I recently had the opportunity to attend the San Francisco #140 Conference with Ray Prock (@RayLinDairy) through the gracious invitation of Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver). This was the second twitter conference Ray and I have attended, the first being a #140tc in Seattle, Washington, hosted by Parnasus Group. Both events were extremely well organized, very informative and everyone was gracious, receptive and a bit intrigued by a cowboy and a dairyman in attendance.
There are a couple of points I would like to make in reflection of my experience attending these conferences. First, I would highly encourage anyone who has the opportunity to attend, to do so. There is something of value for everyone to gain through the presentations, speakers and panels. Listen to what is being said; forget what sector you may be from. Value can be found in every presentation. Nuggets that can be utilized and interwoven into your use of social media, no matter what who is doing the sharing.
Second, the networking opportunity is truly amazing. Ray and I have met some folks that I am certain will be friends for ever; individuals who I would never have believed meeting a year ago. Everyone attending these conferences is there for at least one common purpose: how to communicate more effectively and build communities by maintaining the humanity of the interaction.
Finally, there is much for agriculture to learn from sectors that have been utilizing social media since the beginning. There is also much for other sectors to learn from agriculture as I have discovered. It is important for people from all walks of life to connect, communicate and learn from each other. Bridges are being built that will last generations.
In closing, thank you very much to Jeff Pulver for the opportunity to speak and a very gracious thank you to all of those Ray and I met and talked to in San Francisco. It was especially nice to finally meet Frank Plughoff (@Earthnik) whom I have been tweeting with for the past year. It is always fun to meet tweeple in person.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
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About Me
- JeffFowle
- Jeff Fowle is a fourth generation family farmer and rancher from Etna, California. He and his wife Erin and son Kyle raise registered Angus cattle, Percheron draft horses, warmbloods, alfalfa and alfalfa-grass hay. They also start and train horses for riding, jumping, and driving. Their family run ranch has incorporated many environmentally beneficial and water efficient technologies and management strategies. Jeff attended college at Colorado State University for two years and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for four and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science. Following college, he worked in Washington State for a year as a herdsman for BB Cattle Company and then returned to Etna, California in 1995 to own and operate KK Bar Ranch and Siskiyou Percherons. The latter was started by his grandfather, Clarence Dudley, who devoted much of his time to the Percheron Horse Association of America, specifically to developing their youth education program.
Sounds like it was a very informative conference. How does one keep updated as to when such a conference is happening?
ReplyDelete140 Conferences can be found at http://140conf.com/
ReplyDeleteTweethouse Schedule can be found at http://tweet-house.com/
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteJust read your Country Folks column about "Agvocates" and social media.
I agree with all you have said, especially since I noticed a big change in all of my friends & family ( all heavy consumers ) since I started my own Ag Blog. Photos speak a thousand words.
Now they call and "consult" with me about which foods to buy and from whom.
Keep up the good work and stop by when you have a chance:
www.tailgait.blogspot.com