When the Cattlemen’s Beef Board was looking into ways to better communicate with producers about the activities of the next week’s Cattle Industry Convention, especially their committee meetings, they turned to blogging and asked us to create and manage the site. There’s still some final pre-conference posting that will be done over the next couple days but the site is open and ready for activity. At the event next week, I’ll be blogging the CBB activities on Beef Board Meeting.com. One of the great things about this idea is that not only will information flow out to interested producers but each post and page of information has the comment feature enabled to allow them to provide their feedback. I have no doubt we’ll get some.
(Holts Summit, MO January 26, 2006 – AgNewsWire.AgWired.com) Cattle producers who are unable to attend this year’s Cattle Industry Convention February 1-4 in Denver can still stay informed and take an active role in decisions that are made through the Beef Board Meeting.com (www.beefboardmeeting.com) web log, according to Cattlemen’s Beef Board Vice Chairman Jay O’Brien of Amarillo, Texas.
“We’re trying to get information out to the producers to let them know exactly what’s going on at the convention and even allow them to have input back in to the committees, so that all of the people who pay the checkoff will be part of the process.”
The web log will feature postings throughout the convention following the various committee meetings to inform producers about discussions that are taking place and decisions that are made on how their beef checkoff dollars will be spent. O’Brien says the Beef Board wants all producers to have the opportunity to participate in decision-making at the national level.
“We have 108 producer members of the Beef Board who serve on the committees, who work hard to decide the best way to spend the checkoff dollars. But, of course, we have a lot more producers out there then those 108. We want every producer to be informed about what is going on and to be able to have input as to where the checkoff dollars are spent.” (Full Release)
You can hear a full interview with CBB Vice Chairman Jay O’Brien here. (2.2MB MP3)
A new website can be a beautiful thing. I especially like simplicity, ease of navigation. In other words, 
The 
Sounds like a phone book for farmers only more. This is the FarmIndex Directory for Iowa, which was just recently released. It claims to provide complete statewide producer and crop information.
Here’s a reminder for all you agricultural public relations professionals. The 
He looks like a computer guy. Those eyes have stared at a computer screen for a long time I’m guessing. He’s Mark Green and 
If you’re sitting there wishing you had something interesting to watch, try these new Got Milk hispanic ads. They’re set to begin airing January 30. I think 
A big announcement was made today and I think agricultural communicators should take notice. I really think you need to check this out. 
I’ve seen this billboard in a couple of cities lately and had a chance to take a picture of it today in Chicago. I guess I think it’s interesting that AT&T is advertising that they deliver blogging. I think I also 
I just stopped off at a Holiday Inn here in Chicago for a quick email check with their lobby wi-fi and found out that the 
Billy Rose, Chief Executive Officer for Crop1 Insurance, says “We’re delighted that this transaction allows Crop1 to offer a savings to more crop producers across a broader geography.” (