2023 SESSIONS

THURSDAY SESSIONS
Speaker Topic Session Description
Jon Schallert Becoming a Destination Business:

A Customized Workshop for Alberta Open Farm Days

Jon Schallert is the only professional speaker in the world specializing in teaching businesses and communities how to turn themselves into Consumer Destinations. Jon speaks to thousands annually on his Destination Business process, which he developed over the course of twenty-five (25) years while interviewing over 10,000 independent business owners in over 600 cities and towns in North America.
In this workshop created for Alberta Open Farm Day participants, business owners, and entrepreneurs, Jon will show how most farms and businesses today can attract more visitors and customers while increasing their sales and profits, while lowering their marketing costs at the same time. Attendees will also learn how any business can apply his Destination strategy to attract more local visitors and customers, while at the same time pulling faraway customers from outside the area, sometimes from hundreds of miles away!
Attendees of this workshop will also learn:
• How to take this Destination Strategy and apply it immediately to maximize revenue and profits on 2023 Farm Days weekend August 19-20, 2023
• How to get consumers and visitors to pick your farm to visit and purchase from, using one simple, powerful tool
• How to get a customer to love your business within minutes of entering your property and getting out of their cars
• How to get customers to want to visit your farm by immediately looking at any page of your website or social media pagesImmediately following the workshop, Jon will provide every attendee with a specific, simple, step-by-step strategy to maximize attendance during this hugely important weekend.
Attendees will leave the day wondering: “Why haven’t I done this before?”
George Cuff BOARD GOVERNANCE

“No One Said that Governance would be so Rewarding & Exciting!”

If anyone can make “governance” come alive and sound exciting, it is our guest speaker George Cuff. George has lived, breather and taught this topic for over 40 years (he is quite old) and has studied and completed reports on over 400 organizations while teaching seminars like this one to another 700. He jokingly says that in his spare time he has written 10 books and 400 articles on governance while still finding time to serve as a Mayor for 12 years, as President of provincial and national boards, and as an advisor to a number of those involved in the agricultural sector.
On the local level, besides having spent 12 years in the early stages of Spruce Grove’s growth as its Mayor, George has also served on numerous local and regional boards, primarily in the role as chair. He is also serving as chair of his Baptist church board and claims that if one can survive that term, he is either a martyr, obtuse, taciturn or unaware of what is being muttered in the room, all of which point to a very dim future!
George tells great stories and anecdotes about his time in this field and responds to all questions he is asked. As he tells it, to paraphrase Peter Drucker, “there is no such thing as a dumb question except the one not asked”!
FRIDAY SESSIONS
Tammy Hampel You Can Do This!
Basics of a Safety Management System
Why is safety part of your business plan? What do you need to know? Where do you find that information? What should be part of your safety management system? This session will be an overview of the fundamentals of a safety program. We will explore why a safety program is beneficial to your ag society, how it supports other programs in your business plan, where you can source information for a safety program. We will discuss the basic elements to be included in a safety program, including a
manual, forms and tracking systems to monitor your success with the safety program.
Brenda Robinson Managing Conflict in Community Settings Overview:
Working in community settings is easy to say – not always easy to do. Community members often come to the task or project with different opinions, ideas, and suggestions or ways of getting things done. These differences often become difficulties and need to be resolved.We know that groups will have conflicts. Indeed, we know that these conflicts often make a group stronger and better. However, a lot of people are uncomfortable with conflict. When people come to meetings today, they often come with an agenda of their own. Working with them may mean that you need to facilitate or even mediate the conflict that results. We are finding that is more true in our communities in this post-COVID era.Learn some new strategies for resolving conflict in community settings. Make conflict work for the community rather than against the community. Seek resolutions for positive outcomes.
Brenda Robinson Recruiting and Motivating Our Young Volunteers to Support Their Community Our communities have gone through a challenging time. Our sense of community is different. What are some of the strategies needed to address the changing needs in communities? Let’s look at ways to move ahead positively, proactively and productively.

What can we do to get more get more young people to be motivated volunteers?

Explore 10 strategies for recruiting and motivating young volunteers in this new fast paced, device driven world we live in. We can no longer just expect young people to volunteer. Let’s work with them to volunteer because there are advantages to them. Our young people are our best resource. Do they know how much we value the contributions that they can make? What can we do to engage and include young people as part of their community.

This is an opportunity for you to look at 10 strategies for engaging the young people as volunteers in your community.

Let’s do it because it’s fun and it works!

Brenda Herchmer Finding and Keeping Volunteers Volunteers are essential for the important work being done by Ag Societies in their communities. In this session, participants will gain an appreciation of the Ag Society’s role in
planning, organizing, and implementing strategies for finding and keeping volunteers. Key knowledge and practical tools and resources that can be used to support volunteers in today’s
complex environments will be shared.
Brenda Herchmer Amplifying Strengths for Collective Leadership Ag Societies are as strong as their leaders. While there is much to celebrate, the reality is that
we are living in a different world with new challenges and opportunities that futurists are
describing as BANI – brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible. As a result, those
serving as leaders in Ag Societies – with or without a formal title – will be more impactful if they
are open to new skills, knowledge, and attitudes that focus on collaboration and being future-
ready. This session will also provide practical tools and resources that will be ideal for anyone
committed to contributing to their community’s individual, social, economic, and
environmental well-being.
Brenda Herchmer  Positioning for What’s Next Agricultural Societies are more aware than most about the links between environmental,
economic, and social well-being. They are also uniquely and strongly positioned to address the
complexity of today’s challenges. This, in large part, is due to the historic role they have played
in gathering and amplifying the grassroots talent, assets, and influence of their citizens,
businesses, organizations, and government. Brenda Herchmer will share 5 key practical
strategies for promoting agriculture and enhancing quality of life that will help you to demystify
and clarify what’s next, and what’s best, for your community to ensure ongoing relevancy.
————
NOTE the five strategies below aren’t included in the above description but will be used as a
framework for integrating what has been gathered from the other conference sessions.
1. View Your Community of Stakeholders as Untapped Assets
2. Emphasize Collaboration Over Silos
3. Be Driven by Your Why
4. Invest in Future-Ready Leadership
5. Embrace What’s New
Jon Schallert Applying Destination Marketing Principles
to Your Agricultural Society Organization
In this Day 2 keynote, Jon Schallert returns to explain his proprietary 14-step Destination strategy that can turn any community or business into a Consumer Destination and applies it to any size Agricultural Society.
Attendees will learn how this focused, bottom-up marketing strategy can be applied to any organization, in any location, with any size budget, for maximum marketing impact.
Attendees will also learn:
• The most powerful technique to connect with the media and influencers who can propel your message to thousands, all at little or no cost to your society.
• Why marketing with any form of price discounting is hurting your overall marketing message, and how, if you must price discount, how to do it effectively.
• How to create free publicity that has 12 times the power of traditional advertising
• How to incorporate strategies used during the pandemic that will help increase your consumer attendance at any size event.
Eileen Kotowich Farmers Market Training Our communities have gone through a challenging time. Our sense of community is different. What are some of the strategies needed to address the changing needs in communities? Let’s look at ways to move ahead positively, proactively and productively.

What can we do to get more get more young people to be motivated volunteers?

Explore 10 strategies for recruiting and motivating young volunteers in this new fast paced, device driven world we live in. We can no longer just expect young people to volunteer. Let’s work with them to volunteer because there are advantages to them. Our young people are our best resource. Do they know how much we value the contributions that they can make? What can we do to engage and include young people as part of their community. This is an opportunity for you to look at 10 strategies for engaging the young people as volunteers in your community. Let’s do it because it’s fun and it works!

 

Zack Ziolkowski Scrutineering, door knocking, debates… what does it all mean? Join Zack Ziolkowski for a session on Government Relations where we break down the nuts and bolts of what happens during an election and how best you can get involved.
Zack will also talk about the current state of affairs with a dive into current polling trends and what to expect before the next provincial election.
Whether you want to help campaign, or just observe from the sidelines we will give you tips on how to get involved and how to ensure you spread the message of the benefits of agriculture.
Diane Ringuette Board Financial Literacy Financial Literacy for Board Members
• Reporting required
• Why do you need reports and how to understand them
• Strategy and risk management
• Performance measures
• KPIs (key performance indicators)
• Asset management
OAAS (Ontario Association of Agricultural Society) Panel Discussion  Challenges and Successes to see youth
succeed in your Agricultural society
Come join a panel of youthful individuals and learn how they grew to be successful
within their own fairs, agricultural societies, and the OAAS. Discuss with them the challenges and
success stories when it comes to seeing youth thrive within your Agricultural Societies.
Angela, Lauren, Sara, Jessica and Kathryn have all been involved within their own Ag Societies (Forest,
Plympton-Wyoming, Zurich, Dundalk and Glencoe) for 15 years or more, as well as the OAAS.
Throughout the year you can find them attending meetings, running various events, serving on the
board of directors and executive council, and giving a helping hand where needed. They share a passion
to see youth succeed and are always willing to work together with others to make this happen.

 

SPONSOR SESSIONS

Heather Karst Servus Credit Union – Financial Farm lending and succession planning with Servus.  A high level overview of the farm succession planning process.  Focusing on common strategies used in succession, pitfalls frequently encountered by owners, and how to deal with family friction and difficulty.
Rob Dombowsky Alberta Motor Transport Association The agricultural industry is foundational to the welfare of Canada’s economy. It is critical that farms can receive the raw materials and more importantly that the final product can reach the marketplace in a timely and cost-effective manner. This is why hiring and training commercial (Class 1) drivers are critical competencies for any organization. Through our research and conversations with the industry, we have learned that small- and medium-sized businesses don’t always have access to professional HR supports. As a result, these companies are at a strategic disadvantage compared to their larger competitors. In this session, we will provide some of the tools and methods every manager can use to level the playing field.In this session, participants will:
➢ Learn about AMTA and its vision, mission, and objectives
➢ Consider the entire staffing cycle: attraction, recruitment, onboarding, retention(including integration, employee performance, and professional development), off-
boarding, and exiting)➢ Explore how diversity, equity, and inclusion can help alleviate staffing issues
➢ Discover how to develop a company brand image
➢ Sell their jobs and career opportunities
➢ Learn how to retain employees
➢ Learn about grants available for commercial (Class 1) driver training
Lowell MacDougall MCSnet – Telecom Internet The story behind MCSnet and its Community Connections Program
Perry Cramer NFP – Insurance Title: “Protecting your assets.  Facility maintenance, insurance and risk management”   This session will focus on protecting the physical assets managed by Agricultural societies including buildings, grounds, and equipment.  Learn how to protect your organizations valuable assets by understanding the leading causes of insurance claims, what property inspectors look for, how to prevent incidents from occurring and how to build risk management strategies for the future
Matt Sproule Techconnect – Telecom Internet Our presentation will revolve around how AG Associations can leverage broadband to enhance the services that they provide to their communities, We will provide examples of economic development, smart farming, telemedicine, distance learning, and revenue generation ideas. Matt likes to make the sessions interactive. To identify some issues the AG’s are facing we can start with Q&A and the leverage that to steer the content accordingly.
Clifton Lofthaug Great Canadian Solar Solar Electric Systems and Agriculture: This presentation will explain how grid-tied solar systems work, what type of systems to consider, and available grants, rebates, and financing is available to help harvest the sun in a different way.