“Don’t give it another thought, just get there. It will become evident to you within the first half day that you have made the best decision of your career.”

–– Judy Stokes-Weber

By Blake Podhajsky, Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation

Blake Podhajsky, ACI President

I was driving to the office listening to ACI’s “The Outdoor Communicators” podcast. Episode 4 was an episode I was particularly excited about as they were discussing video with our friends from Texas Parks and Wildlife. As a video producer myself, listening to guests Ron Kabele and Garret Graham talk about storytelling and the power of video really resonated with me.

The great thing about being involved with ACI, we are inspired by work our colleagues from around the country are doing. Often through my career with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, I would take a peek at what Texas was doing just south of the Red River for inspiration. For decades, TPW’s video staff has set the standard in regard to their storytelling and high-quality video productions. Simply look at the number of ACI Awards, and Emmys, Texas has won throughout the years — it truly is remarkable!

As an aside, I remember the first ACI conference I attended was in 2013 at Midway, Utah. During the awards ceremony, I sat next to Alan Fisher, a video producer from Texas Parks and Wildlife. We were sitting toward the back of the room at an eight-person round table. He was the only conference attendee from Texas that year, so of course he had the honor of accepting all the awards his agency won. Within moments of the first category winners being announced, Alan left his seat and made the walk to the stage to accept an award. Back he came. A minute later, he was gone. Back he came. Wash, rinse, repeat. In hindsight nobody from Texas should ever sit in the back of the room during the awards ceremony! A trillion calories and a ‘beat-down game trail’ of a path later, and Alan — no joke — has a stack of plaques at our table so high that we were starting to google how much it would cost to buy luggage to haul the plaques home. Nonetheless, this was proof that Texas does pretty well, to say the least.

I digress. Back to my podcast thought.

After a great conversation with Ron and Garret, podcast co-host Tim Akimoff sat down with Judy Stokes-Weber during the “Member Moment” segment that endcaps each episode. Judy is one of the legends of ACI, as she has been involved with our organization for decades. She currently serves as the ACI treasurer but also has been a conference host state coordinator, ACI secretary, vice president, president, and was the recipient of the prestigious Kay Ellerhoff Spirit of ACI Award in 2008. Without a doubt, with her experience in the organization and her dedication to serve, she understands the value that ACI brings, and she understands the value of our annual ACI conference. During this “Member Moment” (which you can hear at the 35:30 mark of the podcast), Tim asks Judy what she would say to somebody who was thinking about going to the ACI Conference. Her response was golden:

“Don’t give it another thought, just get there. It will become evident to you within the first half day that you have made the best decision of your career.”

That’s a big statement. Is it the best decision? Alan Fisher might disagree after having to check an extra bag on his flight home in 2013! Joking aside, I and many others can relate to what Judy said. Attending the ACI conference has influenced my career in many positive ways, and I have since immersed myself into the organization as much as I can.

This year’s conference will be held in Arlington, VA, July 23-25, 2024. If you have been to the conference in the past, I hope to see you there again. If you are in a position to send your employees, I strongly encourage you to provide them an opportunity to attend. Or if you are not sure about attending and just thinking about it, take Judy’s advice and “don’t give it another thought, just get there.”

Conference information, such as registration, lodging, agenda and sponsor sign up: 

https://www.aci-net.org/conferences/ 

“The Outdoor Communicators” podcast: 

https://www.aci-net.org/updates/the-outdoor-communicators-podcast/