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Agricultural Communication & Journalism Internships

Tag: trade show

American Angus Association – Sarah Harris

Posted on by chantelles

I interned this summer with the American Angus Association as the communications and public relations intern. The application process was very fast paced and I was not sure what to expect when I got to Saint Joseph for the first day.

The original deadline to apply for this internship was March 1, and though I had thought about applying I did not get an application turned in. Luckily, a few weeks after the deadline Dr. Ellis forwarded an email from Jena McRell at the American Angus Association looking for more applicants for the position. I jumped at the missed opportunity and sent in my resume, cover letter, and two writing samples on March 23. I was amazed to get a reply the next morning — then set up a phone interview for March 25. I traveled to the Association headquarters in Saint Joseph, Missouri for an interview on April 2.

A few days after the interview in Missouri I was offered the position and accepted. A few short weeks later, I packed up and headed to Saint Joseph for the summer. My internship lasted from May 18 to August 13, and was packed with a ton of experiences in a very short time.

Day one I was given a handful of assignments to start working on including putting together a media kit for the National Junior Angus Show, media releases to write and some design projects. It was almost overwhelming. I had never written a news release and I got lost looking for the office where I was conducting an interview; however, I did learn the layout of the Association building very quickly.

The American Angus Association was host to six interns this summer in different areas of focus — The Angus Journal, Angus Genetics Inc., events and activities, and Angus Media. I feel like I had one of the best experiences, as I was able to work in every area rather than just one. Going into the summer I was not sure what I wanted to do with my degree in when I graduate in December, but my experiences with the American Angus Association have given me a better direction.

My favorite part of the summer was by far working with the production team for The Angus Report. I got to experience everything from running the teleprompter to writing scripts for the show. It was very fulfilling to see videos that I had shot and interviews that I had cut be used for an actual television show.

Throughout the duration of my internship there was never a dull moment and the workload never slowed down, which made the summer fly by. The National Junior Angus Show in July was another one of my favorite parts of the experience. A majority of the work I had done in the summer was leading up to the show and it was inspiring to see everything come together. In addition to seeing my designs displayed around the show ring, barns and printed in the show book, I was able to get a years worth of experience in one week. While at the show in Tulsa, Okla., I gained experience with social media coverage, news releases on winners and events, video interviews to be used for The Angus Report television show, photography, and writing personal interest stories.

I would recommend this internship to everyone — especially those who are not sure of what path in communications they want to go down. This internship gives you experience in writing, design, photography, videography and social media management along with a chance to travel to shows, farms and ranches. I learned so much and cannot express how blessed I was to have this experience with the American Angus Association.

Van Wall Group- Brooke Harshaw

Posted on by chantelles

I interned at the Van Wall Group Headquarters in Perry, Iowa from July 1 through August 15 of 2014.

I found out about this internship through a friend of my aunt’s. Her husband’s family owns Van Wall, and because I am a John Deere fan in a communications major, she reached out to me about potentially interning there.

I was expected to function as part of the marketing team, which included design work; writing copy for radio, web, and print advertising; coming up with ideas and problem solving for set up/take down for the Farm Progress Show and the Iowa State Fair. I learned that the marketing team does A LOT – from figuring out what we’ll be doing for employee and customer Christmas presents to putting together their Fall Catalog, working on videos, website, and more, they’re involved with just about everything that happens in the business.

Skills-wise, I think my biggest area of improvement was in using the Creative Cloud programs. There wasn’t a day that I didn’t use Photoshop, and most days I used Illustrator and InDesign, too. In other areas, I think my ability to prioritize and be flexible also improved tremendously.

My favorite parts of the internship were when I was doing things like cleaning out the toy trailer and re-organizing it, as well as when I got to see my finished projects! I’m a very hands-on, physically active person, so the few days that I got to go down and work on cleaning out the trailer full of toys, I was a pretty happy camper. However, I also really like to see finished products, therefore when the days when I finished a big or new project that I’d been working on (radio scripts and the Fall Catalog), I was ecstatic. It was really fun learning new things and working with a team that not only took the time to help me, but cared and appreciated my work. As I said before, I really enjoy physical work, so the least favorite part of my internship was sitting at a desk for an extended period of time.

Like most students, I’m not exactly sure where the road of agricultural communications will take me, but I definitely expect to use the CS6 and face-to-face communications skills that I learned from this internship in my future career.

I think this would be an excellent internship for self-motivated students looking to be thrown into the industry. They will need to have the CS6 or Creative Cloud skills to be able to put together a magazine-type publication.  They will also need to be willing to travel to Iowa for the summer.  If you feel like you’re one of those students who is self-motivated, willing to move, and be thrown into the industry, you can apply by emailing my supervisor, Matt Van Houweling at matt.vanhouweling@vanwall.com.

3i SHOW Internship- Jennifer Ochs

Posted on by chantelles

The saying “time flies when you are having fun” is so very true. It seems like yesterday I was moving into the dorms and now I am about to graduate from college. Last spring I realized that I really wanted to get a summer internship to build my agricultural communications skills and prepare myself for the professional world outside of college. I was hoping to find something close to home in Jetmore, Kansas and I knew that there were not many if any established communications internships in the area. So I began to think about what I really wanted to do with my degree and came to the conclusion that I would be best working in advertising, marketing and sales.

Growing up I have always enjoyed attending trade shows, especially farm shows and luck for me one of the largest farm shows in Kansas is a short 30 minute drive from my house and is known as the 3i SHOW. I did some research on the show and then I sent a short email to the 3i SHOW asking if they have ever had a summer intern. I told them I felt it would be highly beneficial to have a summer communications intern to assist in the communications before, during and after the show. They replied shortly after and said that they did not have a program but would forward the email to the president of the 3i SHOW for consideration. A few weeks later I received a call from the 3i SHOW asking me to come in for an interview and to send my resume. The interview was in March and they offered me the position immediately after the interview.

My work at the 3i SHOW was to manage all communications. My duties included writing press releases, designing advertisements, working on the spring and summer WKMA Newsletters, taking pictures, updating Facebook and Twitter, working with logo designs, and sending out email blasts to exhibitors, volunteers and media about upcoming events and news regarding the show. I also spent some time doing general office work when needed.

The most difficult thing about my internship was trying to keep 500 exhibitors happy. Before the show I would assist in helping place last minute exhibitor requests in the available spaces, during the show I would talk to exhibitors about how the show was going for them and try to fix any complaints they may have.

My communications skills have improved because of my experience at the 3i SHOW, and I am now a better agricultural communicator because of this opportunity. I can now write a press release and feel comfortable about my writing, I am more knowledgeable about the Adobe Design Suite, I am more comfortable speaking in public, I enjoy working with social media for a business, and most importantly I am assured that choosing to be an agricultural communicator is what I am best at and what I love to do.

This internship has helped prepare me for my future careers in agricultural communications. Overall this experience has been great, and I am very grateful that they took the chance to hire me as the Communications Intern for the summer. The skills I have gained will be valuable for the rest of my career and the people I met will be great contacts to help me land jobs in the future. While I was not paid for this internship, I was honored to receive the 2013 WKMA Scholarship. I truly enjoyed my time spent at the 3i SHOW, and I would encourage anyone interested in farm shows or communications in southwest Kansas to contact the 3i SHOW for a potential internship opportunity.