Written by: Renae Larson, Agricultural Communication and Marketing My internship with University of Minnesota-Extension Poultry allowed me to experience what it was like to be a communicator within the agricultural livestock industry. I spent most of my time working in an office on the university’s St. Paul campus writing blogs, scheduling Facebook posts, editing and crediting videos, adding closed captions on YouTube videos, compiling and analyzing data to create a research report, and working in Qualtrics creating surveys and content for biosecurity audit principles. I had the opportunity to network with other Extension educators at monthly meetings and conferences too, but the highlight of my internship was working with Minnesota 4-H. I had the pleasure of attending one of the 4-H Livestock Day Camps in Farmington with Abby Neu, a poultry Extension educator, to present biosecurity education using the Biosecure Entry Education Trailer (BEET) unit. My day consisted of connecting with four different groups of kids, each choosing to educate themselves on a specific animal species: rabbits, meat goats, beef or swine. By the end, the level of attentiveness and passion within each and every attendee blew me away. Abby and I had such a great time educating the kids on biosecurity. Many of them were already conscientious about biosecurity with their animals but through the presentation and activities in the BEET trailer they were able to learn something new. Collectively, the kids exuded excitement during our sessions that carried the mood the entire day.
My biggest take away from the day was the intelligence and kindness of the entire 4-H community. The camp gave kids who are passionate about agriculture, livestock, natural resources, and the environment an opportunity to learn more about what interests them in a fun environment. It gave 4-Her’s a place to express their own farm experiences and knowledge amongst like-minded people. It gave them a chance to exhibit the plethora of facts on species of livestock they’ve spent hours studying through friendly games. Because Extension professionals wear many hats, I had the opportunity to engage in various projects this summer outside of the 4-H presentation. Technology and online platforms play a major role in the communication and marketing industries. In the agricultural communication and marketing field, knowing how to utilize programs, software, and social media sites is key to spreading messages and reaching your intended audiences. Working as a communications intern in Extension, I was exposed to numerous online communication tools that I had never used prior to the internship. The online programs I spent most of my summer working in were WeVideo, Qualtrics, YouTube, and Facebook. Learning how to navigate each of these was a challenge, but I truly believe knowing how to use these technologies and online programs and understanding key audiences will add value to any position I face in the future. Beyond specific projects, this internship allowed me to grow as an individual in a professional sense. I spent the majority of my working hours by myself. This time pushed me to further develop being a self-starter, and when I completed projects, I took the initiative to begin the next project or work on content I knew needed to get done. When I attended conferences and meetings, I also gained a sense of professionalism. These experiences trained me to communicate as a professional and allowed me to feel like I had responsibility and a place within Extension. Overall, this internship experience prepared me for opportunities down the road because I learned many skills and became comfortable with my personal strengths.
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Written by: Leanne Adamsky, Agricultural Communication and Marketing My internship over the summer was with a local craft meat company called Mighty Spark Food Co. I was hired as one of their five experiential marketing interns. In this role, I worked alongside four other college students to run our stand at the Minneapolis Farmers Market. Our role was to be brand ambassadors, and to sell the product to local customers at the market. Some tasks included learning more about the company and the products we were selling, understanding how to cook the meat properly so we could serve ready-to-eat products and samples, and creating a loyal fan base who would continue to buy Mighty Spark Food Co. products in local grocery stores. I had many professional opportunities because of my internship. The biggest opportunity was obtaining major-specific experience in a new and relevant field. My major is Agricultural Communication and Marketing, and I had no idea what I was going to do with it. This internship allowed me to use my skills in communication to tell the story of how Mighty Spark Food Co. became the brand it is today.
Telling the company story drives sales, mostly because customers like shopping locally. If it was not for the interns at the Minneapolis Farmers Market, most people would not know that Mighty Spark Food Co. is a local company, and that it actually was founded at that same farmers market. At the end of the summer, I had more exposure to product management. My task was to go to local grocery stores and see how our product was selling, which included setting up product displays, restocking shelves to ensure customers to maintain full instocks, and speaking to the meat manager about how our products were selling in the store. It is hard to pinpoint one key experience that I had, just because the whole summer was a summer of experience. The best thing I got out of this internship was experience. Working for Mighty Spark Food Co. gave me experience that I both wanted and needed going into my senior year of college. I did not have a lot of experience connected to my new major, and my internship perfectly blended all the things I wanted and needed to get me a job post-graduation. I cannot recommend this internship enough. From the day of my in-person interview, I was pushed way out of my comfort zone. This opportunity made me a more experienced professional, and an overall better person. If any students are interested in this position, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions! Written by: Katherine Gathje, Agricultural Communication & Marketing Major
My name is Katherine Gathje, and this summer I had the opportunity to serve as the Extension Agriculture and Horticulture Intern for Meeker and McLeod Counties. I really enjoyed the variety each day, and I learned new skills all the time. My largest project was to create a video or a video series about livestock safety to be used for the tractor safety certification program and others. This was a joint project between me and the Extension intern for Stearns and Benton Counties. The two of us were able to create a common vision and a series of three videos that focused on different aspects of livestock safety and handling. We enhanced several professional skills through this project, as we had to write the script and create visuals for the video. We also spent an afternoon filming the video clips at my farm and then pieced them together to create the finished projects. This led me to complete storyboards for videos about livestock trailer safety and coaching 4-H dairy judging. Each week I was responsible for several key pieces of Extension work. My supervisor and I were on the radio every Tuesday to share important updates about crop, yard and garden problems and suggestions on how to fix them. I also wrote one to two articles each week, which were compiled into a news release that local media outlets and area homeowners received, and I managed two Facebook pages; one for Extension and one for Master Gardeners. I found articles and events relevant to those particular audiences and shared them. I also created many posts using Canva to update followers on any happenings. An Extension Educator spends much of their their day answering people’s questions and providing them with useful information. I was able to help answer homeowners’ questions and assist with research that will help farmers in the area. I also enjoyed attending local events where I built my professional network and shared Extension resources with others. I am very grateful for my time with University of Minnesota-Extension, and I know that it has prepared me well for my next internship. I was able to gain experience in event planning, communications, facilitation, and so much more that will help no matter where I am. I enjoyed the fact that every day was different because if I didn’t love what I was doing one day, I was still excited to get to work and learn what would be happening the next day. |
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January 2020
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