Dear ACE members,

You have a hard-working Board of Directors! We are just back from the fall board meeting where your colleagues focused on a variety of tasks and issues, with one goal in mind: ensuring ACE provides you with the professional development, networking, and services that you want.

We interviewed two excellent management firms and are now focusing on negotiations. Gratifying to the search committee: each complimented us on the thoroughness of our search. One said it was the most thorough vetting they have ever experienced. Our search included zoom interviews, reference checks, site visits, and a face-to-face meeting with the board. Stay tuned as we get ready to announce our new management partner.

While in Scottsdale, we checked out the digs for the 2018 conference. Wow. The Ag Media Summit with ACE will have an entire floor of spacious meeting rooms and halls all to themselves, making breakout sessions easy to find. There are great locations for the research posters and the Critique and Award gold winners. The grounds are beautiful with two pools, 27 holes of golf and mountains in the background. At 5:30 pm, a bagpiper, kilt and all, calls golfers home each evening. And there’s a library – a scotch library – for those of you who are experts or want to be experts in that spirit.

As a team, we worked on our goals and plans for the year and clarified the roles of the directors. We discussed issues that have bubbled up from membership. We talked about future conferences. We even tightened up the bylaws and worked on financial processes.

Thank you for devoting your time to ACE, Board of Directors! They include Elizabeth Gregory North, president-elect from Mississippi; Doug Edlund, vice-president, Tennessee; past-president Steve Miller, Wyoming; Mary Wirth, learning communities director, Pennsylvania; Dennis Thomas, marketing director, Kentucky; Beth Forbes, membership director, Indiana; Lauri Baker, research director, Kansas; Victor Villegas, professional development director, Oregon; Janet Rodekohr, retirees director, Georgia; Lori Greiner, learning communities director-elect, Virginia; Tobie Blanchard, membership director-elect, Louisiana; Matt Browning, marketing director-elect, West Virginia; Linda Benedict, retirees director-elect, Louisiana; Craig Woods, professional development director-elect, Oklahoma; Holly Young, executive director, New Hampshire; Becky Koch, treasurer, North Dakota; and Donna Sheffield, development, Kansas.

Suzanne Steel, ACE President


Candidates Sought for 2018 Election

The nominating committee for the ACE 2018 election is seeking candidates for vice president and the following ACE director positions:

• Professional Development

• Marketing

• Research

Candidates for ACE vice president must be an ACE member in good standing for at least four years.

To nominate someone, including yourself, for any of these positions please contact ACE past president Steve Miller, who chairs the committee. Steve also will share with you the full description of responsibilities for each position.

ACE Marketing Committee Seeking New Members

The ACE Marketing Committee is in search of a couple new members. If you would like to help in the creation and implementation of marketing campaigns and materials for ACE in the coming year, please contact Marketing Director Dennis Thomas at dennis.thomas@kysu.edu or Marketing Director-Elect Matt Browning at mbrowning1@wvstateu.edu. The group conducts quarterly conference calls, with additional correspondence as needed.