National FFA Convention Highlights Thursday, Oct. 22
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Contact: Andrea McNeely, (317) 586-5098 Julie Woodard, (317) 586-5103 National FFA Convention Highlights Thursday, Oct. 22 FFA Members Volunteer in Indy Thursday, Oct. 22 Friday, Oct. 23 All day, various sites The National FFA Days of Service promote civic engagement through agricultural education and service learning. Hundreds of FFA members will volunteer at several locations throughout Indianapolis helping at local food banks helping local schools with urban gardens, and more. All Days of Service Participants will gather Thursday and Friday morning at 7 a.m. at Victory Field, before heading out to the service sites. Visit the Days of Service webpage for a complete list of sites. Agricultural Issues Forum Finals Thursday, Oct. 22, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Indiana Convention Center, Sagamore Ballroom 3, 4, 5 Finalists in the Agricultural Issues Forum will compete for individual and team honors. Teams of five to seven students present a current agricultural issue to a panel of judges. Presentations can include skits, costumes and props. Keynote Speaker, Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant Thursday, Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m. Conseco Fieldhouse Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant will address thousands of students and sponsors during the third general convention session. Monsanto, a company 100 percent devoted to agriculture, is focused on applying innovation and technology to help its farmer customers increase yields while conserving more of our world’s precious resources including water and energy. Under Grant’s leadership, Monsanto has increasingly relied on building partnerships to achieve commercial, environmental and social humanitarian goals. National FFA Agricultural Career Show Thursday 8:00 – 6:00 p.m. Friday 8:00 – 4:00 p.m. Indiana Convention Center The National FFA Agricultural Career Show allows FFA members to explore careers and educational opportunities. The show features more than 300 companies, colleges and organizations. Some of this year’s highlights: U.S. Army Soldiers share principles of leadership, career opportunities and demonstrate marksmanship and dog handling in their booth at the National FFA Agricultural Career Show. Media can conduct interviews, gather footage and tour the Strength in Action Zone during the following times: • Thursday, Oct. 22, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. • Friday, Oct. 23, 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Visuals: The following live-shot, taped segment and interview opportunities are available: • Military Working Dog Demonstrations: Army dogs play a critically important role in U.S. Army missions by sniffing for bombs, ferreting out terrorists and helping to safeguard military bases, all while ensuring the safety of our Soldiers. Speak with a Soldier handler and see Army dogs demonstrate their response rate to key commands, physical speed, agility and detective abilities and bite work with decoys. Soldier handlers can discuss the special training and leadership skills required of both dogs and handlers. • Army Marksmanship Unit Shooters: Members of the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit will give non-live-fire demonstrations highlighting different shooting techniques and stances. They also will discuss the importance of gun safety and speak to the leadership skills that are important for success. These Soldiers compete internationally and train other Soldiers to be safe and proficient marksmen. The Army Marksmanship Trailer contains two shooting simulators that replicate current U.S. weapons systems. The training simulator offers a wide array of targets and video scenarios for training military personnel from the basic trainee to Army Rangers and Special Forces Soldiers. The system also includes training for police force personnel and hunters. The computer software offers safety briefs, a hunter education course, military combat skills training and more. • Ryan Newman – U.S. Army NASCAR Driver [Thursday Only]: U.S. Army NASCAR driver Ryan Newman will be at the Army booth on Thursday, Oct. 22 from 12:30-2 p.m. to speak with FFA students. His show car also will be on display. • Strength in Action Zone Army Booth: See Soldiers give fitness demonstrations, tour the Army marksmanship trailer, see and learn about the NASCAR and NHRA show cars, and participate in other interactive elements of the exhibit. Monsanto Mobile Technology Unit: The MTU is a 53-foot long, 1,000 square-foot interactive display featuring Monsanto's latest advances in seed breeding, biotechnology and new product development designed to help students become more aware of the career opportunities available within agriculture. The 30 minute tours have been booked for weeks prior to convention as advisors schedule time for their students to see the latest developments in technology. More than 1,200 students are expected to experience the MTU at the convention. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OCT. 20, 2009 FFA Float Will Connect With Millions on New Year’s Day INDIANAPOLIS— On the morning of January 1, 2010, the National FFA Organization will make contact with an estimated 42 million people in the United States, and more than 100 million people worldwide, through participation in the 121st Tournament of Roses Parade. Television viewers settled in to watch this New Year’s Day tradition will witness history being made, as the first-ever FFA float in the Rose Parade not only makes its way down Orange and Colorado Boulevards before the crowds in Pasadena, but into the living rooms, and into the hearts, of families watching at home. On and surrounding the float will be the 2009- 2010 National FFA Officer Team, National FFA Advisor Dr. Larry Case and the four Stars Over America, along with invited FFA presidents from every U.S. state, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The float, FFA Today, is one of the largest in the parade, at 75 feet long, 30 feet tall and 18 feet wide. It features three gigantic sculptures depicting FFA members engaging in agricultural, educational and development activities. The float will further be highlighted by several elements from the FFA emblem, each with a significant meaning. Alongside the emblem are a sleek horse, a combine, barn and windmill, a stand of evergreens, a grove of fruit trees, and finally urban buildings and a communications satellite – contrasting with the rural features to display the scope of FFA activities. The float is designed to represent all FFA members, past and present, as well as portray a most positive image of agriculture into rural, suburban and urban-based homes. In addition to more than 10,000 fresh flowers, the float will be decorated by FFA members with commodities grown by the American farmer, including corn, wheat, soybeans, and cotton. All of the FFA float costs and expenses for this major communications effort are being underwritten entirely by RFD-TV and the sponsors and advertisers associated with RFD-TV’s live broadcast of the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade and Equestfest. The float also promotes and ties in with the weekly, half-hour FFA news magazine program on RFD-TV. “When we first learned of the 2010 Rose Parade theme, “A Cut Above The Rest,” we immediately thought of FFA, and saw this as an opportunity to not only pay tribute to the world’s premiere youth organization, but at the same time to also showcase FFA activities on a world stage in this continuing effort to connect and educate the urban world about the positive aspects of rural America”, stated Patrick Gottsch, founder and president of RFD-TV. “This is a tremendous opportunity to communicate the FFA message to the world,” added Bill Stagg, communications director for the National FFA Organization. “The float is beautiful, and it will be a beacon of pride for all associated with FFA. The opportunity to assemble so many FFA leaders in one place at one time has never happened before outside of our annual convention. What a way to start a new decade!” The Tournament of Roses Parade is simultaneously carried live or on tape delay by six national or cable television networks in the United States (ABC, NBC, HGTV, Univision, RFD- TV/RFD HD, KTLA) and begins at 11 a.m. (Eastern time). The parade will also be distributed into more than 110 countries around the world. Extensive print and radio media cover the events and floats leading up to the parade and the afternoon Rose Bowl football game. It is anticipated that interview opportunities for FFA will also materialize with outlets such as the Today Show with Al Roker, KTLA, and other media. “Never before has there been a chance to showcase FFA to the entire country, and project the good work being done by young leaders in agriculture, on so many prime media outlets at once,” said Raquel Gottsch, public relations director for RFD-TV. “From day one, RFD- TV’s primary goal has been to find common ground for urban, rural and suburban residents again. The Rose Parade provides a platform to the world. This is going to be good for FFA and the entire agriculture industry; it will take agricultural communications to a whole new level”. In addition to its regular live production and broadcast of the two-hour Tournament of Roses Parade hosted by Crook & Chase along with Pam Minick, RFD-TV will also air a one-hour special on the “Making of the FFA Float” beginning at 10 a.m. (Eastern time), and will repeat the entire three-hour Rose Parade broadcast set several times during the first week of January. There is will also be a live Web feed of the float being built and decorated on the www.rfdtv.com Web site, plus “Float Updates” on the channel. About RFD-TV, LLC Launched in December of 2000 and now beginning its 10th year of broadcasting, RFD-TV is the nation's first 24-hour television channels dedicated to serving the needs and interests of rural America with programming focused on agriculture, equine, rural lifestyle, along with traditional country music and entertainment.