Conference attendees can choose from six professional development tours offered the afternoon of Monday, June 8, 2009 at the ACE-NETC Conference in Des Moines, Iowa. Four of the tours offer a deeper look into the host city and two tours go outside the metropolitan area. There is an additional fee to participate in the tours and advance registration is required. Space is limited. Please select the special tour you would like to attend when you fill out your registration form. Tours without sufficient registration may be cancelled. In the event of cancellation, you will be contacted and offered an option to move to an alternate tour.
Publishing Powerhouses
Publishing Powerhouses takes you inside facilities at Meredith Corporation, August Home Publishing and the Des Moines Register, where you will have a VIP pass to hear from corporate editors, writers, photographers, graphic designers and marketers. First stop will be the Register, followed by media giant Meredith where you can hear from Loren Kruse (Successful Farming editor-in-chief and past ACE R. Brigham award winner) and some of his staff. Next, stop at a charming, colonial-style building that houses August Home, publishers of Woodsmith, ShopNotes, Garden Gate, Cuisine at home, and Workbench magazines. These three stops give you a first-hand look at daily operations, including the editorial and production processes, both for the quick-turnaround news business and for sophisticated stylings of consumer magazines. Find out what steps these publishers are taking to keep their brands and products competitive in a digital publishing world and with new generations of content users.
Fee: $25
Cultivate Your Garden Genius
Cultivate Your Garden Genius and explore four diverse Des Moines gardens in which the spirit is unique and closely tied to purpose. See what's growing at the Better Homes and Gardens test garden, and take a step back in time at the period gardens on the grounds of Terrace Hill (the Victorian era mansion that serves as the Iowa governor's residence). Delve into a behind-the-scenes look at indoor tropical research conducted at the Des Moines Botanical Center, and find out how a metropolitan area can offer edible sustainable landscapes through the Digging Deeper Community Food Project, funded in part through the USDA. Tour guide Kelly Norris is a horticulture expert, garden writer and published author who can talk about how to get published, how to write a garden story from the day's tour, as well as answer gardening questions. Bring your camera on this "photo safari."
Fee: $35
Explore, Learn, Create: The Des Moines Art Scene
Explore the Des Moines art scene and a downtown artist conclave. Chat with artists specializing in building illustrations, like those created for new campus facilities, as well as abstract botanical paintings and large works of terracotta. Learn about Sticks distinctive folk art furniture in their downtown gallery and visit with one of their artists. Create and participate in 'GreenArt' and learn how art can be used to educate children of all ages about human impact on our natural resources.
Fee: $35
The Many Faces of Iowa Agriculture
The Many Faces of Iowa Agriculture takes you to the global headquarters of Pioneer Hi-Bred International in Johnston, a working farm in Ankeny, and one of Iowa's new and growing farm-related businesses — a winery near Cambridge. Pioneer is the world's leading developer and supplier of agricultural seed through advanced plant genetics. You'll learn how the firm uses new technology to reach farmers, and about the revolutionary ideas of its founder, economist and farm magazine editor Henry A. Wallace. Also visit the six-generation Griffieon Farm, one of five American farms profiled by National Public Radio and the topic of an upcoming documentary. Media-savvy LaVon Griffieon, who co-founded Thousand Friends of Iowa to hold back urban sprawl, also will share her ideas about the benefits of local food. Last stop will be the White Oak Vineyard and Winery to hear the story — and taste the wine — of an Iowa family who gave up growing corn and soybeans to plant grapes. Iowa now has more than 70 wineries and 650 acres of grapes.
Fee: $35
Iowa State on the Edge: Information Technology and More
Iowa State on the Edge: Information Technology and More takes you on a short drive to Ames and Iowa State University for demonstrations at two unique facilities, and ends with a walking tour of the award-winning campus. You will experience Iowa State's Virtual Reality Application Center (VRAC C6), which is illuminated by 100 million pixels, 16.7 million pixels per wall (4096x4096). Forty-eight dual-cpu workstations send images to 24 Sony SRX-S105 digital cinema projectors, providing an intensely detailed, high-resolution, immersive experience for researchers and other participants. Audio immersion also is possible through the upgraded eight-channel surround sound audio system. Also experience Iowa State's tornado simulator, a world-class Wind Simulation and Testing (WiST) Laboratory for research, education, consulting and outreach in wind-structure interaction. This one-of-a-kind facility has applications in wind engineering, aeronautics and industrial aerodynamics. It can simulate straight-line gusts, thunderstorm winds and tornado-like vortices.
Fee: $35
Iowa Public Television
A sixth tour, Iowa Public Television, is offered through the Electronic Media SIG. You will learn how television executives make their programming decisions and how something lands on public television. Staff members at Iowa Public Television (IPT) have assembled a small panel of team members to answer questions about videography, Web use, DVD development, and program decision-making. Conference participants can ask questions of a panel, join in a discussion about cameras, editing and lighting techniques, and explore what makes a good story, how Iowa Public Television and PBS decide on a story, and more. IPT is headquartered in Johnston, part of the Des Moines metropolitan area.
Fee: $5
Sponsored by the Electronic Media Sig