{"id":10745,"date":"2016-01-25T09:33:43","date_gmt":"2016-01-25T15:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/?p=10745"},"modified":"2016-01-25T09:49:34","modified_gmt":"2016-01-25T15:49:34","slug":"aaea-offers-opportunity-for-members-to-visit-cuba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/?p=10745","title":{"rendered":"AAEA Offers Opportunity for Members to Visit Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/images\/\/aaea_horiz_color.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-10750 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/images\/\/aaea_horiz_color-300x113.jpg\" alt=\"aaea_horiz_color\" width=\"300\" height=\"113\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/images\/aaea_horiz_color-300x113.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/images\/aaea_horiz_color.jpg 825w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Deadline to apply for trip stipends: February 29<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>NEW PRAGUE, Minn. (Jan. 15, 2016) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c The American Agricultural Editors\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Association (AAEA) is organizing a Cuba Ag Communicators Learning Mission this fall. This is the first ag mission of this type to a communist country by U.S. ag journalists. AAEA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Professional Improvement Foundation (PIF) will award $2,000 stipends \u00e2\u20ac\u201c covering half the trip cost \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to the members who participate in the trip.<\/p>\n<p>Stipend information is now available on the AAEA website (<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><a style=\"color: #008000;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ageditors.com\">www.ageditors.com<\/a><\/span>) and applications will be accepted until Feb. 29. AAEA is the first ag communications organization in North America to offer this type of mission, expressly designed for ag communicators.\u00c2\u00a0 The program has been designed for a small group of 10 to 20 participants. Applications will be reviewed by a former international state department media specialist knowledgeable in agriculture and trade relations with foreign countries.<\/p>\n<p>The five-day program will include a wide range of visits to farms, farmers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 cooperatives, processing facilities, a wholesale market and supermarket, as well as meetings with Cuban officials, U.S. State Department diplomats, agricultural economists from the University of Havana and journalists covering Cuba agriculture.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We believe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s vital that our members see first-hand what re-opening trade relations with Cuba will mean for farmers and other ag organizations and companies here in the U.S.,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Kelly Schwalbe, chair of the AAEA foundation. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153These stipends are open to ag editors, freelancers and other ag communicators who write every day for various audiences \u00e2\u20ac\u201c from farmers to consumers and many others.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>To apply for a stipend, applicants must be a member of AAEA.<\/p>\n<p>AAEA is partnering with an ag tour organization with extensive connections and experience in Cuba. The organization works closely with the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba, a coalition of government, farm organizations and agribusinesses created to improve ag trade between the U.S. and Cuba.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153A mission of this magnitude will take many months to organize,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d adds Schwalbe. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We will use the second quarter of this year to get the appropriate documentation approved by the U.S. and Cuban governments. The mission will occur in September or October.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The likely timeframe will be a six-day window between Sept. 18 through Sept. 26 or Oct. 2 through Oct. 15.<\/p>\n<p>Schwalbe says the goal of PIF is to provide professional improvement opportunities to its members. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We learn each day about the global aspects of agriculture through our affiliation with the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists. This is an extension of our ability to connect our members with other countries,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Schwalbe.<\/p>\n<p>The total cost of the mission is $4,000. Thus, the foundation stipends will cover half of the cost of the Cuban trip. Visit <span style=\"color: #008000;\"><a style=\"color: #008000;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ageditors.com\">www.ageditors.com<\/a><\/span> or contact Executive Director Den Gardner at the AAEA office at <span style=\"color: #008000;\"><a style=\"color: #008000;\" href=\"mailto:aaea@gandgcomm.com\">aaea@gandgcomm.com<\/a><\/span> (phone: (952) 758-6502) for more information.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><a style=\"color: #008000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/images\/\/16-Jan-Final-Cuba-Ag-Media-Mission-Application-V2.doc\">Click here to download the application<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>AAEA is a professional association for agricultural editors, writers, photographers, designers and other ag communications professionals with more than 470 members in the U.S. and Canada.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Deadline to apply for trip stipends: February 29 NEW PRAGUE, Minn. (Jan. 15, 2016) \u00e2\u20ac\u201c The American Agricultural Editors\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Association (AAEA) is organizing a Cuba Ag Communicators Learning Mission this fall. This is the first ag mission of this type to a communist country by U.S. ag journalists. AAEA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Professional Improvement [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10745"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10754,"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10745\/revisions\/10754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.namablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}