SYRACUSE, N.Y. – American Dairy Association North East helps dairy promoters across the region prepare for their year-long role representing their state’s dairy farmers and serving as a face for the industry with consumers.
ADA North East manages the dairy ambassador program for New York State and the dairy princess program in New Jersey. It also provides financial support and other resources for the dairy princess programs in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia.
“These young promoters are the ‘boots on the ground,’ for dairy checkoff’s grassroots promotion efforts,” said ADA North East CEO John Chrisman. “We want to give them the tools and resources to feel confident and knowledgeable when interacting with consumers.”
At this year’s New York Dairy Ambassador training seminar, participants worked with a local improvisational group to help prepare for situations where they would encounter consumers – like at a county fair or at a grocery store promotion.
A former Syracuse news anchor conducted mock interviews with the attendees to help them hone their media skills.
“I gained a lot of useful tips that I can use the next time I am interviewed,” said one participant.
A panel of dairy farmers who are active on social media participated in a discussion that demonstrated the do’s and don’ts for posting content. Registered dietitian Abbey Copenhaver of Ivy Lakes Dairy in Stanley, N.Y., showed the promoters how to caption nutrition-focused content and photos. Johanna Bossard of Barbland and White Eagle Dairy, Fabius, N.Y., talked about animal care posts, and Val Lavigne of UNC Brock Farm, Schaghticoke, N.Y., discussed environmental sustainability content for posting.
An attendee said, “It was an awesome training overall, and I learned a lot that I will be able to use on social media and in my promotions.”
Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania dairy princesses learned about ADA North East’s key messages related to animal care, environmental sustainability and the nutrition of milk and dairy foods. They also participated in an exercise about answering tough questions from consumers.
Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program Chair Lolly Lesher joined ADA North East at the Pennsylvania Dairy Princess Training Seminar to discuss checkoff programs.
“Providing our young promoters with the necessary tools to educate consumers about how dairy farmers take care of their cows and land and to share basic nutrition information, is key to their success,” said Lesher. “They serve as the local faces of our industry which goes a long way to building trust in milk and dairy foods.”
For more information, contact American Dairy Association North East at 315.472.9143.
Photo Caption: New York County Dairy Ambassadors receive promotion training from American Dairy Association North East at annual seminar.
About American Dairy Association North East
American Dairy Association North East (ADA North East) is the dairy farmer-funded organization funded by participating dairy farmer’s checkoff investment to build demand and sales for milk and dairy foods throughout the local region. Representing more than 8,300 dairy farm families in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and northern Virginia, ADA North East develops and implements local programs to drive milk and dairy sales at retail outlets and in schools. The organization also conducts consumer education about dairy through events, traditional and social media, and in collaboration with health professionals through National Dairy Council®. ADA North East works closely with Dairy Management Inc.™, the national dairy checkoff organization, to support nutrition research, national partnerships and developing export markets for dairy to bring a fully integrated promotion program to the region. For more information, visit www.AmericanDairy.com.
