Chat - Dan Galbraith

Today I had a Fresh Talk chat with Dan Galbraith, sections editor for The Packer. Dan is responsible for making sure The Packer's special sections - primarily addressing growing and marketing of produce - are well planned and executed. Find previous chats here.

11:51 AM me: Great thanks for helping me out with another Fresh Talk chat. First of all, tell us where you were born and raised, so to say

11:55 AM sections editor: Happy to oblige. Believe it or not, this is the first chat I've ever done, so please excuse my formality with capitalization and punctuation -- occupational hazard, I guess. :) Anyway, I was born in Omaha, Neb. some years ago. Let's not get any more specific than that on this point! Sometimes, I think I'm still in the process of being "raised" or "growing up", so to speak, but I spent my first 18 years in Omaha. Pretty sheltered upbringing, I guess you'd say. I wasn't even allowed to drive on the interstate until I went to college at Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg.

11:58 AM me: Nebraska - you have that in common with our Markets Editor Andy Nelson, of course - and I also come home to my parents in Bertrand, Neb. "The Good Life" as they say. Dan, you have been a guest blogger for Fresh Talk in the past and I think you said you might be next week at the PMA Foodservice show, so thanks for your work there. Before I ask you what you do at The Packer (for the benefit of our readers) what was your path to The Packer? How did you get from Central Missouri State to Vance Corp.?

12:02 PM sectionseditor: I started as a small-town sportswriter, became a sportswriter/columnist, developed into a sportswriter/ columnist/photographer, morphed into a sportswriter/columnist/photographer/page designer. Then I took a real leap and became a managing editor/design editor/columnist/photographer for a daily newspaper. Recently added Web site administration, sections editing and blogging to my repertoire ... Let's just say that every employer I've ever had has put the phrase "Other duties, as assigned" on my job description! :) I stay pretty busy.

12:04 PM me: Versatility is needed today, for sure. Now tell us a little bit about what the"sections editor" does for The Packer. You have a lot to keep track of, am I right?

12:11 PM sectionseditor: The Packer has 130-140 special sections annually, and I am in charge of long-range planning for those, assigning staff writers and freelance writers to complete them, putting together the sections calendar about a year in advance and constantly updating it, doing first-read editing of all the material that comes in for special sections on a week-to-week basis. On top of all that, though, I also supervise staff writers in our field offices, provide supervisory support for freelancers scattered about and basically run The Packer's student internship program. The supervisory stuff is probably what I would consider to be the most enjoyable part for me because I like playing what role I can in developing people. I also enjoy the long-range planning -- it's like working a crossword puzzle, which is challenging but also fun.

12:13 PM Oh, almost forgot -- I also write editorials, columns and sometimes news stories, provide input at editorial board and other meetings, cover trade shows and other special events and am in charge of editorial responsibilities for our Produce Pulse survey project, which is very interesting.

me: Your work accounts for a lot of pages in The Packer every year. Where can readers contact you if they have a comment or suggestion for a new special section, whether that is a shipping section, know your market or section of another type?

12:14 PM sectionseditor: I can be reached at dgalbraith@thepacker.com or 913-438-0767.

12:15 PM me: Dan, what do you like todo in your down time? Any family vacations this year?

12:17 PM sectionseditor: Most of my vacation time is spent visiting relatives and friends out-of-state, and sometimes I just like to take off a couple days at a time and do little more than sleep, eat and watch TV or movies. Sometimes that can be the best kind of vacation, don't you think? But you're more of a traveler, I know!

12:18 PM me: Nothing better than rolling up to mom and dad or a sister or brother - in fact we have my sister visiting us from Texas tonight... Dan I'll let you go cause I've kept you quite a while. Thanks for the chat and we'll look forward to some more blog posts from you in the future, too.

12:19 PM sectionseditor: Thanks, Tom. Enjoy your weekend!