Agriculture isn’t just your work, it’s who you are. This new program will help you see the opportunity to go beyond the choir and connect with other humans through common values. It’s time to translate agriculture to the non-ag world; MPK will provide the training to make that happen.
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We’re celebrating a decade of business with our thanks and a challenge.
- learn from 10 people in different roles around the food plate?
- donate to 10 organizations this year?
- study 10 tactics employed by anti-ag activists?
- grow 10 new friendships with people different than you this year?
- reach out to 10 different people on Facebook or Twitter each week in an ‘agversation’
- ask 10 of your friends in agriculture to join you in agversation?
- volunteer with 10 not-for-profits in a year?
- learn 10 new ways to agvocate and then train others?
- find 10 new ways to talk about how agriculture works with animals and the environment?
- share 10 photos or videos in the next 10 months with a common ag practice?
- learn about food security needs in 10 different countries?
- work with 10 different classrooms in next year?
- ask 10 consumers what they think of today’s food production practices?
- bring together 10 people to share best practices related to your business?
- find 10 ways to positively connect agriculture with the nutrition or medical community?
The Challenge: Pick one. Use it to multiply your voice tenfold. Leveraging voices between the farm gate and consumer plate is the focus of this 10x Connect challenge.
It is part of Cause Matters celebration of serving as a resource for the agrifood business for a decade.
More importantly, it’s a challenge for all of us in the ag and food community A challenge to look ahead at the next 10 years building connections around the food plate. Many complain agriculture must go beyond the choir, so get out of the loft and reach across the aisle!
Cause Matters has created a grant program to help you with this. We’re investing time, training and money to help you. At least 10 ag and food organizations will receive a cash or in-kind training grant in the next year.
If you know of an ag or food organization that would benefit from a 10x Connect grant, go to www.Facebook.com/CauseMatters to learn more and apply. Ask your friends to bring attention to a grant application with their comments on the Cause Matters Facebook Page and demonstrate the 10x connect power of your community. The first two grants have already been awarded – see the details here.
Agriculture isn’t just what we do, it is who we are. Many will preach the virtues of “telling your story.” Some call these efforts agricultural advocacy. Yet others label themselves as an agvocate. It doesn’t matter what labels you use: it’s about humans connecting with humans.
I believe in protecting choices on the farm as well as on the food plate. I believe it’s about narrowing the gap through conversation – or “agversation.” After 10 years of working in this arena, I believe YOU can have a profound impact by simply sharing your authentic agricultural selves. Click here for more updates and ideas – plus I’ll be writing ideas weekly on my blog, Twitter and Facebook.
What’s your 10x Connect? Tell me about it!
Thanks for being a part of a decade of difference,
MPK
P.S. I’ll be sharing my personal stories. Hope you will, too.
#AgChat & #FoodChat Resources
#AgChat is a weekly moderated conversation on Twitter for people in the business of raising food, feed, fuel, fiber. Similar to conversations at the local grain elevator or coffee shop, only AgChat is virtual. Participants on Twitter share viewpoints and ideas about the issues impacting agriculture, such as mainstream media coverage, sustainability, antibiotics, agvocacy best practices, agronomy, animal welfare, farm family relationships, bioenergy and perceptions of farming. It’s fast-paced, thought-provoking and incredibly rewarding to see agriculturists discuss tough issues.
You are invited to join in every Tuesday, 8-10 p.m. Eastern Time. #FoodChat happens the third Tuesday of each month to connect those with an interest in food with the people who raise it. Follow @agchat or @foodchat and see the links below if you need more help getting started. Poke around the archives to see the conversation in action and then come be a part of the community.
The AgChat Foundation, Inc. is a volunteer driven not-for-profit to empower farmers and ranchers to connect communities through social media platforms. Founded in April 2010, the Foundation focuses on agvocacy training, strategic agvocacy campaigns, data analysis and technology scholarships. MPK is a member of the founding Board of Directors.
Ag & Social Media
MPK will challenge you to think beyond your farm or ranch and create conversation using social media.
Why should agriculture care about social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube? It’s really quite simple. Mass influence. Facebook reached 150 million users nearly three times faster than a cell phone. Social media is a culture changer, not a fad. If you’re not at the table, you can’t be a part of constructing the face of agriculture – nor can you counter the misinformation campaigns around food, fuel, feed or fiber.
Anti-ag activist groups are becoming increasingly active on social networks and understand the power of messaging, according to Cause Matters Corp. research. The Humane Society of the United States has had a nearly 50-fold increase in their Twitter following since January 2009. Videos on animal rights and environmentalism increase 30% monthly.
Do the math about how many opportunities you have to connect agriculture if 98.5% of those people aren’t actively engaged in farming. Food is an extremely hot issue – and it’s time for agriculture to leverage that through social media leadership to influence public opinion, rather than react to rhetoric.
Cause Matters Corp. stands ready to help you. Michele and her team has worked to build communities around food and agricultural issues, such as #AgChat and FoodChat on Twitter. Trainings ranging from one-hour webinars to a full-day workshops are available, or Michele will work with you to build a social media hub for your organization.
Don’t let the new media train intimidate you; Michele will provide common sense approaches to social media, combined with real life experiences of how farmers and ranchers have influenced significant change with these tools.
