The 2011 GOAL (Guiding Outstanding Angus Leaders) Conference was held February 19-21 in Saskatoon. Saskatchewan Director Laird Senft and I attended the conference with 36 Juniors and Belinda Wagner, the CJAA coordinator and Shelly Easton.
Thursday featured keynote speaker Dr. Scott Vernon of Cal Poly-San Luis Obisp California. His seminar covered communication, motivation and leadership. The evening included dinner at the Western Development Museum followed by a tour and then the attendees presented skits.
Tom Blacklock spoke about Staying Creative in Agriculture on Friday morning, sharing his experiences of retailing his own beef through farmers markets during the BSE crisis.
The Juniors had a full and busy weekend. Bella Spur Innovative Media Inc. gave a marketing presentation and Gordon Roger from Intervet gave a presentation on Opportunities for Youth in Agriculture. The formal banquet was held Saturday night and featured a presentation from Robert C. McHaffie Junior Ambassador Erika Easton. I presented the Association's highlights of 2010.
Belinda deserves a lot of credit and recognition for her hard work. She does a great job and did a lot of work to put on a great conference.
It was great to see the Juniors focus on their future in the Angus breed and make new friends. I am also happy to report that after my presentation, several Juniors have "friended" me and "like" the Canadian Angus Association on Facebook.
Posted by Michael Latimer
Feedback: michael1@cdnangus.ca
