3 minute read
Working Together
GW FROM THE CORNER OFFICE GW Working Together
By Megan Slater
In recent times of uncertainty, we have seen communities working together to help us all get through these tough times. People continue to eat take-out to support local restaurants and several companies have restructured their operations to produce hand sanitizer, ventilators, and other medical supplies. In such times of uncertainty these gestures help us to see the power of communities working together. Many of these acts of kindness can be seen on the news and of course, on social media. Here lately the beef industry has undergone trying times like we’ve never seen before, and this too can be seen on social media. It is in these moments that we need to come together and work on the hard issues that face our industry.
Depending on the way you look it, social media has been a blessing and a curse. Some people use it to hide behind a keyboard and express their opinion without being held accountable. Social media can also be a place that brings people together and can be an outlet to express feelings if one feels so compelled. It is also a great place to reach people with advocacy and beef promotion. It may also be a place where ideas emerge but likely isn’t the place where those ideas come to life to create positive change on certain issues.
One of the ways to create action and change is to get in touch with your association through different outlets. Opinions of members and their customers are meaningful to associations. Associations are member driven and these opinions are what keep the associations progressing forward. That is why getting involved and participating in your association is so important. According to Merriam-Webster, an association is a noun defined as an organization of persons having a common interest. The American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) is just that and it can even be taken a step further to say the people of the AGA not only have a common interest but also a common purpose. Our organization and its membership have the shared purpose of raising Gelbvieh and Balancer® cattle, keeping them relevant in the beef industry, and continuing to create demand for those genetics. We also have the common purpose of helping to produce beef to feed the world. It is not only critical for us to work together as an association, but also work together as an industry, especially in these difficult times.
The AGA has several opportunities to get involved and to have your opinion heard. One of those is through AGA committees. Recently, Dan McCarty, AGA president, spent a lot of time forming the committees for 2020, and included several members who are new to serving in this capacity. These committees play a vital role in the development and implementation of AGA programs, services and policies. An active committee process is one of the core grassroots values of the AGA. The nine AGA committees are essential to the AGA and help to provide direction for the association in that particular area. If you have been appointed to serve on one of these committees, I encourage you to not take that responsibility lightly. Committees only truly fulfill their duty if the members that make up that committee participate and voice their opinion.
If you aren’t serving on a committee or can’t make it to convention, that shouldn’t stop you from feeling like your opinion can’t be heard. If you want to learn more about what is happening at the association or share your perspective, we are always happy to hear from members via phone or email, because remember, we are all in this together. D
