National FFA Agricultural Communications Career Development Event Agricultural Communication and Leadership

Purpose … to provide individuals with basic communications skills necessary to take advantage of career opportunities in agricultural communications

Purpose Public communications about agricultural products, practices and policies are essential to the future of agriculture. Students who are equipped with strong communication skills and who can use a variety of media to help the public understand issues related to the agricultural industry have a bright future in the job market.

Format Each team is made up of five members Each team member must be a member of a chartered FFA chapter Two team activities – –Communications project proposal – –Communication project presentation Two individual activities – –Test   Editing Exercise – –Practicum

Format All team members wear official FFA dress in all events Students must provide pens and pencils Specialized equipment for presentation and practicums are provided

Team Activities Topic is the same for the proposal and presentation Topic is the same for the proposal and presentation Themes of topics rotate yearly Themes of topics rotate yearly –2006 – Local Environmental Issues –2007 – FFA Recruiting and Educational Activities –2008 – Safety Issues –2009 – FFA Community Involvement –2010 – Local Environmental Issues –2011 – FFA Recruiting & Educational Activities

Communications Project Proposal The key is to select a topic specific enough that the team will be able to do a good job Each team prepares a proposal for their chapter explaining the communications activities planned to publicize and event or issue

Communications Project Proposal Proposal should be a maximum of 12 double-spaced pages, 8 x 11 white paper, 1” margins, Times New Roman or Times font 12 pages does not include reference, appendices or cover pages

Communications Project Proposal Submitted with a staple in the upper-left hand corner No folders, binders, special covers or other placement of staple Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual style Cover page should include – –Title of proposal – –State – –Chapter name – –Team members names – –Date

Communications Project Proposal Proposal should include the following sections: – –Rational for selecting the project, including background information – –Objectives of the project – –Audience to be targeted – –Key messages or themes – –Media selected to accomplish the project – –Budget to produce and place communications materials – –Criteria upon which the project will be evaluated

Communications Project Presentation Each team has 15 minutes to present; – –5 point penalty deducted for each major fraction of a minute over 15 minutes Judges will have 5 minutes to ask questions following the presentation Presentation should follow and cover all sections included in proposal

Communications Project Presentation Examples of material used in the execution of the proposal should be included Each member must participate in the presentation Teams have 10 minutes to set up and take down the presentation

Individual Activities Test Test –Editing exercise Practicums Practicums

Test Editing exercise – –Each team member will complete and editing exercise – –Printed document contains 25 mistakes – –Identify as “Correct” or “Incorrect” with incorrect items corrected – –NOT allowed to use the style manual or a dictionary during the exercise

Practicums Consist of four individual events Prior to event, each team should assign a member to each activity Practicums include – –Organizing and writing a news story – –Organizing and writing a press release – –Developing and carrying out a broadcast – –Preparing a photo for editing and captioning

Practicums All teams meet for orientation and press conference; seated by practicum group At press conference, will receive a press packet with background information on the agricultural topic and expert to use during the event Expert will speak on an agricultural topic for 20 minutes; students may take notes

Practicums After the presentation, broadcasters and graphic designers will be dismissed to compete their tasks News writers and press release writers will be involved in a 10-minute Q & A with the expert Tape recorders will not be allowed Only news writers allowed to ask questions

News Writers Write a news story for an agricultural publication based on information gathered at news conference words 12-pt Times New Roman, double spaced Follow inverted pyramid style

News Writers Strong focus and lead, answer who, what, when, where and why Also include a headline Will have 60 minutes to compose story; story then will be word processed by student on computer, printed and scored Judging based on written communication, skills, accuracy, organization, style, creativity & grammar

Press Release Writers Write a press release as if the expert’s company or organization was distributing it Use the press packet and information gathered in press conference words, excluding words in header 12-pt Times New Roman, double spaced

Press Release Writers Will have 60 minutes to compose story; story then will be word processed by student on computer, printed and scored Judging based on written communication, skills, accuracy, organization, style, creativity and grammar

Broadcasters Use the press packet and information gathered in press conference to write and carry out a two-minute radio broadcast Message should be suitable to be aired on a radio station or network Use a standard cassette and tape recorder to record and broadcast the story Will be allowed to listen to recorded broadcast if time allows

Broadcasters Cassette with recorded broadcast will be turned in to be evaluated Also develop and turn in five written questions that she or he would have asked the expert if they were given the opportunity to interview the expert Will have 60 minutes to complete tasks

Graphic Designers Each will complete exercises in photo editing and photo caption writing Will have 60 minutes to complete the tasks

Graphic Designers Photo editing exercise – –Member will receive a variety of photos and will select photo for the news story or press release – –Choose one photo and provide three written reasons why it was selected

Graphic Designers Photo caption writing exercise – –Write and place a two-line caption (about 25 words) for one of the photos selected for the layout – –Judged on accuracy of information, grammar, brevity, clarity, style and creativity of captions

Team Project Scoring Communication Project Proposal – –150 points total – –Most important: rational and objectives of project Communication Project Presentation – –150 points total – –Most important: questions and answers

Test Scoring Editing Exercise – –25 points per team member – –100 points total

Practicum Scoring News Writer Story – –100 points total – –Most important: lead/focus and accuracy of information and quotes Press Release Writer – –100 points total – –Most important: lead/focus

Practicum Scoring Broadcaster’s Recording – –100 points total – –Most important: quality of five written follow-up questions Graphic Designer – –100 points total – –Most important: photo selection and cropping

Overall Scoring Practicum Scores 400 points Communications Project Proposal 150 points Communications Project Presentation 150 points Test Scores 100 points TOTAL 800 points

Tiebreakers Team 1. 1.Proposal rank 2. 2.Practicum rank 3. 3.Presentation rank Individual 1. 1.Practicum rank 2. 2.Quiz rank 3. 3.Editing exercise score