If you have been following this blog then you know that I have been YPC's Public Relations Chair since last July.  Thank you to those of you who re-elected me to this position.  Part of the vision of the Public Relations Task Force was to start this blog.  I am fortunate to have Katy Groseta as the new Editor of this blog so I can focus on other efforts with the Public Relations Task Force.  Please let me know if you interested in joining YPC's PR Team -- I am compiling a list of people and I hope to have a conference call sometime in March.

My vision for the Public Relations Task Force is to focus on getting YPC members out to their local media -- newspapers, magazines, radio shows, news stations -- and help provide ample media and policy training to YPC members so they feel comfortable doing so.  I would also like the Committee to focus energies on other types of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Would love to have you on board if you are interested.  Please email me at cari.rincker@gmail.com or call me at 217/254.4997.  If you are interested in being a blogger for Cattle Call, please email Katy at katygroseta@gmail.com.

In order for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association to continue our efforts to provide the best education opportunities possible for our members and better prepare current and future volunteer leaders for the beef industry, we are asking for your input through an online questionnaire.

This survey will help determine the leadership education needs of those involved in the cattle industry and provide valuable information to NCBA and the beef industry.

The questionnaire will only take approximately 15 minutes and will be available until February 7th. Your answers are anonymous and confidential. You can click this link or use this web address to access the survey:

www.surveymonkey.com/s/NCBA

Thank you in advance for your time and participation. Your response is important to our industry and greatly appreciated!

Crystal Mathews
Ph.D. Candidate, University of Florida

Last night, YPC met and appointed fresh slate of people for its leadership team.  Ben Spitzer from Fairmount, Georgia was appointed to the Chair YPC while Ben Neal from Nashville, Tennessee was appointed to Vice-Chair.  YPC added a Secretary/Treasurer position this year and Sharon Breiner of Manhattan, Kansas will be joining YPC's executive leadership in that position.  YPC also appointed the following voting members on NCBA's policy committees:

1.  Evan Tate from Kentucky - Agriculture Policy;

2.  Brandon Carlson from California - Cattle Health & Well Being;

3.  Sarah Baker from Idaho - Federal Lands;

4.  Travis Hoffman from Colorado - Live Cattle Marketing Committee;

5.  RaeMarie Gordon from Colorado - Membership Committee;

6.  Holly Foster from California - Property Rights and Environmental Management;

7.  Wyatt Prescott from Arizona - Tax and Credit Committee;

8.  Tonya Amen from Wisconcin - Resolutions Committee.

Furthermore, YPC elected chairs of its own committees/task forces.  I will remain as the Chair of the Public Relations Committee -- please let me know if you would like to get involved in any way.  My goal for 2010 is to train YPC members around the country to be media contacts with local newspapers, magazines, and radio shows and continue to push with social media through this blog, Facebook, and Twitter.  Katy Groseta from Arizona will be leading the Cattle Call Blog effort so I am looking forward to passing the reins to Katy for a fresh perspective on this blog.  Finally, Anna Aja from Arizona will be leading YPC's membership task force.

Last year's YPC Chair, Dustin Dean from Texas, will remain in an advisory capacity for YPC as a Past-Chair.

Sadly, I was unable to make it to NCBA convention this year due to a last-minute work responsibility.  However, I have been following the tweets from #NCBA10 on Tweetdeck.  If you are there at convention, keep the tweets coming!  And if you weren't able to make it (like me), sign into Twitter and search for #NCBA10 for a real-time feed on what is happening at the Convention and Trade Show today.

As I noted in this blog, several YPC members will be Tweeting from NCBA convention.  The official "hashtag" on Twitter is #NCBA10 (i.e., just search for NCBA10 on Twitter to follow all the tweets with this hashtag).  Be sure to follow the following folks on Twitter who will be tweeting from convention:

@BeefUSA -NCBA itself

@NCBAC2C - NCBA Cattlemen to Cattlemen

@NateJaeger - NCBA Field Representative and NCBA Staff Advisor to YPC

@AndyVance - Radio personality, Shorthorn cattle producer from Ohio, and YPC Cattle Call Blogger

@ABNRadio - Ohio's Voice For Agriculture

@ShorthornToday - American Shorthorn Association

@cgoodcomm - Chelsea is a 1L in law school, a Kansas cattle girl, and a YPC Cattle Call Blogger

@KatlinMulvaney - YPC Cattle Call Blogger

@TroyHadrick - South Dakota catle producer, Advocates for Agriculture

@iTweetMeat - Chris Raines is a meat professor at Pennslyvania State

@SimpleAsDirt - Nevada Cattlemen's Exec

@AllenLivingston - Agvocate, Tx Aggie, Beef Cattle Specialist

@Willi568 - Jennifer Williams Zwaggerman is an agriculture attorney in Des Moines, Iowa

@CrystalDMathews - PhD Candidate from the University of Florida

@TXBeefLeaderofT - Mandy Jo

@DebbieLB - Debbie Lyons is a Kansas Angus producer

And of course, I will be tweeting from both @CariRincker and @RinckerLaw on Thursday afternoon and Friday.

DON'T MISS THE #NCBA10 TWEETUP!  Wednesday (today) 6:30 p.m. at the NCBA Tradeshow Reception at the Chuckwagon Cafe.

 

You can also become a Facebook fan of the Cattle Industry Convention and NCBA Trade Show.

Are you a YPCer that has joined the Twitter craze and will be attending NCBA Convention next week in San Anton'?  If so, please let me know your username.  I am making a master list of all YPC members who will be Tweeting from convention so folks who aren't there can be sure to follow convention happenings.  The official hashtag for convention will be #NCBA10.

If you are interested in learning more about Twitter, I posted a guide here.  Ohio Farm Bureau also has an excellent guide to social media that can be downloaded here.  I personally recommend downloading UberTwitter to your smartphone so you can easily tweet during convention.  I will be happy to help any YPC member that needs help figuring out Twitter as well.   

If you are on Twitter, you can follow me @CariRincker and @RinckerLaw.  See you in Twitterland!  

I am Larry Olberding - a 3rd generation rancher from Washington State.  I am also the 1st Vice President of the Washington Cattlemen's Association.  I found your site through Jenna Feusner's blog.  It is a wonderful and exciting to see young people engaged.  Keep up the excellent work and thanks for being leaders engaged in your industry!