As I said in this blog, I am the Public Relations Chair for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (“NCBA”) Young Producers’ Council (“YPC”).  Last month we had a conference call with folks interested in being on the committee.  I wanted to update those of you who were not able to make the call but are interested in digging in and getting your hands dirty.

The YPC Public Relations Task Force will be divided into nine different subcommittees:

1.  Local Media Subcommittee:  I am particularly excited about this subcommittee for 2010.  Lead by Chair Travis Reid (Pennslyvania), this subcommittee will manage YPC media contacts throughout the country and help put young producers in contact with their local radio stations, newspapers, television news stations and magazines.  YPC media contacts are strongly encouraged to participate in the Masters of Beef Advocacy (“MBA”) program.  I am an alum of the MBA program and I wrote a blog on my experience here.    

2.  National Media Subcommittee:  Lead by Holly Foster (California) and RaeMarie Gordon (Colorado), this subcommittee will focus media energies towards national media.  Not only will this subcommittee draft press releases but it will identify YPC members with superior communication skills and/or expertise for articles and interviews.   

3.  Media and Policy Training Subcommitte:  This is an exciting new subcommitte for the PR Task Force.  This Committee will help encourage YPC members to complete the MBA program.  Additionally, this subcommittee will work with NCBA to prepare an additional level of policy training for YPC members.  If you are interested, please contact Chelsea Good (Kansas), Travis Hoffman (Colorado) or Sharon Breiner (Kansas). 

4.  Facebook Subcommittee:  Lead by Katy Faye Wunsch (Idaho) and Angelina Fuoco-Eddy (Colorado), this submmittee will help increase YPC’s presence on Facebook.  The subcommittee will also develop a How-To Facebook Guide for YPC members, similar to the guide published by the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation except more geared towards young cattle producers. 

5.  Twitter Subcommittee:  I recently had a conversation with Twitter Chair Jenna Swanson (Minnesota) about this subcommittee.  We decided that #YPCbeef will be the official Twitter hashtag for tweets relevant to young cattle producers.  The subcommittee will also help develop a monthly #YPCbeef chat on Twitter and a How-To-Tweet Guide specifically geared towards young producers.  Furthermore, the subcommittee will be compiling a list of YPC members who are on Twitter.   

6.  Blog Subcommittee:  This subcommittee is different than the YPC Cattle Call blog team.  This subcommittee, chaired by Sharon Breiner, will help encourage YPC members to be agvocates for the beef industry through their own personal blog.  The subcommittee will teach YPC members about the different blog platforms (e.g., Blogger, WordPress, TypePad) and develop a How-To-Blog guide for young cattle producers.  In addition, the subcommittee will serve as guest bloggers for YPC Cattle Call and create a list of YPC members with blogs. 

7.  LinkedIn Subcommittee:  Are you LinkedIn and would like to Chair this subcommittee?  LinkedIn is a professional networking site and the PR Task Force would like to increase its presence there.  The subcommittee will initiate a discussion group, encourage YPC members to join LinkedIn and draft a short How-To-Get-LinkedIn guide for cattle producers.

8.  YouTube Subcommittee:  During our teleconference last month, the PR Task Force expressed interest in getting YPC out there in the YouTube world.  The people on the conference call had a great idea to have a college contest for videos highlight young people involved in the cattle industry.  I would also like to have video interviews of YPC members.  If you have a farm video that you would like posted on YPC’s new YouTube Channel please contact me or Chair Travis Reid at treid140@hotmail.com.

9.  YPC Website Subcommitee:  This subcommittee will work with NCBA’s website team to offer suggestions on YPC’s internet presence (e.g., what should or shouldn’t be included in the members only section).  Travis Reid offered to help lead this subcommittee but we are still looking for volunteers.

There’s something for everybody so pick your poison!  Every member of the PR Task Force must belong to one or more subcommittee and be a paid member of NCBA.  Last fall, this Task Force started the YPC Cattle Call blog.  I am looking forward to taking big strides for YPC in 2010.