How many voices in the conversation?

The last month has been spent on leveraging efforts to connect farm and food through the AgChat Foundation’s Agvocacy 2.0 Conference.  115 farmers, ranchers and ag professionals from the U.S. and Canada were invited to take part in ACFC11 at the end of August. Not a huge number. But I figure they each are capable of reaching at least 1,000 people with their own story.  Which means the reach will likely be at least 115,000 – far more than any singular voice (unless you sing or dance, which I don’t).

One such case – a small producer and processor in Kentucky. We asked Amy Sipes to be a part of ACFC11 panel on how to reach beyond agriculture. She expressed a great deal of concern about having to speak in front of people – many can relate to this fear. But she really wanted to help other agvocates, so she took the risk (with a few promises on my part). I was so proud of her as a very well-spoken, intelligent woman stood on stage. She brought wonderful authenticity and communicated so effectively from both a processor’s and producer’s viewpoint. I didn’t ask her, but am certain that her presentation would never had happened without the confidence social media has given her. That’s the power of the community in action. Watch her and see what you think…I KNOW she touched a lot of hearts that day in Nashville (and you might be surprised at what she has to say).

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uoe_mYyTjCI[/youtube]

If you want more, you can follow Amy on Twitter – and get some humor in the mix. Another person who always brings levity to any conversation is the CNN-famous Steve Tucker from the middle-of-nowhere Nebraska. After hundreds of conversations, I finally met Tykerman1 (and hugged him instead of shaking his hand). A few months ago, I noticed he was in NYC and wondered what a farmer was doing there and tweeting about Central Park when he should have been in the field. As you can see in this clip, he apparently was the comedian of the New York 140 Conference – and did an incredible job of bringing agriculture top-of-mind in a very personable way.

There were many highlights from ACFC11 – from having a refreshing few minutes sitting with a newer agvocate to teach him Twitter (shout out to @SDgriller) to laughing with friends while listening to nails-on-the-chalkboard music in the evening hours. One highlight was the panel of mom bloggers we brought in; these ladies really cemented the necessity of the conversation – and the difficulty agriculture has in hearing “outside” perspectives without getting defensive. Another – and the most meaningful time I spent at the conference – was a small group discussion on how to lead people to social media. We went well beyond the allotted time, simply talking and exchanging ideas about the challenges of getting the hard-headed ag community to understand this “new” tool. It was a great reminder of the spirit of agvocacy and the diverse interests we have in agriculture – and the power of us coming together!

Thanks to Amanda Sollman, Kathy Swift, John Blue, Drew Bender, Jeff Fowle, Ryan Weeks, Mace Thornton, Dan Toland & Chris Raines (not pictured) for serving on the Training Committee.

Hundreds of volunteer hours made that happen…a training committee that planned the entire conference virtually. You can see we like to have a bit of fun – but I hope those involved will take a moment to thank them for all of the time and talent they invested. Over 25 speakers and moderators volunteered their time and talent to deliver best-in-the business content and many others contributed so graciously.

In the last decade, my role in agricultural advocacy has changed from being in front of the pack to trying to “herd” agricultural advocates in the same general direction. This conference was a good reminder of that; empowering people with the right tools and engaging a community is so much bigger than any one individual.

It’s exciting to see agvocates come into their own, step out of their comfort zone, find a place they can really make an impact – and then help others do the same. That leads to more people talking about food and farm – and everything in between – which is a far larger conversation than I could have accomplished. How are you leveraging your efforts?