Friday, July 12, 2013

Off to the Trail... The Cattle Trail that is!

It’s hard to believe Convention has already come and gone in the blink of an eye. What a great time it was, and no doubt everyone who attended would agree. I am actually writing this blog post from the Canadian Angus headquarters here in Calgary, Alberta. I flew out to Calgary two nights ago, and will be staying here for the duration of the Calgary Stampede; eleven days in total.

 Karla, Katie, and I will be working together in the Cattle Trail over the next several days, talking to consumers about all things related to beef. We will be situated in the Canadian Beef Breeds Council booth where visitors will come to find out about the different breeds of cattle. The booth is in a prime location, as one of the first booths in the Cattle Trail. This is such a great marketing opportunity for our breed, since our “Angus presence” at this booth is HUGE. Rest assured we are represented well at this event, and we will be conveying a positive message to consumers about Angus beef! It is actually my first time ever coming to Stampede, so I am definitely excited to be attending this year. What’s more… we will also be working with the Ag More Than Ever campaign while we are at Stampede. We will be canvassing the grounds with their “Talk Bubbles” and taking pictures of consumers  or agriculturists holding them. Anyone who follows Ag More Than Ever on social media has probably seen the photos they post from events and trade shows that they attend. The photos we take will be posted on their Facebook page where everyone can see them. What fun this will be!

Anyways moving on from Stampede… After Convention was over, I did some media follow up, by sending press releases to media outlets throughout Ontario who had previously requested a follow-up press release. I have also put a lot of focus on Ontario Junior Angus activities. This year we will be holding a revamped Ontario Junior Angus Show at the Brampton Fall Fair, Saturday September 15, 2013. This show will take place immediately prior to the GOLD show as always; however, this year we have introduced three new competitions and will also be naming the grand aggregate for each age division. Also new this year, pre entry is required on the official entry form, and entries are due by August 31, 2013. All the details for this show are available on the Junior portion of the Ontario Angus website, or on our Ontario Junior Angus Association Facebook page. In the past couple of weeks I have created an entry form for this show, and wrote the rules and regulations that exhibitors will be asked to abide by. I have also put a lot of work into our new Facebook page to increase our following and add some more useful information. We recently ran a hat contest to help increase the number of fans on our page.

I hope to see friends and breeders at Angus events throughout the rest of the summer! Plus, I must add that I am extremely looking forward to Showdown later this month in Armstrong BC. All for now!

Posted by Matt Bates Feedback: mbates@cdnangus.ca