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2007-2008
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Speed networking sweetens breakfast |
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Written by CanACT
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Wednesday, 12 March 2008 |
 PHOTO BY LAURA MCDONALD ‘Speeding Networking’ was deemed a huge success by the organizers of the 2nd annual Breakfast with the Best held February 14th at the University of Guelph. Sponsored by the OAC Alumni Association and the Canadian Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (CanACT), the event offered attendees an opportunity to establish professional connections as efficiently as possible. At right, Scott Cressman and Rudy Diemer of RKD Web Studios share a speed networking moment at the 2nd annual Breakfast with the Best.
Amy Meekes, CanACT president, says the breakfast was designed to improve the interaction between agricultural industry leaders and the most promising OAC students. “As a student, it’s intimidating to walk up to a figurehead of the industry and just start a conversation,” says Meekes. “But speed networking broke down those communication barriers and many participants are talking about some really exciting opportunities that may result from today’s discussions.” Meekes says she expects this year’s success is only the first step towards realizing the full potential of this event and looks forward to attending as an industry representative next year. At this time, both the OAC Alumni Association and CanACT are planning for a 2009 event. -30- |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 20 March 2008 )
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Guelph gets an etiquette lesson |
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Written by Arpana Chakravarty, The Ontarion
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Friday, 08 February 2008 |
 Photo: Heather Donkers
To me, eating in public seemed fairly basic. It was something that as Canadians, we grow up learning about. It is instilled in us as an obvious part of our social upbringing. So why was it that there was going to be a guest speaker coming all the way from Texas to teach University students how to fine-dine?
To my surprise, the evening was far more professional than I would have expected. As I entered the University Club there were two hosts ready to welcome me. Immediately they offered to hang my coat and gave me a nametag, then began to introduce me to people in the room.
Looking at the posh waiting area I was brought into, I obviously underestimated the event. As people were mingling with welcome drinks, I was introduced to many important individuals that evening.
Owen Roberts, the main advisor, was incredibly friendly and informed me about the event, which was organized by CanACT - The Canadian Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow, a very strong organization that has been running for five years consecutively. The association started in the US and has grown internationally; they provided a grant to sponsor the event that evening.
It was interesting to see the variety of people present at the meeting. There was Diane Johnson, the guest speaker from the Texas. A graduate from Kansas State University, Johnson combined her Agricultural knowledge with her passion for etiquette to “help make the world a better place.”
Also present, were students from most of the leading student organizations on campus. Although all successful leaders in their respective organizations, the evening showed they all still had a lot to learn in becoming leaders. Johnson was practiced in treating each of her subjects as professionals rather than students.
This is important because many of the students would soon be taking their next step in graduating and thus these skills would prove to be very useful to them. She made it clear, that everyone eat, but to do it like a pro, which was actually a difficult skill to master.
By the end of the evening, she taught some very useful tips. If anyone were to go into a meeting with a professional businessperson, by applying Johnson’s knowledge, he or she would be sure to leave a good impression.
It was interesting to see that many students were unsure of the proper fine dinning techniques. Johnson concluded with a summary of the top ten dining mistakes. It was surprising to see the number of mistakes people made both knowingly and unknowingly. Some had taken etiquette lessons before and needed to be reminded of the mistakes they were made.
Overall, Johnson was informative and her information was very useful. It was just a bit ironic that as Canada’s top Agricultural and Food college people needed to be taught how to dine. The skills taught were versatile to any dining situation, whether they be as simple as family and friend greets or as intricate as a professional business meeting. -30- |
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 09 February 2008 )
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Happy 5th Birthday CanACT! |
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Written by CanACT
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Tuesday, 05 February 2008 |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 05 February 2008 )
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Get attention with photography and enhance your story, photojournalist tells CanACT |
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Written by CanACT
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Monday, 19 November 2007 |
Adding photography to your skill set can really give you an edge in the field of journalism, says Kyle Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, a freelance photojournalist and photographer, shared this message along with practical photography tips at Canadian Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (CanACT) meeting on November 15.
Rodriguez invited CanACT members to discuss why photos are important in a story. Natalie Oram, an agricultural science student said that a picture can “catch the angle of your story.” Rodriguez agreed and emphasized that photos are more likely to grab a person's attention than text.
Ethics and accuracy are very important in photojournalism. Rodriguez explained the ethics of photojournalism through three scenarios where members had to decide whether they were ethical or not. Not surprisingly, CanACT’s view of ethics is on par with the majority, as these same scenarios were used in a much larger ethics study. Adjusting brightness, contrast levels and cropping images is considered ethical, but removing objects and digital retouching is not, says Rodriguez.
How to be a good photojournalist and what to do when you arrive to document an event were also on the agenda. Amy Meekes took on the challenge of role-playing a photojournalist sent to report on our meeting. She was very respectful, introduced herself and took some great pictures without disturbing the meeting. Meekes successfully demonstrated many important features of a successful photo shoot. |
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Written by CanACT
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Monday, 12 November 2007 |
In the wake of an agricultural crisis in 2005, the Ontario grains and oilseeds came together with one strong yet simple message: Farmers Feed Cities! Now, that rallying cry has become an institution.
Lisa McLean, a University of Guelph alumnus and communications representative for Farmers Feed Cities!, visited the Guelph chapter of Canadian Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (CanACT) on November 1 and explained how communications have changed for the Farmers Feed Cities campaign.
In 2005, Farmers Feed Cities! was a protest statement on placards at farmers’ rallies. Now it’s raising awareness about agriculture, working towards creating a link between farmers and non-farm families. McLean says that “cities are important, but we feed you, so please don’t forget about us.” Farmers Feed Cities! is striving to be a non-confrontational, fun way for non-farmers to learn about agriculture and show their support of the farmers who feed cities, says McLean.
Farmers Feed Cities! has realized some success. It rallied the government to implement an important risk management program in 2007, a market revenue insurance replacement program based on premiums, that provides farmers with support to remain competitive on the world stage.
McLean says urban Canada should support farmers. “Farm families are the foundation of rural communities,” she says. Students and young communicators must keep the rural and urban support for agriculture coming, she says.
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