Agriculture Media Summit

This year the Agricultural Media Summit was an extra special event for me because I had the honor of serving as a national officer in the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. I was elected as first vice president in which I coordinated the national Critique & Contest. The communications competition allows ACT members to submit their projects in five categories ranging from broadcast media to public relations. Top winners are awarded cash prizes and all entries receive feedback from industry professionals. Coordinating this contest took some serious organizational skills on my part during spring semester. (My garage was literally covered with entries! I am so thankful for my great roomies who were understanding.) 

After one awards ceremony and more than 500 entries, Critique & Contest was finished! During AMS I attended workshops specifically for agricultural journalists, networked with peers and industry members from across the country and explored Buffalo in my free time. The Mizzou ACT Chapter was represented by four delegates and received three scholarship awards and placed second in the national Yamaha Chapter Award. As vice president of the Mizzou ACT Club I was very proud of our membership! AMS marks the beginning of another great year for agricultural communications and I look forward to returning to University of Missouri to continue my education in this field. And, fall semester would not be complete without the annual agricultural journalism department picnic! 

The Mizzou ACT Chapter was awarded second place in the national Yamaha Chapter Award for our ATV safety campaign. Courtney Leeper, Kari Weis, myself and Maggie Hardwick (not pictured) completed the project which included a Facebook page, safety guide and t-shirt design promoting ATV safety habits. The Yamaha scholarship helped us attend AMS! 

The 2012-2013 ACT Officer team dresses "Gatsby style" for the infamous AMS welcome party!

Flapper attack! It is amazing how you can meet students from across the U.S. at conferences. California, Missouri, Kansas and Ohio are represented above. 

Megan and I represent Mizzou ACT at the pool party!

Just 'Winging' it in Buffalo!

"Life is either a great adventure or nothing." -Helen Keller 

Visiting New York City is one of the many items on my travel bucket list and mainly it is just so I can stand at the iconic "The Kiss" spot. So when the 2013 Ag Media Summit location was announced as New York, I was disappointed to learn it would not be held in the big apple but instead in Buffalo. But, during my week long stay in Buffalo I quickly appreciated the charm- and food- of this eastern city!

Buffalo wings are simply one of a kind in this city! I do not think I can possibly eat Buffalo Wild Wings again after the Anchor Bar wings. (This restaurant claims to be the home of the wings.) As a midwest girl, my favorite aspect of Buffalo was the lack of humidity along with the eclectic charm The weather had a permanent spring day like feel which made walking for a Starbucks fix a breeze.

My trip to Buffalo marks the farthest east I have traveled within the U.S. I have always wanted to take a New England road trip. (From the Main lighthouses to Hershey, Pennsylvania!) I believe seeing Victorian houses, civil war sites and early U.S. cities during the fall would be spectacular. And let's be honest I am kind of obsessed with the history of Salem, Massachusetts!

In Missouri we are not in proximity to beaches or another country. While in Buffalo, I did not realize how close I was to the boarder until I started seeing Canadian flags on every flag pole! A 30 minute car ride took my group of national ACT officers to Niagara Falls which marks the U.S./Canadian boarder. Alas, due to conference commitments I did not have time to venture into Canada. (I could have enjoyed the maple syrup and said 'aye Canada!')

For $2 I took a Niagara Park trolly tour which all of my group members agreed was a bargain. The trolly takes you to Horseshoe Falls, the infamous waterfall on the U.S. side which is featured in many movies.  Up close they were just as impressive as on the big screen! A female school teacher was actually the first to survive in a barrel over the falls in the 1800's. Others have survived accidental falls over the waterfall. I am not a fan of heights so I was sure to stay a safe distance from the guard railing. (I would be very cautious brining small children to Niagara Falls!) I enjoy whitewater rafting but after seeing the Canadian rapids I will not be venturing on those! There is also the Maiden of the Mist boating tour which takes you directly under the falls. Visitors are required to wear ponchos because they get so soaked from the mist!

When I finally make it to NYC I hope to once again visit the Niagara! It is one of the great natural wonders of the U.S. (Pike's Peak in Colorado is another great site I recommend. Yellowstone is also on my bucket list which is a potential vacation spot!) I would highly recommend Buffalo as a family destination. Disclaimer: I did visit Niagara Falls during a lull in visiting season so I did not have to push through fanny pack wearing tourists to get my snapshots of the falls. The majestic beauty of this natural phenomena is priceless and totally worth a trip east.

Traveling Aggie's top picks of Buffalo:

-Niagara Falls
-The Anchor Bar buffalo wings
-Jack's, a downtown eatery, sweet potato fries. Total YUM.
-The Chocolate Bar with a menu ranging from chocolate pasta to chocolate martinis
-Perfect 70 degree weather with minimal humidity

Eating at the Anchor Bar, a famous buffalo wings restaurant, with the national ACT officer team.

Standing at the 'official' marker for the U.S./Canadian divide. The boarder patrol stations were just around the corner. 

The Niagara Falls garden is worth a walk through. Shaped like the Great Lakes (which dump into the falls) the garden is filled with flowers like these Black Eyed Suzanne's.  

Exploring downtown Buffalo by the convention center for the 2013 Ag Media Summit. 

A Maiden of the Mist tour boat is following the rainbow! 

Waiting in Detroit...

In the airport terminal I can typically be found reading the latest Jodi Picoult novel or frantically searching for a Starbucks near my departure gate. Chances are I am on the phone with my best friend Sunny... our longstanding friendship joke is that our hectic schedules only allow us to talk while en route. Due to my obsessive nature, I usually arrive at least an hour prior to boarding time and in today's case I am two and a half hours early. I am headed to Buffalo, New York for a week as part of my duties as a national Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow officer. Three other Mizzou ACT members will be joining me later in the week and I am excited to see these ladies after a summer apart! Now, let's just say I have the airport waiting game down to an art since my first flight to Florida to a Disney World vacation at age 14. (Please, no judgement because even as a teenager and now young

adult I love Disney!)

I am excited to be at the 2013 Agriculture Media Summit! It is the nation's largest gathering of agricultural communicators. Last year the conference was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico where I was elected as national ACT first vice president. My term as a national ACT officer allowed me to travel to Oklahoma, Arkansas and plan events like the ACT Professional Development Conference. I spent many hours on conference calls throughout the year. As first vice president I was in charge of the yearly critique and contest. For the entire spring semester my house was filled with communications projects submitted by ACT members from across the country! Last year at AMS I also served as an intern for the firm, Cummins Consulting where I helped with conference planning and this year I completed freelance work.

Surrounded by the hustle and bustle of MCI airport in Kansas City I am reminded of the last time I sat in the Delta departure gate when I was headed to Mozambique. Unfortunately, that experience ended early but I have enjoyed recuperating at my farm during the remainder of summer. It has been a wonderful (and rare) opportunity to relax and recharge my batteries before fall semester beings. I finished the entire Gossip Girl series on Netflix, finally read Gone with the Wind, made trips to the lake and enjoyed country activities like horseback riding and fishing. I was even able to attend the Daviess County Fair, an event I have not missed since my first show at age 8. I have been warned by many to 'take it easy' and have reexamined my fall semester calendar to prioritize and better focus my energy.

This will be my last full year of my bachelor's degree and I am greatly looking forward to my third year at MU. Once again, I am living in a college house with my best friends. Although I am anxious to be back in 'CoMo' (the loving nickname for the college town of Columbia, Missouri) I have enjoyed this summer. From Africa to my hometown this has been a summer of unexpected events. I realize that few other college students have obtained an international internship, working with orphans in rural Africa was a life altering opportunity.

Somedays I find myself looking through my photos of the children and miss them terribly. (I do not however, miss life without electricity, running water or a rice/beans diet!) This will be my first time in New York. Visiting New York City on New Year's Eve is an item on my infamous bucket list. (Really it should be dubbed a travel dream list as most of the 205 items involve going to far-off places. Yes I have more than 200 things I want to do before I expire.) I caught the travel bug in high school and have been on numerous flights since those days (I honestly could not tell you an exact number.) A secret about me; I am afraid of heights. So, you would think flying would absolutely terrify me. Not a chance. I adore traveling, some might say I am obsessed with the concept of wonderlust. Traveling is an adventure; by boat, train or airplane arriving to your destination is a part of your travel story. So I am going to enjoy 'The StoryTeller' while I wait for my flight... and the next Nicholas Sparks novel to finally appear on bookstore shelves.

Cheers to my first visit to the 'empire state'!