My First Interview!

As an intern at the Classic, I have had so many new experiences in such a short period of time, and I am loving it! This morning, I had the opportunity to interview two very admirable people involved in agricultural communications. While eating breakfast with my fellow intern, Tyne Morgan, I happened to meet John Walter the creator and editor of agriculture online. John's website is the online portion of Successful Farming. While visiting with John, I learned that over one hundred years ago Successful Farming began the Meredith Corporation (now the second largest publisher in the United States). The Meredith Corporation owns many forms of media, including magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies Home Journal, Fitness, Successful Farming, and many more. John really emphasized the value of a family business and the importance of maintaining "agriculture roots," just as the Meredith Corporation has over the years. Even though my first interview was short, John said before he left, "Usually I am the one interviewing people, this was nice." I had a great time visiting with John, and learned the value of the strongly rooted companies we have in our industry. I even discovered that Mel Meredith, the great-granddaughter of E.T. Meredith who began Meredith Corporation, is the proud owner of the yacht sitting in the harbor outside our hotel! Tyne and I are extremely privileged to be invited to the National Corn Growers Association banquet on that particular yacht this evening. We are really looking forward to meeting several successful farming families from around the United States tonight. Check back later this evening for a post about our experiences and the wonderful families we encountered.