Each summer, the Almond Board of California (ABC) hires an Industry Relations and Communications intern to provide real-world experience to college students looking to grow in their communications and ag careers. These interns take on a variety of tasks, including creating promotional materials for ABC events, presenting information on the almond industry to local schools, creating a short video about the Almond Leadership Program and more.
From day one, Dias fit right into the ABC Global Communications team. Members of the team pictured left to right in front of the ABC van: Rebecca Bailey, Jenny Nicolau, Danielle Veenstra, Ashley Knoblauch and Dias.
This year's Industry Relations and Communications intern is Daryl Dias, a spirited and enthusiastic upcoming senior at Stanislaus State in Turlock. Dias keeps busy every day conducting interviews with current Leadership participants, making flyers for upcoming workshops, updating the Almond Board website and attending industry events.
Check out this fun Q&A with Dias to learn more about her internship experience.
- What about this Industry Relations and Communications internship first interested you and enticed you to apply? What were you hoping to gain from this experience?
What first interested me about this internship was the hands-on experience I would gain not only in the area of Industry Relations but also that of Industry Communications. The Industry Relations side of this internship interested me because I knew that it would include building relationships with growers and really becoming a resource for them, so I was excited about getting to meet industry members and learning about all the ways that the Almond Board is able to serve them. The Communications part of the internship interested me because I have always been interested in the communications side of agriculture but have only gotten to take a few classes in that sector. With this internship I wanted to learn as much as I could about communications; specifically, how to effectively communicate with an agricultural industry.
- What’s your background in agriculture?
I have been involved in agriculture since I was a little girl. I have always loved spending time on my family’s dairy or at my aunt and uncle’s nut company, Hudelson Nut Co. In high school I joined Turlock FFA, where I was able to show dairy cattle at the Stanislaus County Fair, compete in numerous speaking competitions, participate in the floral judging contest and build many different relationships in the ag community.
I received my Associates Degree in Agriculture Business from Modesto Junior College in 2018, where I took numerous agriculture courses and participated in the Young Farmers Club. I am now majoring in Agricultural Economics at Stanislaus State, and I will graduate in the spring of 2020.
Dias received the American FFA Degree, the highest degree achievable in the National FFA Organization, for her outstanding leadership abilities and community involvement through their FFA career.
- What is your day-to-day role at the Almond Board?
My day-to-day role at the Almond Board is constantly changing. No two days are ever the same, and I really like that about this internship. One day I am in an almond orchard attending a California Almond Sustainability Program (CASP) workshop and the next day I’m helping staff ABC’s Almond Leadership Program Golf Tournament Fundraiser. When I am in the office, my day usually consists of working on my Leadership program promotional video or other tasks such as updating the Grower Resource Directory on the website or preparing for an Ag in the Classroom presentation.
- What accomplishment from your time at the Almond Board are you most proud of?
I am most proud of my Almond Leadership Program promotional video. This video makes up a large portion of my internship, and I had no prior experience with Adobe’s Premiere video software so this project came with a steep learning curve for me. I watched a lot of YouTube videos in order to figure out how to use the program, but once I learned how I had a lot of fun creating the video. In the end it was awesome to be able to learn a new program and have a finished product that I’m proud of and that will help promote the Almond Leadership Program to future applicants.
- What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned in your time working at the Almond Board?
The most surprising thing that I have learned in my time working at ABC is how dedicated Almond Board staff are to achieving the Almond Orchard 2025 Goals. Before my internship started, I knew nothing about the 2025 Goals, and now I hear about them every day. I think reinforcing the importance of these goals really builds a good foundation and reasoning behind the information shared at ABC and industry events, such as the Navel Orangeworm Summit, CASP Workshops and Lunch n’ Learns. I have also learned that it is in part to events like these that the 2025 Goals will be achieved.
During the second week of her internship, Dias represented the Almond Board of California at the Central Valley Almond Day in Fresno, answering attendees’ questions and distributing information about the California almond industry.
- What is the most exciting thing you’ve done in your role?
The most exciting thing I’ve done during my internship, so far, is to take a radio interview with Taylor Hillman for AgNet West’s weekly Almond Update segment, which runs during the daily Farm City News broadcast. The experience was exciting because I had listened to the weekly Almond Update and had actually met Taylor before, but I never would have imagined that I would be featured in this radio segment! I was super nervous at first because I had never been on the radio before, but it was truly an awesome experience. As soon as the interview aired, I was so excited that I sent it to my parents, grandparents and all my aunts and uncles so that they could listen. I encourage you all to listen to my interview!
- What's your favorite way to eat almonds?
Four words: Chocolate Almond Butter Milkshake!
If you or someone you know is interested in applying for the 2020 Almond Board Industry Relations and Communications summer internship, we invite you to contact Rebecca Bailey, specialist in Industry Relations, in January 2020.
