[Video] GEAPS' Board President on Grain Education Program

Barbara Grove talks about the value of the grain education program at GEAPS Exchange

Barbara Grove, GEAPS' International Board of Directors president, spoke with Feed & Grain about how she started volunteering at GEAPS and the advantages of being an active part of the organization.

Transcript

Feed & Grain 0:08

What first drew you to get involved with GEAPS?

Barbara Grove 0:09

Yeah, so I think it was the very first Exchange that I went to before I was a member. I just kept thinking, oh my gosh, all this education in one spot. And that was so exciting. And then realizing how good the network piece of it is. I think a lot of times people think when you say networking, you just think socializing. But networking is that ability to say, I've got a problem happening at harvest, right now I'm seeing something, or I've got a problem with equipment, and I know who to call. And if they don't have the answer, they can shoot me another answer, you know, have a couple of different professors on speed dial, it's like texting them, who thought you could, you know, text a professor at a university, like, what do you think of this, I'm sending me a picture. that excites me.

F&G 1:07

What is happening with this year's Exchange Education Program?

Grove 1:08

We have four different tracks. So we have technology for safety and HR. And then we have a sales skills track kind of first time this year, trying something like that because we want to make sure it isn't just maybe the maintenance or construction piece of it. But what is there for everybody, everybody needs to know how to sell themselves, sell their company, build your skills in that level. So you could use that if you're a manager, a CEO, you're a grain marketer, or even an operations person, you need to be able to do that. So that's an exciting new session. And we want to try to be very deliberate. Because of the vast array of people that come, we want to be deliberate, so that they know, hey, I've got these specific things that I can go to. And you know, they can plan ahead for it know who to bring.

F&G 2:07

Who should grain handlers send to a GEAPS Exchange?

Grove 2:08

Especially with the difference in our educational sessions, you can bring a little bit of everybody, you know, obviously, the people on the expo floor and at their booths, you do want somebody that's a decision-maker, somebody that's got that checkbook, hey, come buy my piece of equipment, but somebody that doesn't have the purse strings can also be an influencer, you can stop by and come back and say, Hey, this is what I found, we should look into it. Here's a contact, people that want to give some different types of education to their people. This industry has so much knowledge, and so many people are willing to share. So really, I think the Exchange is for any level of person.

F&G 2:58

What has been your highlight so far at this year's show?

Grove 3:00

My favorite thing was really something we tried for the first time, and that was having a keynote speaker for our opening workshop, Sean Ellis talking about how to go from surviving to thriving. Everybody could use a little bit of that, especially after these last few years we've had, and just so again, ongoing turmoil that's happening, you know, within our industry in the world, you know, how do we make sure that we're making the most of it? And, you know, that was to a packed room? Well over 400 people that's exciting to see first thing on a Sunday morning and see a packed room full of people excited for something like that.

F&G 3:44

Do you have any advice for those who want to get more involved in GEAPS?

Grove 3:50

You know the exchange is such a phenomenal event, you know, it's the WoW impact. But the heart of our organization is the chapters. That's where you get just really close local connections, you get to know people, and that's the easiest place to get involved, whether it's chapter, leadership, but even committee leadership, giving out scholarships to students in agriculture, there's nothing more exciting than that, you know, yes, we have our golf outings it seems everybody's that's their, their events to make their scholarship money. So getting involved in your chapter. That's you get to know people. And, you know, check out our GEAPS website for the different committees you can be on. There's something for whatever passion you have, whether it's education, or you really want to be involved in membership. So what can we do better for our members and what can we do better for our chapters? So I think starting locally, is always the best option.

F&G 5:02

Any last words of advice?

Grove 5:02

If you haven't been to an exchange before, definitely get here. There's so many exciting things. And we're in Kansas City three years in a row, the first time that we've done something like that. It's great to be right here in the heart of America. Because it is it's such an easy drive in there's such a large grouping of our agriculture right here. So even if somebody can't come four or five days, you can pop over for a day and get involved.