NALC-in-Review

Check out the video slideshow from the National Agricultural Leadership Conference, March 27-29, 2008, in Columbus, Ohio.

Tornado Relief Effort

Hi everyone,

As you may have heard, farms Tennesse, Arkansas and Kentucky were hit hard by tornadoes back in February. The Fellowship of Christian Farmers International has asked Alpha Zeta to assist in cleaning up the farms.

Are you interested?

The weekend that we are looking at is May 2nd-the 4th. We will arrive in either state (depending on what group you are in) Friday evening and return home Sunday.

No school has to be missed!

It's possible that we would meet at the Alpha Zeta headquarters in St. Louis and drive down to Tennessee and Arkansas. The details will be worked out soon.

The FCFI has offered to cover your room and meals.

This is coming up quickly, so please respond as soon as possible! You can facebook me, or email me at emorgan82@yahoo.com.
I am also on IM, which is on my profile.

Thank you!
Fraternally,
Emily Morgan

Goodbye AZ, but only as an employee

My time as intern for Drake and Company is coming to a close. (sniff, sniff) I am sad to leave, but excited to move back to Stillwater, Okla. and start my new job.

I have enjoyed my time here in St. Louis working for Alpha Zeta and encourage all marketing, ag business, ag comm majors in Alpha Zeta to apply for the internship. Not only do you gain great business experience, but you get to see the inner-workings of Alpha Zeta.

Thank you to everyone who answered all my e-mails and dealt with my perpetual tendency to forget attachments. Please keep in touch. Though I will no longer work for Alpha Zeta, I am, and will always be an Alpha Zeta brother.

NALC Wrap-up

I'm ready for a vacation. I just returned from the Dairy Calf and Heifer Conference in Rochester, Minn. The DCHA convention was right after the Alpha Zeta National Agricultural Leadership Conference, so I haven't yet had time to do some of the important follow-up from the NALC.

To that end... Included in this blog is a link to the NALC 2008 Album. I'm working on turning the NALC-in-Review Slideshow into a video. It will be posted on YouTube and Facebook, along with the blog and eventually the AZ Web site. Here is the slideshow (sans music).

I'm still looking for additional photos from the NALC. Please send digital photos to my e-mail address or to the national office.

Overall, this was an outstanding conference. For those of you who came, thanks. For those of you who passed up the opportunity to attend for basically nothing, well... I won't say anything other than I'm not pleased.

Between the tours and the high-caliber of speakers, this was definitely one of the best conferences I've been involved with. One chapter who hadn't sent a representative to the NALC in a number of years commented that NALC was "Awesome" among other superlatives. The Townshend Chapter (including Abby, Tim, Beth and Sarah) did a great job putting together the program. A high bar has been set for the North Carolina Chapter.

The 2009 NALC and 51st Biennial Alpha Zeta Conclave is scheduled for March 26-28, 2009, in Raleigh, N.C. Start making plans to attend now.

Need money? Ask your dean, apply for an AgCareers Travel Award, ask your student government. The money's out there. If you don't have it, you're not looking hard enough. If you are looking hard and can't find it, call me.

No time? Talk to your professors early. Alpha Zeta is a professional/leadership conference, not a fraternity meeting. I've never met a professor that won't let you out of class or reschedule a quiz/test for a meeting like this. If they balk, contact your advisor, dean or me. One of us will write a letter on your behalf. Chances are your professor is an AZ or knows about the organization.

Too far? Raleigh is easy to get to. By plane you should be able to get there with one connection. Sure, I wouldn't drive there from Fresno, but you could make it a road trip. Pick up a couple of people from some other chapters. Make it a fun ride.

More to the point, though... It's time to get involved, folks. Engage your Alpha Zeta chapter and make the most of the opportunities presented to you. While it's not his original saying, Jesse Dotterer commented during the conference that "Opportunity is not gained or lost, it is taken."

At NALC, Alpha Zeta rolled out a new Service Leadership Initiative at NALC. This will include support for chapter-led service and fundraising projects that benefit agriculture and natural resources. It will also fund workshops and training to make Alpha Zeta members better servant leaders. Alpha Zeta has committed almost 1/3 of its budget to making service leadership a priority.

Some of that funding can go directly to chapters in the form of challenge grants -- seed money to help launch local projects. The no-interest loans will be repaid to the Alpha Zeta Foundation so the money can be used again by other chapters.

It's time to take this opportunity. Applications will be available soon. Contact me if you're interested.

This is AZ, this is NALC, this is the place to BE.

If you are not in Columbus, Ohio right now, you are clearly missing out. First off, props to my fellow brothers on the orange team, we defined domination last night in Ag Olympics...be jealous. Friday was an excellent day. The day started off with a career fair. Like many folks, I already have an internship lined up for this summer, but I used the career fair as a means of learning about different companies and the services they provide to agriculture. I also took some information to aid me in planning for next summer.

Lunch was great. Diane Johnson walked us through the correct way to eat...yeah, I know, I thought eating was one of my strong skills. She provided some great tips to remember when having a dinner interview or when eating in a formal setting with influential people.

After lunch, we loaded up on the buses for the AG Tours. I attended the "Animals Tour". I met a lot of awesome folks on the tour. We traveled to the impressive Riverwood Farms. There were a lot of quality sheep, protected by some goofy llamas, and also several Lowline Angus Miniature cows. I had never actually seen this breed of cattle, so I particularly enjoyed that! We also traveled to Price Farms Organics, which is in the business of composting anything from zoo-animal manure, to coffee grounds, to yard trimmings, to paper. We wrapped up the evening at the Columbus Zoo...somewhere I've wanted to go for a very long time. We had a great dinner and went on a scavenger hunt through the zoo. We're back at the hotel now, about to hit up the pool, and to do some serious fellowshipping amongst the chapters on the hall. AZ History tour, workshops, and banquet tomorrow...no doubt it's going to be a good time. This is Alpha Zeta, this is NALC, this is exactly what I signed up for!

You should be here!

It is the opening night of National Ag Leadership Conference and it has definitely started with a bang and a cheer! Opening ceremonies, led by the Townshend Chapter, highlighted some great ice breakers that got people laughing and networking.

The t-shirt exchange was a success, as usual, with a great variety of shirts boasting the advantages of agriculture and how bad life would be without it.

This year's banner contest was a creative site to behold with the most entries ever! From a real quilted banner to velcro changeable pieces, the banners all represented, "back at the start of it, right at the heart of it." The High Council is going to have a hard time deciding the winner!

The night concluded with a rousing game of ag olympics. Members entertained everyone with haybale stacking and milk chugging. The team spirit ran high during the pie eating and dizzy bat competitions. In the end, admist cheers and taunts, the orange team pulled out a narrow victory, but everyone had a blast!

Response to free registration

Due to a late source of funding, Alpha Zeta had the opportunity to offer up to 20 free registration to the National Agricultural Leadership Conference.

We decided to offer those in pairs to sophomores and juniors at chapters who hadn't been to an NALC in a number of years; particularly those within driving distance. I hope I don't put my foot in my mouth, but I've been disappointed and frustrated at the response. Thank you to the Morrill Chapter at Penn State for stepping up to the plate!

I contacted several of the "maybes" on Facebook. Lora Young, AZ's intern called, IM'd and even visited several people from chapters who are not attending NALC. Only two people are using the free registration. TWO! I ended up giving one to a scholarship recipient as an incentive to attend.

This incentive was intended to inspire those who have not been to an NALC to see the value in it first-hand. They would be able to experience the fellowship, gain knowledge about AZ and learn something about themselves and agriculture. I see NALC as a great opportunity, and an exciting event to attend, but we can't seem to take it to the next level because there is not enough participation on the part of the chapters.

I understand it can be expensive. Travel's not cheap. But in this case I eliminated half the cost with two free registrations. If you're driving, what's the barrier? You've even got a buddy to come along with you. And I bet your dean is an AZ and he/she would give you money to travel -- you just haven't asked.

I hear a lot about not being able to miss class, but I don't buy that. Professors will give you an excused absence for a professional conference. And this is a professional conference, not a party. It's basis is academic; although I won't deny there is some fun being had -- just like there is at AAEA, NAMA, Ag Media Summit or any gathering of college students. Plus, it's a Thursday and Friday. I won't say you weren't planning on going to class Friday anyway, but I bet you'd like to skip it. Send me the phone number for the professor who won't let you out of class, I'll call him/her and see what stick is stuck where.

The one point I may concede is late notice. Yes, it's late notice. But what plans aren't flexible? Why can't you go out with your friends or go home to see mom and dad next weekend? They'll still be there.

Bottom line, the value of your membership in Alpha Zeta is greatly enhanced by your participation in the NALC. That's why chapters like Cornell, North Carolina, Florida, Townshend and others are consistently strong -- they look for ways to make the Alpha Zeta experience more meaningful.

You could have done the same. All you had to do was step up.