November 14, 2012 (AgNewsWire)—Whether itís the harvest on the family farm or dish on the dinner table youíre thankful for this holiday season, social media users from all sectors of the ag and food community can share their appreciation for food and those who provide it with the hashtag #foodthanks, a campaign started in 2010 by the AgChat Foundation.
March 28, 2012 (AgNewsWire) – In its third year, the AgChat Foundation’s Agvocacy 2.0 event is poised to be its most dynamic social media training opportunity yet. The conference will be held August 23-24 in Kansas City, Missouri, where farmers and ranchers from across the nation will convene to learn how to better support agriculture and engage with non-farm consumers.
MINNEAPLOIS—January 30, 2012 (AgNewsWire)—Four new members have joined the AgChat Foundation board of directors, adding different types of experience in social media and agriculture to the nonprofit, announces President Darin Grimm. Last month, organic dairy farmer Emily Zweber, Elko, Minn., was named the organization’s first executive director.
December 14, 2011 (AgNewsWire)– Emily Zweber will become the AgChat Foundation’s first executive director. The nonprofit AgChat Foundation (ACF) educates and equips farmers with the skills needed to effectively tell their story on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, LinkedIn and other social media services.
Zweber, an organic dairy farmer from Elko, Minn., known to many as @ezweber on Twitter, will focus on furthering ACF’s mission of connecting farmers to diverse audiences via social media platforms. She also will provide day-to-day management oversight and fundraising support.
MINNEAPOLIS—November 17, 2011—This Thanksgiving season, people throughout the food system will be using social media to show their thanks for food and raise awareness of agriculture through the AgChat Foundation’s #foodthanks campaign. Last year, more than 800 people participated in the campaign by blogging, adding the #foodthanks twibbon to their avatar photo, and sharing more than 2,000 Twitter posts.
September 17, 2011 – AgNewsWire – A strategic partnership between The AgChat Foundation (ACF) and the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance (USFRA) brings together two organizations passionate about keeping today’s American agriculture successful. Through coordinated efforts, the groups will work together to support farmers and ranchers who are sharing their stories about how food is raised.
Americans may have noticed a new social media trend this past year: more Facebook posts from the farm, more tweets from the tractor and more blogs from the back forty.
The timing of this social media “stampede” couldn’t be better, says Jeff Fowle, president of the AgChat Foundation. Celebrating its one-year anniversary today, the AgChat Foundation is a 100-percent volunteer organization formed to empower farmers and ranchers to effectively tell their stories using social media. He says in one 2010 study1 conducted by the Hartman Group, 59 percent of consumers purchasing local said they wanted a “connection to the farmer.”
In just 12 months, AgChat Foundation has successfully inspired farmers to add tweets and posts to their daily chores. It even earned a coveted spot on the 2011 SXSW® Interactive Festival program, last month, presenting alongside the country’s brightest in emerging technology.
Yet, its greatest achievements, Fowle says, are the hundreds of farmers it has inspired to “agvocate” for agriculture, and the thousands of consumer conversations it has spurred.
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