99% satisfaction

Grasstravaganza 2008 is in the books after a 6 month long journey by some very passionate grazing advocates.  I am proud to have been part of this dynamic team, comprised of farmers and agency folks that put this “grazalicious” event together.

I hope anyone reading this can appreciate all the hard work and planning that goes into a program that try’s to educate, stimulate and entertain 325 people.  It is a daunting task to come up with the right blend of information and presenters to justify the monetary and time investment made by attendees.  This task is also important for the sponsors and exhibitors who invested their resources and time in the program as well.

As Emcee`, cookie server, picture taker, political handler, table mover and runner, it seemed very difficult to land anywhere for any length of time.  There was some awesome people sharing their stories and practices, but alas I only caught bits and pieces.  I did however take in keynote addresses by PASA’s President Kim Seeley, APPPA’s President David Smith, Blue Hill’s Chef Dan Barber, and Nebraska’s Grazing Strongman Kevin Fulton.  I also gave a personal account of how “shift happens” in one’s life to a weary, well-fed banquet audience.  I was warned by my fellow Toastmasters not to be long winded after dinner and I honestly tried to speed up my delivery.  My only hope was when the eyelids were the heaviest, the graziers would be dreaming of lush pastures, warm sun and sweet tea.  From all accounts, I was successful in stimulating those dreams.

I will never forget the next morning’s words from Mr. Fulton as he described his 500 acres of native grass prairie and what it meant for his family and this nation.  He spoke passionately of covered wagon trails, Buffalo wallows and remnants of fire pits used by the first settlers still visible on his land.  His wry wit and storytelling about perseverance in farming and in life was truly inspirational.  As a sense of warmness filled my heart, the great speech was over and a standing ovation followed, so I knew I wasn’t the only one feeling something.  His keynote address even topped the phonebook ripping and his frying pan rolling exhibition.

Saturday wound down and I couldn’t wait to delve into the box that held the bright yellow evaluation forms.  There is a certain euphoria of reading people’s thoughts and measuring the successes or challenges of your work.  Evaluation #1; excellent program with outstanding food, loved the interaction and networking with fellow farmers and exhibitors, liked Dan Barber’s talk on geese the best, animal behavior tract was top notch.

Question #7, was the conference worth your investment?  Absolutely!  Negatives; lack of parking, Southern Tier room too warm, microphone issues is some sessions.  Whew, positives dwarfed the negatives, this would be good for the planning committee’s morale I thought.  Survey after survey indicated similar results with different favorite speakers and sessions while the parking issue and warmth in rooms was a concern.  I was feeling pretty good after 90 responses (which I am told is good for 300 people), and then it happened, a big slam on the keynoters and myself.  Lacking in substance, religious overtones, not enough facts, too much RA, RA, RA, Very poor.  My tired body & spirit were crushed almost instantly.  How could this be?  An unhappy person amongst all the others.  I looked for a name, a signature but there was none.  It was a shot from a mystery gun, much like today’s bloggers and chat room screen names hiding behind the curtain of anonymity.  Does this person realize how hard we worked to make everyone happy?  My mind went numb with re-evaluation meltdown for what my new friends and I had said to cause this person such consternation.  Sure, there was plenty of cheerleading for a grass-based system, the substance was in the passion and not in the pie charts, religion was in the context of Mother Nature and taking care of your fellow man, the environment, the food system and the community.

This exercise in figuring out people’s motives, moods and thought processes can be a futile one.  I understand now, how fast one negative can trump a whole lot of positives, but I should be used to that, because that’s where grass farming has been since the days of Earl Butz.  To the credit of this individual’s tenacity to speak out with words, I can appreciate a person’s right to freedom of expression and to not go along with the majority, as I have done many times in my life.  All I can hope for is an understanding that we tried our very best and that we can always identify things to improve upon.