NashVegas Pt 2

Sorry I have not tending to my blog in a longggggg time- everything with school and extra-cirricular stuff is just hectic!

I have not forgotten about you! I just needed some breathing time!

So here is my second part to my Nashville adventures!


The theme of the conference with my fellow AgNerds was an interesting one. Beyond the Choir- we are trying to educate the people who have never been on a farm to learn about agriculture!

We were asked to think of our A-Ha! moment- the time that we realized that we wanted to become Agvocates. Some of you may have already read my A-Ha! moment in a previous post that I did. 

We had so many differnet and amazing speakers fit into the two day conference, it was so much to take in- but well  wortht it!

Jennifer Dahm came and spoke to us regarding what consumer research has told us about agriculture. Consumers individually think farmers are great, research shows they have concerns how we do our business, how we raise the food. Which really got us thinking about how we need to market ourselves. 


We then had a pannel of Mommy bloggers come in and share with us what they feel consumers are fearing in the processing of their food.  Rachel came and spoke to us regarding feeding a family with food allergies. Shanna gave us a great opinion from a mothers perspective, and was joined by Lindsay.

We also had alot of great speakers helping us on specific needs for our posts- like pictures and how to format links. As well as a few roundtable discussions about what we feel is an issue in our area and how we can all call on each other to help when we have someone fighting the ag community.

The AgChat Foundation put on an excellent conference on how to effectively use social media for agricultural advocacy- or Agvocacy.

If you have a chance to attend- I would highly recommend it, as you learn alot of invaluable skills. 

NashVegas Adventures, Pt. 1

I have decided to break my Nashville blogs into serveral parts, one for the tourism, one for the conference, and one for my goals after the conference. Here is part 1:

After 12 hours of traveling, I finally made it to Nashville.

After claiming my luggage, I decided to wait outside for the hotel shuttle bus. I walk out the doors, and I was struck by the intense heat and humidity! It was a lot different type of heat then this Alberta girl is used to. I then saw that there was a little room outside that was air conditioned to wait for the bus, a heaven sent.

When I arrived at the hotel, I could not wait for the rest of Team Alberta to get there and the tourism could begin!

We decided to head down Broadway to find a bite to eat. Well when we got down there, I finally figured out why they call it NashVegas, it looks like Vegas, with a cowboy influence.

Broadway at night.

When we went down Broadway, it was amazing! Every single bar and restaurant had a live band playing, all day and night!  There is also approximately 7-10 boot shops, that we had to into. Every boot was stunning, but with a $700 price tag, I opted not to buy any. I am sure my parents appreciate me not using my student loan money on that.

After going into EVERY single boot shop, as well as mulitple other shops, we finally realized why we went, to eat!

We came across a little bar, BBKings, that had a live band. They were incredible.

BBKings Band

After doing more shopping, it was time to go to the Grand Ole Opry. Some of the names we were able to take in included, Vince Gill, Little Jimmie Dickens, Jimmy Wayne, among many others.

The amazing Grand Ole Opry

Ohh, and for your information, They have commercials in real life too.

This brings us to Sunday, holy, we fit alot of tourism into one day.  Our first stop, the Ryman Auditorium.

The Ryman is probably one of the coolest places I have been to. It is the original Opry house, that started as a church. This has some cool history behind it. I don't want to waste too much of your time with it, but if you are interested please visit the Ryman Auditiorium's history page.

We "played" on the same stage as some of Country's biggest stars!

We then headed down the street to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. There was sooooooo much to take in, it was incredible. I chose my favorite three items in the Museum to share with you.

Minnie Pearl's Hat With the Original Price Tag

Wall of Gold & Platinum Records

Elvis' car with a diamond paint job.

After the Meusem, we were able to take in the best of the best in country music. I could not choose just one of the inductees to share with you, so here is a picture of the round room. They decided to make the room round, so now one person was in a better position then another, as everyone has achieved so much.

The steak in the midde is a replica of the WSM radio tower. 

Finally, Sunday night, where we got to meet the rest of our Agvocates. I will be continuing this blog in the days to come stay tuned!