The World Harvest for Kids was significant in many ways, but to me once I tallied up the media outlets I had touched in some way directly and indirectly, and the number of mediums I had used to get there, it blew me away.
Without sounding like I’m blowing my own horn overly much, let me explain. When Ray Wieler, the organizer of World Harvest for Kids contacted me about getting some exposure, I had no idea it would explode in the manner if did. My thanks go to all the different media outlets for catching the vision, and playing your part in getting the word out there. Today, I had a note from an editor in Quebec who wanted to use a combine picture, and tell the story about the camp.
At no time was it about me, or about Ray, it was about getting the word out, so children, especially in India for now, but other parts of world will have the opportunity to attend a wholesome camp. My daughter Laurelle is attending her second week at the Winkler Bible Camp this week. The first was a regular week of camp, but this week it’s a hockey camp getting professional coaching for her hockey skills, but caring instruction and living experience for her body and soul. However, we take that for granted: The children in India don’t.
Here’s my point. For the past 35 years, I have worked hard at being an advocate for agriculture, starting with radio, moving to television, following with print, and most recently, the Internet through this FarmWatch newsletter and the SiemensSays.Com website. To get the message out about the World Harvest for Kids, I did a play-by-play broadcast live on CJOB radio with several follow-up interviews. Orion Samuelson requested and used a four-minute report on their weekly TV show, This Week in Agribusiness, with over 30 million subscribers via satellite TV. I submitted stories to all the faithful publications I regularly write for, and last but not least, the Internet became a vehicle for showing pictures, playing audio reports, and seeing it in print. This doesn’t preclude the medium I prefer most, that of sharing the story with people in audiences where I speak, or one to one visits. I’ve certainly had my share of those opportunities.
What a fascinating world we live in!
One other thing, go to agwired.com and view what my friend Chuck Zimmerman is doing via the Internet, pod-casting, and posting – It will blow you away. That kind of work has me more excited than ever because, “we ain’t seen nothing yet!”