CDE Handbook - Florida FFA Association

Agricultural
Communications
CDE
Purpose
The purpose of the Agricultural Communications Career
Development Event is to provide individuals with practical
communications skills necessary to pursue career opportunities
in agricultural communications. Public communications about
agricultural products, practices and policies are essential to the
future of agriculture. Students who are equipped with strong
communication skills, have developed teamwork skills and who
can use a variety of media to help the public understand issues
related to the industry of agriculture have a bright future in the
job market.
Eligibility
The participant must be an active member of a chartered Florida
FFA Chapter and enrolled in grades 9, 10, 11, or 12. Each Junior
and Senior chapter may enter one team of three individuals.
Each of the contestants’ scores will be calculated for the team
total.
Event Procedures
1. The UF Department of Agricultural Education and
Communication will be in charge of this event.
2. All materials will be student-produced and verified by the
FFA advisor.
3. FFA members must be in official dress, appropriate to the
contest, and will be scored accordingly.
4. The panel of judges will consist of media representatives,
Department of Agricultural Education and Communication
students, AEC faculty, and other members of the
agricultural communications community.
5. An electronic copy of the media plan in PDF format must
be submitted to Dr. Ricky Telg (rwtelg@ufl.edu) by April 1.
Any media plans submitted after the April 1 deadline will
not be accepted. The PDF should also include the three
required tactics (See “Appendices/Examples” section.) The
three tactics can be submitted as separate, individual files,
depending on the file size.
If the PDF is larger than 4 megabytes, please use yousendit.
com or a similar file-sharing website, and then type in Dr.
Telg’s email address in the “deliver to” line. He will send you
a confirmation email when he has successfully opened the
media plan PDF.
Event Rules
1. Teams will consist of three members.
Agricultural Communications CDE
2. Team members will work together to prepare a
written media plan prior to the State FFA Agricultural
Communications Career Development Event (CDE).
The team will also be responsible for presenting the
plan at the State FFA Agricultural Communications
CDE and completing individual tests.
Event Format
Each November following the National FFA Convention, the
agricultural communications CDE committee will release event
specifications for the next year. The specifications will outline
the scenario to be used for the media plan and presentation.
Please refer to the National FFA CDE site to learn about the
media plan theme for the year. Florida FFA will use National
FFA’s theme for the state CDE.
Event Schedule
• Orientation – 15 minutes
• Communications Quiz – 15 minutes
• Editing Exercise – 15 minutes
• Media Plan Presentation – 12 minutes
Team Activities
The event will consist of three components:
1. Agriculture-related Media Plan (200 points/team)
2. Agriculture-related Media Plan Presentation (125
points/team)
3. Individual Activities (150 points [total]/team)
Agriculture-related Media Plan (200 points/
teams)
Teams will play the role of communications consultants and
will develop a media plan for an assigned scenario. (See “Event
Format” above for information about the scenario.) The scenario
will identify a client with a communications need and a budget.
Please reference the current event specifications in the term
orientation packet. At the state event, the team will make an oral
presentation of the media plan.
A media plan is a written document that describes the following:
• Objectives - What the group wants to accomplish with
the media plan.
• Target Audience - Description of who the client is
trying to reach, including demographic data.
• Strategic plan and tactics - Ways in which the objectives
Florida FFA Career Development Event Handbook 9