Lindsay Strand
President of Lindsay Strand Associates, Inc.
Lindsay Strand is president of Lindsay Strand Associates, Inc., the strategic communications consulting firm which she founded in 1989. Strand has traveled internationally on behalf of clients and assists companies throughout the United States to develop and implement policies for dealing with the news media, and provide strategic communications counsel for organizations and industries needing both proactive and reactive communications strategies.
She is a nationally established executive speech coach, working with individuals preparing for mission critical announcements such as analyst meetings, mergers, acquisitions, new product announcements, lay-offs and fundraising campaigns. She is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management Executive Development Center and leads seminars and training programs throughout the United States for employees at all levels of organizations who know that clear, inviting and persuasive communications count, from CEOs, to chefs, to in-store greeters.
Her media training experience is based upon her award winning career as a television journalist, including her work as a political reporter at KSTP-TV in Minneapolis, MN and at the Illinois State Capitol as Bureau Chief for a group of television and radio stations. She also served on the Washington, D.C. staff of former Senator Charles Percy (R-IL).
Ms. Strand has directed media relations efforts for major special events, such as the 1992 Minnesota Super Bowl Task Force where she coordinated planning and publicity for Super Bowl XXVI. She has provided on-site media relations assistance to the White House for presidential visits.
Ms. Strand holds a Master's Degree in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois and a BA from Washington University in St. Louis. Her knowledgeable and direct, but warm and engaging style is popular with clients.
Lani Jordan
CHS Director of Corporate Communications
Lani Jordan is the Director of Corporate Communications for CHS, an integrated supply and grain-based foods company which is one of the nation's largest agricultural companies and the leading producer-owned cooperative. In her role, she develops the company's annual communication strategy, is chief media spokesperson for the organization, is speech writer for the board and senior management, is responsible for the cooperative's annual meeting, produces the annual report, manages investor relations and handles a wide range of other communication responsibilities.
Lani joined the cooperative in 1985 after a 10-year career as a journalist, most of it with United Press International. In 2006, she received the Cooperative Communicators Association's H.E. Klinefelter Award for career achievement by a co-op communicator. She also earned that organization’s Michael Graznak Award for achievements by a young communicator and is a three-time CCA Writer of the Year. She has been a board member and president of the organization. Lani earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Michigan.
Erika Poppelreiter
Account Supervisor, Ketchum North American Corporate Practice
Erika Poppelreiter will serve as the luncheon speaker for the ARA Crisis Management & Media Training program. She will provide insights into what words and phrases in agriculture resonate better with the mainstream media and the public, based on extensive consumer research conducted by the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance (USFRA). Erika manages the social outlets for USFRA and works to build the organization’s reputation, tell the stories of farmers and ranchers and initiate a dialogue with consumers regarding how their food is grown and raised. Erika has worked in the public relations industry for more than four years, specializing in agriculture.
Erika lives on a farm in northeast Kansas where she and her husband raise corn, soybeans and manage a stocker beef-cattle operation. She also grew up on a diversified crop and livestock operation where she learned the importance and values of farming and ranching first-hand. That led her desire to continue a life in agriculture. She graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in agriculture communications and journalism and then started her professional career in marketing and public relations. Erika worked and led the Pioneer Hi-Bred public relations team at a global communications firm in Kansas City, Missouri before starting her work at Ketchum for USFRA.
Her current efforts focus on USFRA Facebook and Twitter engagement and blogging on the Food Dialogues website. Additionally, she spearheads the USFRA Grow What You Know system, where she works to raise rancher and farmer awareness of consumer misconceptions about how food is grown and raised.