Marketing Agent

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.