Wisconsin Delegation Attends Alumni Development Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas
Submitted by Jim Check, State FFA Alumni President Elect

For the last six years, I have heard how the National FFA Alumni Development Conference is the place to go to learn what a true FFA Alumni member can be. I have never attended a conference until this year. I along with thirteen other Wisconsin FFA Alumni members attended the 2011 Alumni Development Conference (ADC) in Little Rock, Arkansas. At the conclusion of ADC, I sat back and asked myself if it was worth it and the only answer I could say was “Oh Yes”.

This year’s conference was designed to bring forth the need for advocacy and the building of a good board for a non-profit organization. At first I thought that just being an alumni member I am an advocate for agriculture and that this experience would be like preaching to the choir. But I was very wrong. This conference had more information on how to be an advocate for agriculture than I had ever imagined.

As we work in our local chapters helping our hometown students, we do not always take the time to think, “What else could I be doing”? We help with fundraisers, judging teams and chaperone the school trips. We talk to other local organizations about what the FFA Alumni stands for and try to teach others on what agriculture does for this state. I also thought that was enough as I was doing my share. Well, I found out that it’s more than that. It’s a call to your school board council asking what can be done for the agriculture program or a call to your state official expressing your support for the agriculture education programs in our state. I was told if enough people call, it opens the eyes and ears of our elected officials. We are not one voice. We are a group of voices that have the right to speak and support our local FFA chapters and agriculture programs. So the message I walked away from ADC with was, don’t stop at your local agriculture program to be an advocate, be an advocate for the state and make that simple phone call.

The other half of the conference was designed to give affiliates the tools to get people on your local alumni boards and give them a purpose for wanting to serve. As a volunteer group, it is hard finding members that want to commit the time for another night away from home. If your board of directors has no direction and purpose, the organization can easily fall apart. But by having policies set, this will help to guide the organization into the future with that purpose and direction that is needed.

This year’s conference had an expert from Las Vegas that sets up non-profit board of directors and helps those boards reevaluate there direction yearly. The part that I brought away from this section of the conference was do we look at our direction yearly to see if we have met the goals we had set and did we accomplish what we started. That is the question your directors need to ask themselves at your annual meeting.

Once we completed the morning sessions, the afternoon and evening was full of tours of the local farms and the main crops of Arkansas such as rice, chicken and catfish. One of our stops was the Arkansas FFA Camp where the Arkansas FFA was having their last week of FFA Development Camp. We were fortunate to attend the end of camp banquet with three hundred other guests and campers. The experience was like your own FFA banquet with student musical performances and speeches. But I don’t know many chapters that serve catfish, shrimp, hush puppies, green tomato relish and beans at their banquet.

I was amazed at the rice crops growing in the fields and the constant care that crop needs. All of the day trips were meant to showcase the state of Arkansas, but also be educational in the agricultural product areas in the state. Besides a little southern drawl, I realized we all are the same in relation to growing the crop in their climate that help feeds the world.

I had to ask myself on the way home, “Do I want to attend this conference again?” Again the only answer I could think of was “Oh Yes”. Next year’s conference will be held about the same time next year and be in Montana. If you want to meet great people like yourself and learn what makes this organization so outstanding, you must say to yourself “Oh Yes” I am going. For upcoming details check the National FFA Alumni website.

See you in Montana!!!