QDMA seeks nominations for Communicator of the Year Award
The Quality Deer Management Association is seeking nominations for QDMA’s Communicator of the Year Award, also known as the “Signpost Award.” The Signpost Award was created to recognize journalists and communicators who have demonstrated an outstanding effort to disseminate accurate, sound guidance on deer management, habitat management and wildlife stewardship that aids or complements QDMA’s pursuit of its mission. If you know a fellow journalist who is deserving of this award, please take the time to let us know.
In addition to the criteria mentioned, the recipient must have an established record of journalistic integrity and ethics as well as unquestioned commitment to the betterment of wildlife resources. The Signpost Award is given on the basis of cumulative career achievements or outstanding individual projects, such as a book, article or video.
If you’d like to nominate someone, reply and let me know and I will send you a nomination form by e-mail. The deadline to submit a nomination form is June 1, 2010. The 2010 award will be presented at QDMA’s 2010 National Convention in Louisville, Kentucky, July 9-11.
You may also be interested in making nominations for some of our other conservation awards, including:
• Agency of the Year (State, Federal or Provincial)
• Al Brothers Deer Manager of the Year (Non-Professional)
• Al Brothers Professional Deer Manager of the Year
• Wildlife Officer of the Year
For more information about these and other awards, and a nomination form, send an e-mail to lthomas@QDMA.com.
Thanks for helping with our search for deserving nominees!
Lindsay Thomas Jr.
Director of Communications
Quality Deer Management Association
170 Whitetail Way
Bogart, GA 30622
(800) 209-3337
Hello dolly
The three-mile float from our back field downstream to the first bridge makes a wonderful canoe trip that offers lots of great spots to cast for bass and trout. But carrying the canoe and gear a quarter mile from the barn to the riverbank launching spot can be a chore. Read more
NRA Convention – Charlotte, NC
Life doesn’t get better than this. We began the day with a wine tasting at the Childress Vineyards, and yes there are pictures. Click here to view them all. And I even got a picture with the owner and NASCAR star Richard Childress.
I am very excited about our WOMA lounge on Saturday, May 15 at the Queens Room at The Westin in Charlotte from 7 – 2. If you are in the area, please join us. What fun!
Marsha
Prois Pro-Staffer Barbara Baird Takes Pride in NOT Being One of the Guys!
Próis Hunting Apparel Pro-Staffer Barbara Baird recently spent time on the Norfolk Police Department shooting range alongside several outdoor bloggers, courtesy of BLACKHAWK! and a special trip for media it sponsored in Norfolk, Va., home of BLACKHAWK!’s headquarters. Barb wore her “Take Pride in NOT Being One of the Guys” shirt on the range, and as the only female blogger represented, felt it a fitting motto for the day. In this case, the pictures can say more than words! However, she liked the sleeve length of the shirt and felt it allowed her movement that she needed in order to make hits on the targets. And it made a nice, not-in your face, but ever-so-there statement. And a lot of the guys, including the Director of Business Development, Chuck Buis, inquired as to where he could buy a shirt like that for his wife, because she was that kind of a woman!
Barb at the Norfolk Police Department Range
Take Pride in NOT Being One of the Guys! Here’s Barb Baird at the Norfolk Police Department Range among fellow outdoor and shooting bloggers, learning about the variety of KNOXX stocks for rifles and shotguns offered by BLACKHAWK!
Barb and pro shooter, Todd Jarrett
Pro-shooter Todd Jarrett offered a few pointers and then stood back to watch Barb blow away a target.
Barb before the shot
Then, Barb had to go all hot-dog at the range and show how she could shoot a 12-gauge with a BLACKHAWK!KNOXX Breachersgrip recoil reducing pistol grip all one-handed like …
Barb after the shot
She pooched out her lower lip and shot three rounds out of that gun. She won the hot dog award. That’s our Barb Baird!!!
Reprinted with permission.
Register now to attend QDMA convention in Louisville in July
Dear outdoor media members,
QDMA is inviting professional outdoor communicators to attend the QDMA National Convention free of charge. All functions, events and meals associated with the National Convention are on us. Our media guests in years past have left the Convention with interviews and material for numerous articles. You’ll also enjoy networking with the leading experts in deer hunting and management at evening events.
I look forward to seeing you in Louisville!
Lindsay Thomas Jr.
Director of Communications
800-209-3337
Convention Hotel:
Louisville Marriott Downtown (headquarters hotel)
(800) 533-0127
Request the QDMA National Convention group rate
For more hotel options: http://www.gotolouisville.com.
For more details about the Convention: http://www.qdma.com/events/national-convention/
Death by meeting: Part 1
May 11, 2010 by Amy Shaw
Filed under Business to Business: TIPS for WOMA members!
A major business publication estimates that more than 11 million meetings are held every business day. We all attend meetings that are boring and a waste of time.
A committee of three often gets more done if two don’t show up.
—Herbert V. Prochnow
Reviewing the painful aspects of poorly planned meetings solves nothing. Understanding what makes successful meetings is time well spent.
Is your two-hour meeting worth $576?
1. Add together the per-hour salaries or hourly pay of all the people who attended a meeting.
2. Multiply the figure by two to account for benefits and general overhead paid by the company.
3. Multiply this figure by the number of hours the group met.
Example: $50,000 (average annual salary = $24/hr) x 6 attendees x 2 (benefits and overhead) x 2 hours = $576
– Think of a meeting you attended where little was accomplished.
– Compute an estimated cost of the meeting.
– Was this money well spent?
– How could this money have been spent more wisely?
The question is, what proactive steps can you take? You can become a star quickly by showing your colleagues and leaders how much money is being wasted in meetings. Here are seven time- and money-saving tips on how to plan an effective meeting. (Look for five more in my next post!)
1. Always outline the meeting objective prior to the meeting:
a. Things get done and time is saved because people know what to expect.
b. Participants feel energized and valued because there is focus.
c. Attendees will contribute freely, find solutions and make decisions.
d. Give people the right to challenge their attendance at a meeting, especially if it does not sync with their jobs, projects or directions.
2. When people are determined to bring their hidden agendas, you must be firm in sticking to the meeting agenda. Establish a “parking lot” so their issues are written down and can possibly be discussed during the meeting, at a later meeting or off-line and out of meeting time.
3. Control time-wasters, know-it-alls, bores and other toxic people with ground rules (see #7).
4. Preassign a point person to bring latecomers up-to-date when they finally arrive. This helps prevent wasting other people’s time. Or better yet, set a fine for late arrivals. (When I worked for a Fortune 100 company, the fine was $100 and the money was given to charities!)
5. If you are not in charge of the meeting:
a. If no one else is calling attention to the above ideas, take the initiative and bring it up.
b. If you are saying to yourself, “I’ll be fired”—hear me saying to you, “No you won’t. It’s what people do who take personal responsibility for their time and success.”
6. Distribute the agenda 24 hours before the meeting. This allows the thinkers and process-oriented people time to assimilate the agenda and consider their questions. This does not mean they can add to or change the agenda. If additional ideas are requested, they go on the agenda for the next meeting.
7. Set ground rules.
a. Ask the group if they would like to spend less time in meetings. (If you don’t get a response, quit. These people are too inept to work with.)
b. On a flip chart, ask them about the rules they would like to establish to run the meeting. These rules should be set by the attendees and revised for each meeting. If anyone veers off track, anyone can ask the group if they still choose to adhere to the ground rules.
Here is a sample of meeting ground rules:
(1) Stick to the agenda.
(2) Begin and end on time.
(3) Do not repeat an issue already reviewed.
(4) Provide concise answers (no rambling).
(5) Let each attendee finish their thought.
(6) Do not interrupt.
(7) What is said here stays here.
(8) Keep an open mind. Don’t judge.
For additional information, posts and ideas please follow me on
LINKEDIN: http://t.pm0.net/s/c?6h.bl2g.8.6w4l
PLAXO: http://t.pm0.net/s/c?6h.bl2g.9.6w4m
FACEBOOK: http://t.pm0.net/s/c?6h.bl2g.10.6yc6
TWITTER @mpsue: http://t.pm0.net/s/c?6h.bl2g.13.73cg
A highly recommended read . . . Secrets of Mental Marksmanship
Perhaps the most important requirements for making perfect shots with any firearm are neither physical nor technical, but mental. And for all shooters, the mental skills are the most elusive and the most difficult to master.
Stepping up to fill the void are Linda K. Miller and Keith A. Cunningham, the wife-and-husband team of authors who also operate the MilCun Marksmanship Complex in Ontario, Canada, where they train police and military personnel, as well as coaching competition marksmen from around the world. The authors themselves have won countless international marksmanship competitions. Read more
The dog and the field
May 10, 2010 by Amy Shaw
Filed under On the Road
The field beckoned that morning, begging attention like a neglected puppy. But I could not pull myself out of bed.
Beside me Kensie, a blonde little five-year-old who swears she doesn’t snore was snoring like a trucker.
Her father was already gone, vanished with our dog somewhere in the field behind the rental we had for the weekend. He was too excited to wait for me to gather my wits – too excited to wait even a second before dashing into the pheasant-laden field with the dog. I couldn’t blame him. It had been awhile since Scout had been on a bird.
So I laid there and listened to Kensie snore, thinking about the sunrise, the dog and the field. They don’t have fields like this in Wyoming.
We had come to the Bighorn River just north of the Montana state line in hopes of repeating the prior year. Temperatures were in the 60s that year, the wind was eerily calm and fish were hefty and abundant. And it stayed that way for four days.
We wondered at the time, what that spring reprieve would cost us in the long run – if it would be a sin we would ultimately pay for? If our luck would be used up so early in the season? No one gets that kind of weather in March without being punished for it later.
We wondered at the time,what that spring reprieve would cost us in the long run – if it would be a sin we would ultimately pay for? If our luck would be used up so early in the season? No one gets that kind of weather in March without being punished for it later.
But punishment never came that year. And so we returned.
For more go to: http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2010/04/18/outdoors/2out_04-11-10.txt
So Close …
May 10, 2010 by Mia Anstine
Filed under On the Road
Lea and I just got back again. Tonight it almost all worked out. We headed out in the afternoon and set up our decoys on the edge a meadow that we know is always full or turkeys. We found a big dead tree to sit behind and use for a blind. Lea’s gun rested on the log, and I sat with my calls behind her. We made ourselves comfortable and prepared to for action.
If you’re at the NRA Meetings & Exhibits, take a coffee (or tea) break on us!
May 10, 2010 by Kimberly Pezzeminti
Filed under WOMA News
The Women’s Outdoor Media Association invites you to stop in, have a cup of Starbucks Coffee or Tazo Tea and learn more about the organization at the upcoming NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Charlotte, N.C., this Saturday, May 15, 2010. The WOMA lounge will be in the Queens Room at the Westin Charlotte, from 7 a.m. – 2 p.m.
The Women’s Outdoor Media Association focuses on increasing media coverage of women who are active in traditional outdoor sports, especially shooting, hunting, fishing and archery. For more information, see http://www.thewoma.com.
