|  It’s finally here.
The International Federation of Agriculture Journalists (IFAJ) 2011 congress is now underway with several pre-congress events taking place in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Together with my colleague Owen Roberts (@theurbancowboy), I’m co-chairing this gathering of about 260 farm journalists from 30 countries around the world, which is taking place in Ontario this week. The last time Canada hosted this annual conference for agricultural writers was in 1967, so this is a big deal for us. Continue reading World’s farm journalists come to Canada  That’s our count down to the kick off of the 2011 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists’ annual congress.
In case you’re wondering why I’m interested – I’m co-chair of this event and we’re going to be hosting it in Canada, Guelph and Niagara Falls to be exact, for the first time in over 40 years! As part of our marketing efforts, my colleagues Kelly Daynard and Sarah Andrewes, Chairs of the Registration and Promotions committees respectively, have launched a monthly newsletter about the event full of great info, facts and tidbits about Canadian food and farming. Continue reading Only 336 days to go!  There’s a new leader at the helm of the Eastern Canada Farm Writers’ Association (ECFWA). Clare Illingworth, a communications specialist with Syngenta Crop Protection, became president of the organization at its annual meeting this week.
Illingworth, who has served on the ECFWA board for several years, first as a director and most recently as Second Vice President, takes over from outgoing president Kelly Daynard, program manager with the Ontario Farm Animal Council. Continue reading Farm writers elect new president Canada is a land built on the foundations of agriculture and the hard work of generations of immigrants and farmers. These are the people who came to what was the “New World” to lay the groundwork for the life, culture and society we enjoy here today. Around the globe today, our country is admired as a producer of high quality food and as a leader in cutting edge agriculture.
Continue reading Experience new world agriculture in Canada These are interesting and exciting times to be in agriculture – and seemingly, even better times to be communicating about food and farming. I’m basing this on the growing popularity of the Eastern Canada Farm Writers Association (ECFWA), which reported record membership numbers at its annual meeting in the Niagara Region today. Continue reading Membership in farm writer group on the rise  It’s still three years away – but excitement is building across the country for our chance to welcome the world’s agricultural journalists. Planning has started in earnest for the International Federation of Agriculture Journalists’ (IFAJ) congress that will be hosted by Canada in the Guelph and Niagara regions of Ontario in September 2011.
Continue reading Looking ahead to Canada’s congress
When attending an agenda-packed international event like the recent IFAJ Congress, it’s all you can do to focus on the moment. Day after day we were kept scurrying from one event to another and from one farm visit to the next. We often left our hotels by 7 a.m. and didn’t return until late in the night. Given this pace, there was only time to superficially process our newly-gained experiences on a very fragmented basis as we frantically wrote notes and snapped photos that would help to jog our memories at a later date. Continue reading Processing the experience | |
