By Mike Wilson
As they say, all good things must come to an end. By this time next month, IFAJ will enter a new era. For me, my journey as president will end with a new election, a new presidium, and a new set of challenges for the IFAJ executive committee and every member interested in the future of global Ag communications.
As I look back over the past 12 years, I marvel at the tremendous change this organization has gone through. When I was elected vice president in Australia in 2000, we had little money and were mostly focused on our immediate needs. Then things started changing when we organized the executive committee into grass roots sub committees in Ireland in 2003. Under the leadership of Hans Matthiesen and later, David Markey, we began to focus on building our finances and making the organization more relevant to its members. The organization is now in the position to invest in a new global strategic plan designed to make us even more “international” than we are now.
One of the greatest thrills for me has been working with other like-minded individuals to come up with good ideas, and then watching those ideas become reality…ideas such as the IFAJ photo contest, first launched in 2003 in The Netherlands; a revamped IFAJ web page, launched in 2008; the Alltech Young-Leader Boot camp, launched in 2011; the Master Class, first launched in Belgium and continuing in Canada and next month in Sweden; the IFAJ Broadcast and Yara awards, the monthly e-newsletter, and the hiring of a part-time executive secretary.
And to think we did all of this with mostly all volunteer service! I want to pay tribute to the members of the Executive Committee who served during my term of office. Thank you for your commitment, and thanks to members of this presidium, Markus Rediger, Owen Roberts and James Campbell. They have served this organization with dedication and enthusiasm beyond the call of duty. Each time I asked them for advice, I got prompt and honest feedback, which usually spurred a thoughtful discussion. I also want to recognize executive secretary Connie Siemes for helping us stay organized and moving the organization forward. For those countless hours spent in Berlin, at Congress, on skype and email discussing the best interests of the organization, thank you!
IFAJ congresses provided some of the best memories. That said, IFAJ also faced some difficult times. Think about the 9/11 terrorist attack during the 2001 Congress in Finland, the ash cloud that closed so many airports in Belgium in 2010, and the loss of dear friends Anna Orzechowska and Don Gomery. For my part, I missed the 2004 South African Congress because I was going through chemotherapy treatment; that week, I got a call from South Africa from IFAJ friends, offering me get well wishes. For a cancer survivor, those are the kinds of memories that stick with you.
I am confident IFAJ will continue to grow and become more relevant, not only to current members but also to the international Ag communications profession as a whole. I believe there is much more we can do for our profession worldwide. For as many stars as we can see in the IFAJ universe now, there are at least that many stars we have yet to discover.
To our younger members: keep sharing your bright new ideas. Keep learning from each other. Take a moment to appreciate your profession. It is an honorable career that brings communities together and builds the common good.
To my friends in mid-career, use your experiences to help define our future vision. And to you folks who have served so many years as our mentors, thank you for sharing your wisdom and helping to shape our careers… and more important, to teach us that it is better to work to live, than to live to work.
The IFAJ faces many barriers – distance, finance, culture, and language, to name a few. When we all speak the universal language of friendship and cooperation, there is little that can stop us from achieving our goals. Thank you, everyone!