I’ve got questions. So do 70 million others.

Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

I’ve got questions. So do 70 million others.

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

Generation Y has left quite the mark on our society – haven’t we?

For those of you who just clicked on the link above- yes, I just cited Wikipedia. And yes, I can do that because I am Generation Y. I’m independent. I make my own rules. Sometimes I follow the rules of those that I respect highly. Furthermore, I’m both “high-performance and high-maintenance,” as this USA Today article put it.

If you aren’t one of us, we’re easy to spot. Harry Potter was our Peter Pan. Eminem is our comeback kid and the names Blink-182, Britney Spears and Creed all have a special place in our hearts.

But that’s all in the past now. What does a Gen Yer like me do now that Britney’s back at the gym and Harry Potter has come to an end? I do just what everyone else does. I juggle a career in agriculture, a husband, a house, time at the gym, volunteering, spending time online and whatever else I need to do.

While I don’t spend every second online like some of our youngest Gen Yers, it’s a part of my life I couldn’t live without and it has hugely impacted my “agvocacy”, advocating for agriculture. Aside from agvocacy, it’s my direct link to answering questions, a lip-smacking recipe for dinner and a community of people who care about me. I explore topics that interest me on blogs, Google, Facebook and Twitter. I’m always looking for new ways, like Pinterest or Google+, to organize my overload of information. But to be honest, I don’t have the time to get to know technology or every topic as good as I should.

So what do I do? I rely on an online network of people I’ve built to provide me with trustworthy information. I seek out blogs that I trust, people on Twitter I’ve had meaningful conversations with, and webpages or Facebook pages that give me a glimpse into things I don’t understand.

Most recently, I became involved with a group of Rockin’ Rural Women that are on both Twitter and Facebook. There are about 800 of us nationwide. We come together to celebrate all things are rural- our livelihoods, our dreams, our values. Simply put, you don’t need to be a cowgirl but do you need to love dirt under your fingernails. Last week we had a chat on Facebook and Twitter about holiday stress and how we (as women) de-stress. It’s always a great time. Such good people. Such good prizes.

So what does this mean to you? To me? To agvocacy?

We need to consider taking time to break out of our everyday routines and to be a part of online relationships- not just conversations. The relationships need to be honest, transparent and meaningful, just like offline relationships are.

Twitter is a great place to do this type of online relationship building. While there millions of more people still on MySpace compared to those of us on Twitter, I have found Twitter to be a highly influential and engaged place to build relationships. Pick a TV show, hobby or interest you enjoy and follow the Twitter hashtag. Connect with a few new people every week and grow those relationships. This will allow you to go “beyond the choir” that you engage with daily or weekly and truly reach people outside of agriculture circle you already know well.

Do you blog? Find a new blog or two that shares a common interest or hobby and comment on those blogs. Establish a relationship with the blogger and invite them to read your blog. It’s amazing how these connections can go so deep.

I tend to find, when a non-agriculture person I have built a relationship with online has a question about food or farming, they often will think of me as a resource to go to with their question. It’s just one way my agvocacy impacts the online relationships I have built.

Take it from a Gen Yer, I understand it’s easy to get caught in our own world and our own circles- days are long, time is short, and even the lowest maintenance, “high-maintenance Gen Yer” has too many things to do. But there are 70 million of us Gen Yers out there and we all have questions about everything from fashion to food. Do you want to help answer?

Jodi Oleen is a thirty-something Floridian-turned-Kansan. She is recently married and works for a farmer led organization in The Little Apple. She has a undergraduate degree in Animal Science with an Equine Option and a Master’s degree in Food and Resource Economics, both from University of Florida. Find her on Twitter or Facebook, or check out mycousinisvegan.wordpress.com.

Tags: Advocacy, Agriculture, agvocacy, Facebook, Food, Generation Y, Social Media, Twitter
Posted in Advocacy, Agriculture, Social Media, Technology | 2 Comments »

Being the Food & Mom Bridge

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

~guest post by Jennifer Elwell, guest blogger

Even though I work in communications, I will admit that I was a bit late to get caught up in the social media phenomenon. When a friend finally talked me into getting onto Facebook a couple years ago, I was slow to start sharing information about what I do for my day job, working for farmers. But then in walks, “Food, Inc.” and a dozen other attacks on our modern food system and my farmers. That was the fuel to start my personal “I support farmers and modern agriculture” fire.

I immediately put on my “P.R.” hat and thought about how I could be a bridge between the farmer and the consumer. Well, I am the consumer. I am a mom. I purchase and cook food for my family. But having the opportunity to work with farmers and see how they are producing our food, I knew that I did not share the same concerns that others have developed by listening to the “our food system is not ethical, safe and is making us fat” agenda. From that, a new project, “Food, Mommy!” was born. I never thought I would become a mommy blogger, but here I am.

I have been blogging for a little over a year now, but have only in the last few months been making regular posts. In the beginning I was trying to hit pretty complicated and controversial topics, but have learned that this approach may not be the best way to connect with your audience. Tough topics are usually more time-consuming to compose and they were burning me out. I felt I had to have several hours to dedicate to one post, which often discouraged me from writing.

More recently I have been trying to incorporate simpler items like recipes (although I am not much of cook), notes on my food shopping experiences, photos, and personal posts about my food production experiences (thank goodness for farmers!). I have also tried to share others’ information that resonates with me through Twitter and Facebook. Showing an interest in others’ efforts has definitely helped me build a social network and has increased my readership beyond family, friends and the farm community. Just a few days ago I was able to meet a few members of a new “Kentucky Food Bloggers Association.” While many of the members may not share my viewpoint, I am proud that I am now reaching an audience that is beyond my comfort zone.

What I love most right now about social media is that my thoughts about food and the way I communicate about my passion are evolving. I look at myself as someone who sits on the fence between the farmer and the consumer and I am learning from both sides. I am more careful now than when I started to not generalize about what farmers are doing or what consumers are thinking. I am trying to ask everyone questions and try to find answers that bridge the gap. Be ing able to share your personal experiences are the fruit of social media, but having someone listen and respond is dessert.

Jennifer Elwell grew up on a small farm in Louisville, KY with horses, goats, chickens, rabbits and lots of hay. Her love of horses and involvement in 4-H landed her at the University of Kentucky, studying animal sciences and agricultural communications. Her first job out of college was creating web sites for local daily newspaper, The Courier-Journal, but soon snagged the job of Communications Director of the Kentucky Corn Growers Association and Kentucky Small Grain Growers Association. She has worked for these farmer-led associations since 1998, but the blog is her own work. She has two children, a few horses, and most recently became a chicken herder, providing doses of humor, frustration and frequent threats of divorce from my husband. In addition to supporting our farmers, Jennifer wants to help parents foster healthier eating habits in their children. Find her on Facebook, follow @foodmommy on Twitter or check out her most popular blog post with nearly 2,800 reads, ““Why I don’t buy organic, most of the time”

* Note from MPK: It’s been fun watching Jennifer grow in social media and become the bridge between farm and food through moms. I hope you enjoy her post as an example of how you have to make your advocacy efforts personal and targeted.

Tags: Agriculture, children, farm, Food, mom, Nutrition, organic, Social Media
Posted in Advocacy, Moms, Nutrition, Social Media | 1 Comment »

A Dirty Dozen: Agvocacy in Action

Monday, August 1st, 2011

We started our 10 year anniversary with a challenge: pick an agvocacy idea to multiply your voice tenfold. Leveraging voices between the farm gate and consumer plate is the goal of 10x Connect, so we’re providing a “dirty dozen” of our most popular blog posts to provide you food for thought.

The Tears I’ve Shed…Animal Abuse
An emotional response to another animal rights activist video. A must read for anyone concerned about dairy farmers abusing calves. Michele offers a personal glimpse of how food producers feel watching these videos and illustrates the misrepresentation by comparing prostitutes to farmers.

Farm and Ranch Blogs
Our collection of farm & ranch blogs from across the United States, Canada and several countries around the world continues to be a popular destination for people searching for food, farm and ag information. Click on the region links to see blogs from specific states.

What Shape is Your Food Plate?
Have you considered ways for all sides of our food system to connect equally, whether it’s the farmer, scientist, nutrition expert or consumer? The circular food plate gives people the opportunity to reach across, shake hands, and find common interests. MPK points to science, accuracy and credibility as hot buttons with food producers, dietitians and scientists that can help them work together to educate people about food. Research shows that the less people know, the more afraid they’re likely to be.

: Grab an idea from this dozen & cook it up to your own tastes.

I eat. You farm. So what?
A farmer walks into a suburban grocery store and talks with a food consumer. Read here for a conversation on hormones, pesticides, animal abuse, subsidies, biotechnology where there’s a connection made between two humans.

10 Rules of Online Engagement for the Kicking and Screaming
Guest blogger Dan Toland of Ohio Farm Bureau provides 10 tips for farmers and agvocates online – even those who are fighting the internet and social media. He points to a 52% increase in consumer trust on websites as a credible source on food system issues as reason enough to join the discussion. It’s time to step outside your comfort zone and be engaged in real, live and honest-to-goodness online conversations about what you do.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream…
MPK hosted a party celebrating all the flavors of advocacy during National Ice Cream Month. Lots of fun flavors from all over the U.S. and Canada.

Advancing Social Media for Agriculture
We’re bombarded by 13,000 marketing messages each day, now largely due to new media. Watch the Evolution of Online Agvocacy if you want to see more. All of this social media mania is also building a fear that humans may just stop having real conversations -after all, we can just text, direct message, instant message, Facebook or email (how old school!). Nothing could be further from the truth, based upon the energy level of a group of farmers, ranchers and agricultural folks this week at the inaugural AgChat Foundation Agvocacy 2.0 Conference.

Why Farmers Should NOT Speak Up
A highly sarcastic look at 15 reasons why farmers and ranchers should not tell their story. Why start the year on a resolution when you can kick it off with satire? Great quotes from ag people added to MPK’s sarcasm. Post your reason – let’s get all the excuses out of the way so we can laugh a little – and then have a productive year as agvocates!

The Integrity of Humane Care
How would you feel if your family was video taped in secrecy in your own home? MPK shares the feelings of farmers in this situation with animal rights videos. She questions the integrity of an agenda-driven group producing videos while disregarding private property, biosecurity, food safety and employee protocol.

Cow’s need nutritionists? Don’t they just eat grass?
There are many similarities and a few key differences between the nutritional demands of a cow and a human. Robin Rastani, a nutritionist for dairy cattle, explains her common goal with human dietitians – providing a healthy, balanced diet within a budget for our clients. A guest post that provides a great example of connecting science of agriculture to food interests.

The Sin of Animal Agriculture
Generations removed from the farm means we no longer have conversation that animals die for us to eat. Somehow, we need to get back to understanding that farmers raise animals for food – animals that are very different than Fido or Fluffy. Those farm animals take things we can’t eat or drink and convert them to life sustenance.Those of us in agriculture need to learn to better communicate that we are grateful for the sacrifice that farm animals pay so that we can eat. Not just to feed people in cities, but our families, too.

High Fructose Corn Syrup: Good or Bad?
Will HFCS harm baby Blue? Guest blogger MRS talks about reading the stance of other mommy bloggers and how compelling their passion is – until she read a a registered dietitian’s blog about the body treats high fructose corn syrup the same as table sugar. Is HFCS really one of the foods that pose a health risk or simply something to be consumed in moderation?

So…how can you apply these ideas to your world? Take 15 minutes today to adapt one of them to your world, in the interest of connecting farm gate to food plate.

Tags: abuse, Agriculture, Animal Rights, farm, Food, HFCS, MPK, Nutrition, Social Media
Posted in Advocacy, Agriculture, Consumer Trust, Farmer, Farming, Social Media | 3 Comments »

Insider’s Scoop on John Deere & Social Media

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

~ guest blog post by Tara Saylor Litzenberger

I should probably start this post with a confession: even though many of you probably know me as “that gal from John Deere on Twitter,” social media is not part of my day job at John Deere. My day job is Internal Communications, which involves everything from video shoots to presentations, but almost exclusively for other employees. I blog (and Tweet and Facebook and even Gowalla) because I love my job and I love telling stories.

Still, being involved in social media while working for a company the size of John Deere is different than what many other agvocates do. For one thing, I don’t get to spend as much time around cows and tractors as many of you do. And yes, there are company rules and policies that I have to follow. But mostly, it’s a lot of fun. I get to connect with great people in nerdy new ways.

So what’s it like working for John Deere in the online era?

We have a great Social Media policy.
Short version: be transparent, don’t lie, follow communication policies and don’t be a jerk. The communication guidelines are the same ones I’d be following if I met you at a farm show, so that’s not hard to do. I do have to tack a disclaimer on posts* to clarify that I’m sharing my views, but that’s easy to do. There are people within the company who monitor brand activity online and they’re supportive of what I do.

We learn from you.
Although many people at John Deere do have an ag background, there are others who don’t know much about farming. Social media makes it easier than ever for employees to understand the more about agriculture, from YouTube videos of equipment in action to hashtags for current events.

We’re using social media around the world.
John Deere has official Twitter accounts in Brazil and Mexico, and we have a German Facebook page. I love seeing them, even if I need Google translate to tell me what’s going on.

We’ll keep growing from here.
I know that there are still things that we could do more effectively online. I recently heard Jeremiah Owyang of the Altimeter group say that most companies have been engaged in Social Media for less than five years. Considering that we’ve probably been running print ads for well over 150 years, I don’t feel too bad that we haven’t got all the answers online. And the best part is that we’re here and connecting with you to figure out how to make it happen.

Speaking of connecting and learning from you, I share stories of how farmers use social media with other people in the company. I’d love to hear your stories in the comments.

*including this guest post. These are my own opinions and views and may not represent or reflect the opinions or views of John Deere.

Tara Saylor Litzenberger is an all-around nerd who works in Corporate Communicatons at John Deere. She grew up on a small farm in Pennsylvania, married a country boy from Florida and now regularly spends time in three different Midwestern states. She shares her journey on her blog, Adventures in Ag.

Tags: Agriculture, agvocate, John Deere, Social Media, social media policy, Technology, Twitter
Posted in Advocacy, Agriculture, Farmer, Social Media, Technology | 3 Comments »

Agvocating: Quick, Short & to the Point

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

~ guest blog post by Wayne Black

Just over a year ago my wife (@JenniLeeBlack) convinced me I should be involved with social media. Not being a fan of Facebook, I was skeptical. For me it had to be quick, short and to the point. Then I read about Twitter. A limit of 140 characters it suited my style.

I spent about two weeks reading up on Twitter before starting. I would encourage everyone to do the same thing. Since then I have found many websites that have it summed up on one page or in one picture. A great example of this is one developed by Ogilvy’s 360 Degree Digital Influence group: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27132029@N06/3022781883/

Wayne is an avid agvocate for agriculture through both social media and with his involvement with various agriculture groups.

I have learned a lot from being on Twitter. The first is that we, as farmers, have to be involved with social media. It doesn’t really matter whether it is Facebook, YouTube, Twitter or whatever the platform of the day is. There is a conversation going on. We must be involved.

The second thing I’ve learned is no matter what you do, each message is more effective if you “market” that message to the right people. I do that by using hashtags or #.

Hashtags are a sales pitch for each tweet I send and the most effective for getting noticed. People search out tweets of interest by searching hashtags. One that got me involved with a lot of new followers and finding new people to follow was #agchat. Since then I have discovered other hashtags that interest me such as #food, #moo, #corn and other #agriculture identifiers. Locally we have developed #HuronCty (for our Huron County), #Ontag (Ontario Agriculture) and #GGA (a part of Huron County termed Greater Goderich Area). There are no limits to hashtags; they can be whatever you’d like and can help you find the conversations you need to be involved with.

And finally, the biggest reason to be on Twitter or any type of Social Media is for advocating (or in my case, agvocating). Twitter has offered me an excellent venue for agvocating for Ontario Agriculture. It has generated a lot of discussion with politicos, foodies, urbanites and also fellow farmers. My personal use has generated media articles that promote the positive aspects of agriculture and farming in Rural Ontario. People who read my tweets can place a name to a person which adds value to the message.

The joy of Twitter is that it gives the opportunity to get engaged in a conversation if an issue comes up. You have the opportunity to learn why they have created the negative or positive thought about agriculture. You can walk through a process with the person on the other side to get them engaged in conversation, rather than preaching or appearing to sell the idea. A lot of times people just want to hear from a farmer. They want to hear what my farm practices are. Understanding why I do what I do gives them further depth to knowing and the ability to question the negative aspects.

Social media allows me as a farmer to become engaged with non-farmers and politicos. We need to become engaged in conversation to get our story out, make it believable and to be truthful. Twitter allows me to do that from where ever I am, in the field, in the barn, in the Boardroom or in my home. People are engaged on the go, even in Rural Ontario.

You may think social media is not for you, but I encourage you to look around. Most likely you’ll find a conversation going on that you’ll want to weigh in on. Pick a platform and speak up. Let your voice be heard.

Who is @waynekblack?

Wayne is a cash crop farmer with a passion for agriculture. He also works with his father on the original farm that has been in the family since before 1867. He is on the Board of Directors for the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and Agricultural Adaptation Council. Locally he is engaged with various Committees working on Economic Development opportunities and sustainability efforts. In his spare time, he enjoys life with his wonderful wife & 3 amazing children (http://abearaladybugandapeanut.wordpress.com).

Tags: Advocacy, Agriculture, agvocacy, Facebook, Farmer, Social Media, Technology, Twitter
Posted in Advocacy, Agriculture, Social Media, Technology | 1 Comment »