one of the most progressive cooperative not only in the state but in the nation as well.

Going into the internship, I thought I knew exactly what to expect. The keyword here was thought. Throughout the summer I was pushed to think outside the box and to go beyond my comfort zone. I was introduced to areas within agriculture I never dreamed of entering and now never want to leave.

Coming from an animal science background, I was nervous about spending time in agronomy. Having had very little experience working with crops and chemicals before, I was forced to ask questions, and communicate with my mentors often to make sure that the tasks were getting done correctly and in a timely manner.

I started out nervous, not knowing much about the basics within the area of agriculture in which I had been placed. I was however blessed to have mentors and leaders in the agronomy and agricultural industry who were patient, took the time to teach, and explained their knowledge and experiences to help me have an overall better understanding.

As I hit the midway mark of my internship, I continued on the agronomy path and strived to achieve as much information about crop production, the products that helped increase growth and yield, along with the skills needed to make the growing season successful. Along with these duties, I was honored with the opportunity to connect with other producers and employees within MKC and share my experiences through the company’s social media page.

Along with gaining a broader knowledge in agronomy, I increased my customer service skill set and worked in collaboration with the Groveland MKC intern Cody Seiler on a customer service survey.

This project was the base of the whole summer and was created by the two of us and presented to the CEO, the board of directors, and managers. This survey brought many trials but allowed us to interview many influential producers all over the south central and southern region of Kansas.

Although the project was challenging, we were able to bring information to the producer about the progressiveness of our cooperative system, while receiving feedback to bring back to the leaders that run the company. Across the board, producers were excited to talk us, and about the cooperative system in which they trusted and used so often for their agricultural services.

I am so incredibly thankful to have been a part of the MKC intern program. It was wonderful to be a part of a company that takes such pride in taking care of their employees and ensures that each one is allowed the numerous opportunities, each day to grow in knowledge and be to be successful.

As I look forward to the future I am excited for the opportunities that a career in the cooperative system could bring. Working with producers in this great state is something I live for, a hope to continue to do after graduation. Overall, I was blessed for the internship in which I had this summer, the company I worked for and the individuals in which I met along the way, and for that, I will be forever thankful.

United Braford Breeders – Kaitlyn Alanis

Posted on October 3, 2016October 3, 2016 by Courtney Boman

Just as all responsible agricultural communication students should do, I began searching for the perfect internship just as my sophomore year had begun. I was committed to my internship by early March, my housing arrangements were finalized by April and I had an internship start day of mid-June. Everything was going according to plan, or so I thought.

Since I had a few weeks before my internship officially started, I decided I would go back home to California and visit family. As fate would have it, I broke my ankle a mere two hours before getting to the airport, and my first stop home was the beloved emergency room.

This put quite the wrench in my summer plans, and due to not being able to drive, I was no longer eligible for my internship that I was counting down the days for.

I am sure you can imagine the stress I was in trying to find a new internship that typically takes months to find.

I turned to my trusty friend, Facebook, for some help. After posting my situation to two professional agriculture groups on Facebook, I received over 15 messages from different organizations willing to help me out. This was a solid reminder on just how grateful I am for the agriculture community; there is always someone willing to lend a helping hand.

I ended up interning with United Braford Breeders (UBB) as a remote communications intern under the direction of UBB Executive Director, Hannah Wine. I could not be more grateful for how my summer internship went, even under what had originally seemed as unfortunate circumstances.

My internship consisted of writing news and feature stories for the UBB magazine, Braford News, designing advertisements and tradeshow materials, creating a media kit and developing content and design elements for promotional and marketing materials.

Since this was a remote internship, I was worried I may lose out on the valuable feedback and critiques that come from working in a professional office setting. However, this could not have been less true, and I would strongly recommend this internship to anyone. This was actually UBB’s first try at hosting a communications intern, and it went so well they will be continuing the internship program this fall.

Working for Hannah was a true pleasure, and I learned more than I could have ever hoped for. While building a work portfolio I learned about developing feature stories, designing advertisements and structuring newsletters to the way people read best.

If I had to pick the most valuable piece of information I learned this summer, it would be to be flexible. Be flexible when you break an ankle, be flexible when you don’t get your dream internship, be flexible when the editors don’t like the format of your first design piece; just be flexible. It all happens for a reason, you just have to learn from it.

I would have never thought working remotely would turn into what I now call a perfect summer internship. As luck would have it, I am almost grateful to have broken my ankle because without it I would not have had the opportunity to work for United Braford Breeders this summer.

Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom – Jena Ernsting

Posted on September 20, 2016 by chantelles

Agriculture and children, a combination I never imagined myself being so invested in. Since starting work at the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (KFAC) in September 2014, I have grown even more invested in implementing agriculture in the classroom. I was notified of this job position through K-State Career and Employment Services.

KFAC is a non-profit with a mission of “Connecting classrooms to Kansas agriculture.” KFAC provides materials and lesson plans to Kansas teachers, as well as providing educational institutes and credit opportunities for Kansas teachers.

My official job title is correspondence and database manager; however, as I grew to know my position my responsibilities and duties grew with me. What started as imputing donations into the donor database developed into helping create and develop donation campaigns.

From there I was recruited to develop and design brochures, graphics, posters and additional materials. My writing skills were put to use with writing some news releases and a feature article on a Kansas teacher who was using agriculture in their classroom.

I was also recruited to be the face of KFAC during an AGam in Kansas segment focusing on a Kansas teacher that was integrating agriculture in her classroom exceptionally.

Throughout my year and a half at KFAC I realized that accidents happen and mistakes are made. The most important part of any written piece is to check it over and then check it over again. I have also learned that it’s okay to not know how to do something and the time taken to learn something new is valuable in itself.

I have been lucky enough to see where KFAC has been and where it is going. This job has helped me grow into a more professional and allowed me to see how a non-profit works.

Each year KFAC hosts a bookmark art competition for kindergarten to sixth grade students. I love seeing the creativity of the students and gaining an understanding of how young people see agriculture in their everyday lives. This position also allows me to work from my personal computer on design projects, which provides me the opportunity to help create my own schedule.

On the opposite side of things, I have found that although I have found a niche for writing letters asking people for money, that side of a non-profit is not necessarily my favorite.

I believe this internship has provided me a variety of experiences that are applicable in whatever area of communications I end up in. Understanding how to communicate and help distribute information to stakeholders will be valuable wherever I end up.

Feed The Future Innovation Lab for Applied Wheat Genomics – Malerie Strahm

Posted on September 20, 2016 by chantelles

Have you ever heard of an on-campus job turned internship? When I took a part-time job with the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Applied Wheat Genomics in January 2015, I never would have believed how far it would bring me. What started out as doing odd communications jobs here and there for the lab turned into bigger jobs and some of the best experiences I’ve had so far!

The Innovation Lab for Applied Wheat Genomics is one of four Feed the Future labs housed here at K-State. I was hired to bring a communications aspect to the group and develop social media like some of the other labs had done already. Then, when I talked to my supervisor and academic advisor about doing a full-time internship over the summer, they said ‘Why not?’

Unique is one way to describe my experience. Unlike most internships, it felt more like an entry-level job rather than an internship, as I didn’t have much professional guidance at first. I feel like that really gave me an opportunity to grow by making me reach out beyond the office and figure things out for myself. It was also unique because I was able to work part-time for the new Wheat Genetics Resource Center Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (WGRCI/UCRC). Both Organizations share information and overlap with much of their research.

My main responsibilities for the Innovation Lab included writing press releases, developing print materials and posters, filming a short overview video, maintaining the two lab websites, and developing social media (Facebook and Twitter). For the WGRCI/UCRC I developed and implemented a new logo and color scheme for the organization and designed a poster and flyer to use at events. I also developed a new website using the K-State web server that was easier on the eyes and to navigate.

Seeing the work I’ve done go to places like Washington, DC and receiving emails that my work has been in the hands of people like senator Jerry Moran has definitely been a rewarding and a favorite part of my internship. Although not having a supervisor well versed in the world of communications was at times a challenge, I know that the experience I gained was valuable.

Much of my work in this internship was design-based because I was given jobs according to my skills and I was able to grow those skills. My future plans include a possible job opportunity connected to this internship that would give me even more experience in graphic design.

As you can see, this internship was a special case but the lab is hiring a new intern for the summer and would like that intern to continue in the fall. I would definitely recommend to anyone interested in general communications because you will do a little bit of everything! You can also tailor it to meet your skill set and interest. To apply, email our program coordinator Haley Ahlers at halhlers@ksu.edu.

Kansas Wheat – Audrey Schmitz

Posted on September 20, 2016 by chantelles

Once a Wheatie, always a Wheatie! Who wouldn’t love to work in an office that smelled like fresh baked bread every day or a snack cubicle that is always stocked with donuts?

My summer internship at Kansas Wheat was definitely one for the books. I never imagined I would learn as much as I did or gain the experiences or mentors I had. The office environment at Kansas Wheat was so welcoming and entertaining with a fun side of pranks and inside jokes.

As the communications intern for Kansas Wheat I spent the past 11 months managing and designing the Rediscover Wheat monthly magazine. My duties included writing feature stories about wheat producers and bakers, press releases about events and new hires, and reports on policy, wheat diseases and harvest.

I assisted with e-newsletters using ConstantContact, uploading news content to the Kansas Wheat and National Festival of Breads websites and recording radio spots. I collaborated with co-workers in planning the 2015 National Festival of Breads and the Kansas Wheat Alliance summer meeting and created promotional banners, signs, and programs for the events.

The biggest skill I learned as their intern was how to navigate InDesign and Illustrator by using the programs daily. Equally, I learned more about writing feature stories and personality profiles. Email marketing, Adobe audio and iMovie were also a few new skills I tried out.

Through my many activities at Kansas Wheat I have grown as a writer, designer and overall communicator. I believe that my experience in this internship will allow me to bring many valuable skills to future assignments, internships and jobs. I am eager to continue using my abilities to contribute communications team.

My biggest area of growth that I realized about myself was my ability to work independently with minimal supervision. I also recognized my ability to communicate effectively with my employer by listening and relaying accurate information in my work and what they envisioned.

The reason why my mentors were so great at Kansas Wheat was because they would ask me if there was anything I felt I hadn’t learned or done yet that they could teach me. I truly felt like I could ask them anything no matter how small the question or if I didn’t know how to do something.

I heard about this internship via an email that my advisor Dr. Ellis sent out over the listserve. I knew Nicole Lane had interned there previously and I really looked up too her as a role model because she had a wealth of knowledge and organization. I figured she had gained those skills from her Kansas Wheat internship.

I worked from right after spring break till the end of February the following year. Because I loved my internship so much after working there over the summer I decided to stay and continue working there throughout the semester part time. Because I was learning so many applicable communications skills while working there and I missed the people I was working with I stayed.

I would recommend this internship to anyone. There are so many skills to learn here and great people to work with. I would especially recommend it to those who want to write about crops and wheat or are also minoring in Agronomy. To apply the application comes out during the spring semesters before spring break. If you have questions about the internship contact Marsha Boswell at mboswell@kswheat.com.

IGP Institute – Kylie Blythe

Posted on September 20, 2016 by chantelles

This summer I interned at IGP Institute as the distance education intern. I was located in Manhattan, Kansas so I was able to stay in Manhattan for the summer. I started this internship in May and ended it in August.

My roommate, Kelly Hannigan, had also interned at IGP Institute the previous summer and told me that they had an opening for this summer. I was able to contact my boss through email and had an interview the next day. The application process was pretty easy.

I was very excited to learn that I was going to have this internship for the summer. I worked for Brandi Miller, the distance education coordinator at IGP. My duties included organizing courses in Canvas online, organizing courses in K-State Pro, editing lecture videos using Camtasia and occasionally writing press releases.

One of the bigger projects that I got to work on throughout the summer was creating demonstration videos for a cereal science course. I got to work with Debi Rogers at AIB to renovate the grain science course that she taught. I worked with Debi to organize the order of the demonstration videos and plan the times to film, and then I was able to operate the video camera and record Debi while she narrated the demonstrations. After they were all filmed I used Final Cut Pro to edit the audio and lighting of the videos as well as adding in titles. There were a total of 24 videos.

Another big project I did was to take all the distance education course content and switch it from K-State Pro learning management system to Canvas learning management system. There were a total of 26 courses that I downloaded all the content for and reorganized into Canvas. I also had to create quizzes and message boards in Canvas so I got very familiar with how this learning management system works. I also used Mediasite to upload lecture videos for the courses.

IGP Institute was also invited by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agriculture Service to conduct a grain and oilseed industry overview seminar. I was able to travel to Washington, D.C. with Jay O’Neil and assisted him with his presentation preparation and took photographs of the seminar. I was also able to meet with several different companies while I was there. I got to sit down and chat with their communications department and learn about their roles as communicators in the agriculture industry. It was a great insight into the communications side of agriculture, and a great networking opportunity for me. I was also in charge of writing the press release that covered the seminar in Washington, D.C.

Throughout the rest of the summer I was given a few miscellaneous projects that helped me build my experience. I got to work a little with InDesign and Photoshop as well.

This internship gave me several projects that I was able to add to my portfolio, as well as skills that I was able to add to my resume. I would recommend this internship to anyone looking to improve their communication skills and networking opportunities.

K-State Radio Network, Agriculture Today – Charlsie Craig

Posted on September 20, 2016 by chantelles

This past summer I served as the broadcast intern with Agriculture Today over the K-State Radio Network. This station is based out of Manhattan, Kan.

Agriculture Today is a broadcast show aired every week day at 10 a.m. The show is aired on KFRM 550 and live streamed on K-State Research and Extension wed page. The show, can reach not only to Kansas but surrounding states and with the live stream all across the United States. I work under the main broadcaster, Eric Atkinson.

The main purpose of this broadcast show is to keep producers, farmers, or advocates of agriculture in the know of what research and big things are happening in the world of agriculture. The show covers subjects that are spread all of agriculture from crops to Ag in the Classroom.

For the first couple of weeks it was a quick learning experiences of just learning how to edit material on Adobe Audition and learning how to set up the program to be aired. Although I was just getting my feet wet, within those first few weeks Atkinson ask me to contact someone for my first interview.

I thought that I wasn’t ready for my first experience, but Atkinson thought I was, and of course he was right. Currently I’m now up to doing five to six interviews a week but every time I still get the butterflies.

As the summer went on I had my first traveling experience at 2015 Kansas State FFA Conference. This experience brought a lot of first such as, using a hand held microphone and recorder. Also, I had the pleasure of being back stage during the last session when they announced the new state officers. My purpose of this event was to interview the winners of Kansas Star in Agribusiness and Farmer, and the new state officers. This was a very intense upbeat environment that I wasn’t use to. It ended up being a great experience and it made me realize how much I love broadcasting.

While realizing I liked that experience, at the station, my duties were routine. But I mean routine in the sense of having to conduct interviews. Every interview is different and the interviewee is always different. This internship has taught me many things and one of which is don’t be shy. When I listen to my interview at the beginning of summer compared to the end you can hear how by the end of the summer my interviews started to feel more relaxed and conversational. Every week I have to produce two network pieces that will be placed on the website for stations to use throughout the week. This piece can only be three minutes. Although it sounds easy sometimes it can be and sometimes you get 15 minute interviews that holds a lot of information. This experience taught me to utilize my time correctly.

Throughout the summer I learned many things but the two most important ones were deadlines and time management. In this communications industry time is based on time, wither that being interviews or producing a piece so it’s ready for the next show. Nothing has been more rewarding then having people call me telling me they heard me on the radio and ask me more questions about the interview. It gave me a humbling feeling of significance.

Atkinson has been a great mentor. I have learned so much from him and the staff at Agriculture Today. Atkinson brings a sense of importance and achievement on every broadcast show. Agriculture has a long road ahead of it and its people like him advocating it to help mend it together.

K-State Department of Plant Pathology – Lindsey Ashmore

Posted on September 20, 2016 by chantelles

Agriculture based communication was a great choice for me as an individual. I describe my career path as the endless possibilities career path. Generally students don’t go to college to graduate and still not know what they are going to do in life but, with the Agricultural Communications and Journalism degree in the College of Agriculture at Kansas State University, you can do that with confidence!

For my summer internship, the responsibilities of my current job were increased and expanded. I am a student communications specialist under the supervision of James Stack PhD, at Kansas State University’s award winning Department of Plant Pathology.

The responsibilities are not concrete in this position, but they do accrue over time. Some examples are:

Social media management
Website building/management
Photography/Videography
International communication
Event planning
Journalism
Print creation
Lab work

When I started my internship this summer I had no idea what would further be instore for me. My very first day, I was thrown into a planning committee for a one-week international course to be held at the Biosecurity Research Institute Pat Roberts Hall at Kansas State University. The course would start in one week. It was my responsibility to catch up, and begin to contribute substantially. I was asked to create the attendee binders, be a chauffeur, tour guide, photographer, videographer, interviewer, communicator, hostess and more.

Post-global course, I was required to pool the material from the course and create a private website for attendees to visit and review. I was extremely proud to learn the cover of the attendee binder was showcased at a presentation given by the dean of the College of Agriculture.

Aside from the global course tasks, I was also required to keep up with the daily tasks. Before one of the lead researchers travelled to South America, I created social media business cards to help spread awareness about the wheat blast social media campaign. I then monitored the social media analytics compared to his location.

My supervisor and lab members travelled globally this summer leaving me with a good amount of alone time. It was spent planning and creating material for them to review and critique when they returned. I even created a surprise video for the lab group. Many of the videos I created were shown as the lab members travelled and even at the USDA headquarters!

This internship pushed me harder than any other communication position yet. I loved having the ability to step out of my communicator role at random times, and I loved being trusted to make things flow smooth. I was surrounded my amazing individuals with incredible passion for what they do. I learned about many cultures and how to interact with them. Most of all, I gained an experience worth looking back on and being proud!

Kansas State University