Brownfield

Wednesday educational sessions

The Wednesday afternoon agenda at National Association of Farm Broadcasting Convention featured several educational sessions.  Tom Dorr, USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development opened with "The Rural Renaissance" (which is also the theme of this convention.)  "Changing Business Models" was the topic for the next segment of the program, a panel discussion which featured Learfield News President Stan Koenigsfeld.  (Thanks Chuck Zimmerman for sharing this picture.)

"Agencies at the Mic" gave NAFB members the chance to hear from top advertising and public relations professionals who shared their insights about communications plans and strategies.  The good news is that they all believe that RADIO WORKS. 

Gearing up for NAFB Convention

Most of the Brownfield team will head to Kansas City, Missouri next week for the annual meeting of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting.  This will be my 21st annual NAFB Convention.  As a member of the NAFB Foundation and co-chair for the annual NAFB Foundation Auction, I've been busy asking for donations and gearing up for the big event to be held at 5:30pm Thursday, November 15 at the Westin Hotel. 

The money we raise at the auction helps the Foundation in its continuing educational support through internship and scholarship grants, funding research to help us better understand the changing demographics in rural America, and building curriculum to assist students, teachers and young media professionals in learning how to utilize the power of farm broadcasting in a media marketing plan.

We are fortunate to have some really great donations this year, including a NASCAR Race Package for the 2008 Kansas City race, featuring lodging and food, pit passes, infield passes, appearance by Jeff Gordon and race day tickets in a reserved section for 2 people.  Pioneer, a DuPont Company made that generous contribution. 

Max Armstrong is donating yet another gem from his collection of microphones.  The Altec Western-Electric 639B Microphone was a workhorse in the early days of radio and as still in use in the formative years of television.  Also known as the "bird cage" mike because of its appearance.  This one (pictured) was used at WGN Radio and television in Chicago, Illinois. 

We have received generous donations of unique artwork, photography and clothing,  limited edition toy tractors, wine and wine baskets, books, trips and all sorts of valuable items.  If you are interested in learning more about our auction, send an email today!

Brownfield Retreat 2007

Each year about this time, the Brownfield team gathers at Learfield headquarters in Jefferson City, Missouri for our annual Brownfield Retreat.  We retool and brain storm and work to sharpen our individual and collective skill set, but the real highlight for all is spending time together.

Engineer and photographer Jim Foucault was kind enough to get out his camera for an informal photo shoot [larger image].  Do you like our new shirts?

(Standing, left to right:  John Perkins, Bob Meyer, Tom Steever, Jerry Passer, Julie Harker, Cyndi Young.  Kneeling, left to right:  Andrew McCrea, Pete Shinn, Dave Russell, Mike Cady)

Speaking of being proud. . .

Tyne Morgan is our Brownfield intern extraordinairre.  We are so proud of her.  She just finished up her junior year of classes at University of Missouri where she is an Ag Journalism major.  She is off to Monsanto for a summer internship, but will be back "at home" with us at Brownfield at summer's end.  She had some great news to share with us this afternoon:

I am completely done with the class portion of the semester. Now, all I have left are those dreadful finals. We had awards this morning for Broadcast 1. I received "Best Field Reporter" for KBIA, the NPR affiliate in Columbia. Then, I received best TV package for my lab, which is one of the top in my Broadcast class. So, I am extremely excited- that's the one I got a 96% on- and now it will air during my farm report next Tuesday on KOMU.

So, I am completely done with broadcast this semester, and it was well worth all the hard work and extra time I had to put in!

Life Skills

The "closed" sign is hanging on the door to my office this afternoon.  I am in St. Louis, Missouri for the first ever "Learfield Life Skills" week-end event.  Company founder and Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Clyde Lear along with a diverse committee of fellow Learfielders planned the week-end. 

Not everyone will be able to attend because our lives are all busy and we have other committments.  For those of us here, hopefully we will be able to share some of what we learn and do with those who could not make it.

Tourists

The scoreboard in the sports production area of Learfield flashed "Learfield welcomes ALOT" yesterday as Chief Engineer Charlie Peters (with a little help from yours truly) led a group of about 25 members of Missouri's Agricultural Leaders of Tomorrow (ALOT) group through our Jefferson City, Missouri headquarters.

The mission of ALOT is to provide leadership experiences that will make a positive difference to the future of agriculture, agribusiness and rural communities in Missouri and beyond. 

For more information about the 2-year leadership program, email alot@onemain.com.