ASA and State Soybean Association Staff met in St. Louis this week to exchange ideas for growing membership, discuss hot button policy issues and learn new communication skills.

The annual State Staff meeting kicked off with a presentation by Beth Ziesenis, who provided two sessions on a variety of tech tools and new apps to help organize life at home and the office as well as create graphics, videos and other content to enhance social media presence. Each attendee took home Ziesenis’ new book, Release Your Inner Nerd, which is packed with more than 450 tech tools.

“I was excited to see some new tools from Beth Z. We are always looking for ways to engage the attendees at our annual Commodity Conference, and, as usual, Beth Z. had some nerdy tools that will make us look great with minimal time and investment, said Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board Director of Communication Rae Wagoner, “The tools are out there – it’s just a matter of having someone gather them up and share them.”

ASA Policy Communications Director Patrick Delaney spoke on grassroots advocacy through social media and gave real-life agriculture examples in addition to tips for implementing similar efforts on a state level. ASA Industry and State Relations Development Manager Chris Luelf led a discussion on best practices to having productive “crucial conversations” that achieve mutual purpose and respect.

State and ASA staff broke into groups to discuss challenges and ideas to build membership for fiscal year 2015. ASA Member and Leader Education Development Manager Byron Keelin combined a list of answers to questions regarding what associations are doing to draw the younger generation and new ways of engaging current members.

From ASA’s Washington, D.C. office, Bev Paul Delaney provided updates on four top policy issues, including Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS), Biodiesel/Renewed Fuel Standard (RFS), GMO labeling and Country of Origin Labeling (COOL). Paul Delaney discussed current status and ASA messaging points of each issue, then answered questions.

"I learned a lot talking to my state and ASA coworkers from around the country-- about the issues like bridges, storage, dealing with cold weather, etc," said Mark Hall, Executive Director of the Alabama Soybean & Corn Association.

FarmLink ended the meeting with a presentation on TrueHarvest. Attendees had the opportunity to ask question about the ASA partnership with the yield benchmarking service for farmers and learn about benefits for state soybean associations.

While there were numerous familiar faces at this week's meeting, there were also some first-time attendees like Missouri Soybean Association Director of Communications and Public Relations Relations Christine Tew.

“State Staff meeting provided a great opportunity to connect with both the ASA team and our partners in other states," Tew said. "The schedule offered a good balance of policy and industry updates, as well time for one-on-one conversations and networking. Coming home with some fun ideas for connecting with new and potential members was a plus too.”