Looking forward to #GAJJD13 at John Deere UK

I've just returned from doing some work with the PR and internal communications at John Deere in Mannheim, Germany. They gave me this model of one of their products as a gift.

So what's next? A trip to John Deere's UK base in Langar, Nottingham for the annual John Deere Guild of Agricultural Journalists journalism training course.

Agricultural and horticultural students and others from the sector who want to get into journalism or PR will be attending the course from Monday 15th to Wednesday 17th July to learn about basic journalism and PR skills in print and online.

I plan to tweet about it while I'm there in between training delivery sessions. And I'm hoping some of the participants will be posting tweets and update too. Follow us using the hashtag #GAJJD13.

The 2012 GAJ/John Deere Training course told in Storify

GAJ/John Deere course attendees get down to work

Course attendees on the Guild of Agricultural Journalists/John Deere
journalism training course hard at work during the morning sessions.  

Tweet the course attendees at the Guild of Agricultural Journalists/John Deere training award course #GAJJD12

The Guild of Agricultural Journalists/John Deere training course kicks off on Sunday evening at John Deere UK HQ, Langar, Nottinghamshire.

  

The good news is that some of the course attendees have already begun to connect via social media.

   

Keen tweeters who will be taking part in the journalism sessions include David Acock ‏and Becca Veale. 

   

And the latest to connect are Twitter newcomer Louise Hartley and Harper Adams agri-food marketing student Sophie Cawley.

Why not follow and keep in touch with course events? I'll be using the hastag #GAJJD12.                                                                                                              

All set for Guild of Agricultural Journalists/John Deere journalism training course 2012

GAJ/John Deere journalism training course attendees, 2011

I've spent some time over the last couple of days putting the final touches to the annual Guild of Agricultural Journalists' training course, which is sponsored by John Deere.

I'm no agricultural expert myself, but each year I teach journalism sessions at John Deere UK HQ for students and graduates with agriculture and horticulture backgrounds. 


Over a couple of days attendees are introduced to core journalism skills including writing, interviewing and copy-editing for print and online. Course host and John Deere PR consultant, Steve Mitchell, teaches the PR segment of the programme.

The course is followed by a few days' work experience on a variety of industry titles, which Steve organises for attendees. Attendees also complete a post-course assignment to write a news story. The best entry wins the John Deere award trophy plus £250 in prize money

Course graduates who've opted to pursue a media career following the sessions have gone on to work for magazines, newspapers, websites and PR companies across the agriculture and horticulture sectors.

As always, I'm really looking forward to working with this year's attendees. We begin on Sunday evening with an introductory talk - followed, of course, by a few drinks.

Video: Students at the GAJ/John Deere journalism course 2011

The opening sessions of the Guild of Agricultural JournalistsJ/John Deere journalism training course focus on the basics of news and the importance of producing content that meets the audience's needs.

I posted this short, roughly-edited video clip to demonstrate to attendees that simple video from a Flip or phone camera can provide some useful extra content.