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Jan. 10, 2011 Source: Ag Relations Council (ARC) What better theme fits better than The Beatles hit song "Here Comes The Sun," as Agricultural Relations Council (ARC) members get fired up to descend on Florida for the annual meeting Feb. 23-25 at the Crowne Plaza - Fort Myers, FL. For more information or to register, click here The program for 2011 is filled with education and information, through workshops and tours. The ARC Program Committee, made up of Rebecca Colnar, Deron Johnson, Amy McDonald and Mace Thornton, has put together a program that will capture all that's great about Florida agriculture and look at the issues facing the ag industry related to such challenges as fertilizer use, water consumption and livestock regulations. Registration forms and other materials are on the ARC web site. Registration for this year's meeting is again $300, with the program starting around lunchtime on Feb. 24 and concluding Friday evening with our Golden ARC Awards banquet. Program Highlights • Representatives from the Florida Fertilizer and AgriChemical Association, along with representatives from the Florida Water Quality Coalition, will share how they've had to work with regulations and perception-including lots of public relations on Florida water quality issues. • Measuring the effectiveness of social media. We all know how to get on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, but is your pro-ag message really getting out there? Tracy Irani will clue you in on how to tell if you really are getting your point across---and how to do it better. • Thinking more strategically from a PR standpoint. • The Steak and Orange Juice Tour - Not only will our Friday tour cover a small farm with a unique "direct to consumer" approach, but members of the Florida Beef and Citrus industries are cooking up some great information-and food-on this informative (and fun) tour. Oh, and we just might get to see how Florida is doing with malting barley products, too! Thanks to Gary Cooper, Southeast Ag Network, for support in arranging the tours. We also will be enlisting the assistance of the Agriculture Institute of Florida, an organization made up of Floridians involved in ag communications (from a PR and public affairs standpoint), plus individual farmers and producers from a diverse blend of agricultural associations, commodity producers and ag-interested businesses. Regarding "fun in the sun" activities, ARC staff has arranged for a boat cruise and meal on Thursday night. GOLDEN ARC AWARDS After re-instituting the Golden ARC Awards this year (based on 2009 work) and recognizing winners at the Ag Media Summit in St. Paul, the Golden ARC awards will award the best of work from 2010 at the 2011 meeting in Fort Myers. That will take place on Friday evening, Feb. 25. And the organization will continue this recognition program in subsequent years each year at the February annual meeting. Amy McDonald, program manager, is busy working with the judges to finalize this year's winners. The recognition program for 2011 includes work through November of this year. For details go to www.goldenarcawards.com OTHER HIGHLIGHTS This year, for the first time, ARC will encourage student registrations through the Florida Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) chapter. A special registration price of $100 will be offered to students - one-third the normal registration price. Please check the ARC website for additional details. Remember: "Here Comes the Sun - and I say, "It's all right." Tweet |
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