Marissa Davis – U.S. Meat Export Federation – Denver

June Update

Talk about a whirlwind! So far working at USMEF has been a great experience. My first week entailed going to their Board of Directors meeting which was held in Kansas City. It is a weeklong meeting that consists of different executive committee meetings, pork and beef committee meetings, general sessions, and two different caucus meetings. I attended three different general sessions, a new members breakfast, the Feed Grains and Oilseeds Caucus, and the US Pork & Allied Industries Committee. At these general sessions I got to hear updates from the international offices, conversations between USMEF members and committee chairs, and different speakers such as Kip Tom, Daniel Whitely, and Randy Blach. This was my first time ever traveling for anything work related, and on top of it, I had never formerly met with anyone from USMEF. I met with the USMEF Director of Industry Relations at Denver International Airport, Annie Hennen. She was my first in-person introduction to USMEF, and I hung out with her for all three days I attended BOD. Meeting at the airport I’m sure she was surprised to find an underdressed me, who had no idea what she was in for! That’s the first lesson I also learned, when traveling for business, if you have something the same day, dress in your business clothes.

I started in the office on May 28th and started working on little projects to start off my time here. I have also started to consistently work on my big project for the summer, which I am excited to be part of. My day-to-day is coming into the office between 8:30-9 a.m., then I work on various tasks, do research and other work for my summer project, and help different staff members with little projects or things they need done. I also get to sit in different meetings, such as a meeting with the Industry Relations Team that happens weekly. Last Friday the President of USMEF, Dan Halstrom, invited me to sit in on a meeting between him and a Japanese business. Seeing how the USMEF maintains relationships with current and potential members is interesting, and something that is critical to the company and industry. Sometimes I am also able to meet with the different departments in the Denver office, such as marketing, to learn what their role is within the company. I tend to wrap up my day around 4 p.m., finish off whatever I am doing then and make sure I am not needed for anything else.

Working with the International Relations Team in Denver has been a blast! I am looking forward to the rest of my summer with them, and to learning more about how U.S. meat is exported all around the world. The USMEF holds many different tradeshows and has teams all around the world promoting U.S. meat, and it is exciting to see how it is done!