The Oklahoma Pork Council interacted with hundreds of FFA members at our "Work In Pork" trade show booth during this week's Oklahoma FFA State Convention in Tulsa.
The Oklahoma Pork Council went all-in at the 97th Annual Oklahoma FFA State Convention where a record-setting 15,000 attendees took over downtown Tulsa for a memorable week filled with blue and gold. Our team had a fantastic time reconnecting with passionate students we have met throughout the year and meeting many more who enjoy showing pigs, eating pork and learning about potential career opportunities offered throughout the pork industry.
During convention, hundreds of FFA members visited our expanded "Work In Pork" booth at the career-focused trade show. To help these students "picture themselves in pork," we photographed more than 700 Oklahoma FFA members and had them to write on their Polaroid "what they want to be when they grow up." The "Work in Pork" careers booth was again a convention crowd favorite, and our team cannot wait to see these students promoting our industry with their "pork swag" in communities across the state. Our goal was to create positive impressions for FFA members to see that pork is cool and that endless opportunities exist within our industry for careers after high school or college. Based on the booth's success, we are confident this message is resonating with the next generation of agriculture leaders.
Another highlight this year was hosting students from six FFA chapters connected with our organization to sit in our "Oklahoma Pork VIP" row of seats during general sessions at the BOK Center, including Maysville FFA, Laverne FFA as Travis and Cathy Vaughan's daughters received their State FFA Degrees and Kingfisher FFA as alumnus (and upcoming Oklahoma Pork intern) Braden Burns gave his State FFA President retiring address. Overall, State FFA Convention proved to be a fun and worthwhile experience for Oklahoma Pork to engage with students and promote our industry.
