TAE4-HA Follow Up

As a follow up to all the great things Jill Hughson shared with us at the Spring District 9 4-H Training, I have a link to the Social Networking material she told us about: http://eit.tamu.edu/ajh/socialnetworking/

There you will find the scoop on Facebook and MySpace along with a copy of the Power Point file she presented.

If you are feeling like an advanced user consider looking for Jill's del.icio.us . I have networked with Jill's account so we can gain access to her tags and expand our technological advances in communication. This should be interesting.

Let me know what you think!!!

Kevin

D9 4-H Training.... Good to go

First things first: The attire for this weeks District 9 4-H Agent Association Meeting is professional casual. Your professional association has provided a more detailed description of what this means, but in simple terms for guys: no coat or tie, but jeans and t-shirts are too casual; for ladies, no pantyhose or dresses, but jeans and t-shirts are still too casual.

There will be a registration fee of $20 collected on site.

As a reminder we will be meeting at the Lake Conroe KOA on Wednesday, May 21 - 22. Registration on the first day begins at 9:00 a.m. The second day starts at 8:15 a.m. (and yes, the association meeting is considered part of the training and there is an expectation that all 4-H coordinators participate)

Agenda Highlights include:

• Social networking
• 4-H Program updates
• Livestock project support: Mentor, 4-H Livestock Project Management 101, and Quality Counts Gold
• Modernizing the 4-H Fashion Project
• Personal Financial Management
• NEFE

Wednesday evening we will be dining at Fajita Jacks.

I look forward to seeing you all there.

Texas 4-H Congress ... TODAY IS THE DAY

Texas 4-H Congress intent applications are due today - May 14, 2008. As of this posting I have only received 14 applications, meaning all 14 will get to go, unless we receive a mess of applications before tomorrow morning - May 15, 2008.

As I stated in the original announcement, we have quota 18 for the District. So, I will continue to take applications until this quota is met. Please note that after today, this is going to be done on a first come first served basis.

4-H Connect is scheduled to open for Congress registration on May 20. We will not approve congress registrations that were not previously acknowledged through the intent - application process.

You can download a copy of the intent form at: http://d94-h.tamu.edu/events/congress.html

Have questions or need support..... post a comment!!!

Inspiration

Every now a then we need to re-charge the batteries and refocus on why we do what we are doing. On an ongoing basis I use quotes from histories great people to give me that added boost or guidance.

If you are fan of good quotes you'll like this video. Take three minutes and re-charge with these inspirations:

http://www.greatquotesmovie.com/

Livestock Training

You should have got the message, but it was embedded in a lot of verbiage, so here it is again..... There is no longer a MASTER VOLUNTEER PROGRAM FOR 4-H.

Ok, maybe it is not that dramatic, but from a state perspective we are no longer supporting 4-H master volunteer development. We are moving to a new program called Mentor.

This new program is going to be your best friend when it comes to extending your reach and lightning your load......Train volunteers to do some of the things you are currently doing out of necessity, so you can begin doing the really important things, like Vacation (ha, ha).

Seriously, well guided, well trained, Well Selected, volunteers can be a real asset to your county program.

Here are the basics on MENTOR training:

• Date - July 25-27, 2008
• Place - Grimes County Fairgrounds
• Registration Deadline - May 31st
• Cost - $125 (your county program should offset some of this)
• Subject Matter - Beef or Swine

The really cool part: Agents with less than two years of employment can attend the training for FREE as professional development.

For all the scoop, look for the email Sent by your Regional Program Director on March 27, 2208. Or easier yet, drop me a line and I'll forward it to you.

State 4-H Dog Show

Things are a little different this year regarding the State 4-H dog show.
There will be a stronger presence of Extension Faculty at this years event, and subsequently communications regarding the event, are being channeled exclusively through County Extension Offices.

What does this mean for you: Make sure your 4-H Dog Clubs and Project Groups are aware of the entry process, & deadlines. Also make sure they have access to the latest State 4-H Dog Show Rules.

In the past much of this was communicated (or not communicated) directly to 4-H Dog project leaders. That is not being done this year.

For all the scoop on the Texas 4-H Dog Show go to http://texas4-h.tamu.edu/events/index.html

Last day to enter without penalty is June 13, 2008

Leadership Lab Is Open

Leadership Lab is open and ready for registration on 4-H Connect

Things to think about:

• The Deadline for Registration has been moved back to June 1.
• This extension also applies to officer nominations
• The cost is $210 before June 1.
• The cost is $250 after June 1. (ouch)
• Those individuals running for District Council Office will also serve as Teen Leaders
• Pre - Leadership Lab for Teen Leaders will be on June 20. (one day after the District Horse Show.....who made that schedule?)
• Media Crew is being hand selected by Starla Garlick. If you have a kid that would be good at this, get their name to Starla.

Remember: You do not have to be in 4-H to go to Leadership Lab!!!!! This can and should be used as a recruitment event. They will need a profile in 4-H Connect .... yuck!