"Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel."- Yogi Berra

Why Mr. Berra? To hold all the cool free stuff you get at conference trade shows! I don’t want my PBS “America’s Heartland” cap to be crushed or fall out of a faulty suitcase. I got some awesome stuff today. Since I’ve already highlighted handouts as one of my favorite things, you can only imagine how it felt to walk into the trade show. It felt like promised land of fliers! John Deere, Monsanto, Pzier, USDA, National Beef Board, National Farm Bureau, and the list continues and continues! I’m not just coming home with 10 extra pounds of tree slices either. No way! I got pens galore, a zip up steno portfolio, backpack and a personalized calendar.

So, I ate tons of WI foods at the “Taste of Wisconsin” tonight. I actually consumed more cheese than I knew even existed. I even tried cranberry cheese! Then my roommate from MO and I went out with Garrett and his boss from D.C. to an Irish restaurant. I was so full, but it was neat to chat with her. But that was the end of my day.. let’s start at the beginning shall we?

The day began with the interview... and, it was good. I don’t know how good, but oh well. I’m having fun and having the chance to make friends and contacts. Went to a few sessions, you know how that is my Ag Communications homies. Although sometimes they can be a little long on the words and short on useful information, there was one I attended by Don Ranly, a professor from the Missouri School of Journalism that was exceptional. He would be a GREAT prof.! I took a crazy amount of notes. Here are a few things that I learned.. or at least reaffirmed.
*CAPTIONS! It’s proven that readers look at pictures… and if they look at the pictures, they’re going to read the caption. Take that chance to reel them in to enjoy your whole story (what a simple, yet great thing to do!)
*Use words like your, you, how and tips in your blurbs.
*This guy said it’s okay to use quotes as your captions.
*He recommended buying a book of quotes to set on your desk and use liberally in stories (hummm... See how I’m applying that info in this post?!)
*He said it’s okay to be creative (aka: corny) in your leads- HIP HIP HORRAY! I can use alliteration, rhyme, allusion, allegory, metaphors, and can even twist common phrases for my headlines… (you know something like, if coffee prices were going up you could say, “Bean costs are amounting to a hill of a lot more.”. I loved this one!)
*And most importantly, have the mindset of “how can I help you,” when writing and doing your layout. Color code, use graphs/graphics, actually say something, make the story the type that is cut out and put on the fridge because it’s so helpful. Make your stuff useful, useable and used.

There is a lot more, but I’ll tell you in person!

If you are ever looking for a good idea to make your sponsors and exhibitors in the trade show feel special while writing out a big fat sponsorship check, I think the LPC has shaped the perfect way to do it. They had a red carpet intro, complete paparazzi, flash lights, roped off red carpet, announcer and tuxed men and ball gowned women escorts. It was perfect. They had 2 strobe lights that looked like flashes and about 4 real picture takers at various places on the “red carpet” going into the InfoExpo. As the exhibitor was announced, an escort would take them down the runway and into the big conference hall. It was cool!

So, I learned a lot, ate a whole lot, but want to go to sleep even more!

P.S.- Thanks for caring for Annie-Annie-Bo-Fanny Meg. You’re a nice girl :)