By Stephanie Groves The final member of the Indiana Connection team to highlight is Mandy Barth, the vice president of communication at Indiana Electric Cooperatives, the publisher of the magazine. Her essential leadership provides the glue that binds the whole team together. Here’s more about her: As vice president of communication, it is my pleasure… Continue reading.

By Stephanie Groves Amber Knight is the creative manager of Indiana Electric Cooperatives and is a crucial component of the Indiana Connection team. She oversees the entire design of the magazine, including the cover, and has an unmatched eye for detail. Here’s more about her:    As creative manager, I ensure brand consistency and design… Continue reading.

By Stephanie Groves Ashley Curry is the production and design coordinator for Indiana Connection and is the newest member of the team. She’s a creative whiz who designs beautiful magazine layouts — and is also a ray of sunshine to be around. Here’s more about her:    My role at Indiana Connection is to design… Continue reading.

By Stephanie Groves Lauren Carman, Indiana Electric Cooperatives’ communication manager, has been with IEC for over two years and is vital to the magazine; one reason is that she sets deadlines for the year to keep us on track. Here’s more about her:   In my role, I get to do a little bit of… Continue reading.

By Stephanie Groves Senior Editor Richard Biever is a rare talent and the lifeblood of Indiana Connection magazine. Here’s more about him, in his own wonderful words.   My role at Indiana Connection is to tell the stories of Indiana’s electric cooperatives and their consumers. As senior editor, I generally write and photograph most of… Continue reading.

By Stephanie Groves This month it is my pleasure to introduce you to Kiley Lipps, a graphic designer and photographer who is an integral part of our team. Kiley freelanced for Indiana Electric Cooperatives for six years before joining the staff full-time this past June. I asked her to share a little about herself and… Continue reading.

By Stephanie Groves I’m new to the Indiana Connection team, so I recently met everyone on staff who works to produce the magazine each month — and I thought you might enjoy getting to know a bit about them, too. Over the next few issues, you’ll learn more about each person, their role and why… Continue reading.

I am thrilled and humbled to be stepping into the editor role at Indiana Connection, succeeding the inimitable Emily Schilling. I am grateful to everyone at Indiana Electric Cooperatives for this opportunity, and I’m also extremely nervous. Have you ever felt that way when you started a new role or job? Emily Schilling is someone… Continue reading.

Thirty-nine years ago, I began a journey that ended up defining my lifetime. Just a couple of years out of college, I was hired to write a history book about rural electrification in Indiana and work on a tabloid newspaper called Electric Consumer. I never would have imagined back then that I would make a… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling I’m obsessed with gingerbread houses. I love how, by judiciously purposing gumdrops, candy canes, M&Ms, and royal icing as architectural and landscaping details, a cookie can become so much more than baked dough (albeit delicious baked dough!). Of course, I’m totally intimidated by creating my own gingerbread house (maybe I’ll finally try… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling Here’s the thing about being a writer in a deadline-oriented job: Sometimes your deadlines and your brain don’t see eye to eye. Words don’t always travel from the cortex to the fingertips and finally to the computer screen as quickly as I’d like. (Hello, writer’s block!) Sometimes I waste precious time staring… Continue reading.

By Emily Schilling Beware of “Bless your heart.” I’ve heard that Southerners will sometimes utter this seemingly sweet phrase as an insult with hidden meanings like: “Bless your heart. (It’s not your fault that you’re an idiot who screwed up again.)” Yikes! These three words — spoken with a drawl and a smile — prove… Continue reading.