| Gretchen Kirchmann is the marketing agent for the 2010 Western
Montana Fair. She started her own company, Kirchmann Media Group, last
year when asked to market the 2009 Western Montana Fair. This past
December she was a presenter at the International Association of Fairs
and Expos (IAFE) national convention in Las Vegas. While in Vegas she
also covered the National Finals Rodeo and Miss Rodeo America Pageant.
Gretchen believes in multi-tasking.
Prior to relocating to Missoula, she lived in Nashville, TN from
2005-2008. While in Nashville she was a freelance journalist and covered
the CMT Awards, Dukes Fest, and CMA Fan Fair. In 2006 Gretchen had the
opportunity to work with Shannon McCombs for a CMT Dedicated segment. Gretchen's resume is very diversified, spanning many career fields
across the country in the past 12 years. She has taught professional
development seminars for the VP of Nissan, WebMD, Shop at Home and CAT
Financial management teams. Kirchmann was part of the University of
Idaho marketing team from 1999-2001 before relocating to North Carolina.
While in North Carolina she taught fourth-grade, developed community
outreach at Central Carolina Community College and planned several
festivals for a local city. Gretchen began her public relations career during her reign as the
Minnesota HS Rodeo Queen in 1992. At the age of 18 she realized the
importance of media relations and sought to pursue a degree in
Journalism as long as she could rodeo. After graduating from South
Dakota State University she worked for a legal software developer in
Minneapolis for two years. Still searching for a "fun job" she followed
her passion to find media relations with each move. The one consistent
piece of her mobile career is the connection to her roots. While at UI
she coached the women's rodeo team, in NC and TN volunteered with the
Miss Rodeo pageants, so naturally, when she moved to MT, she found the
fair. Gretchen is married to Scott Kirchmann, Director of Athletic
Performance at Montana and is the loving mother of two small children. |