Happy hens: can we get better at celebrating the good stuff together?
We've seen plenty of damage to the New Zealand farming brand over the last wee while with the bobby calf hoo haa, so it's nice to see some fantastic coverage going on in the sector capturing the world's hearts... like this "Happy Hens" story.
I'm not about to embark on animal welfare, farming or feeding the world commentary, but the story did prompt my thinking around communications and community relations between industry and advocacy groups in the rural sector. It seems to me that this area of comms is still a bit old-school. Views are very polarised: It's us vs. them. I'm right you're wrong. It's my way or the highway.
Despite two-way communication and community relations holding an all-time high sense of credibility, where is it really at? And why is it all a one-sided, scare-mongering argument to try and persuade people to take your view? While there can be some very evocative campaigns using shock tactics, I'd like to see two things overtake this old-school PR technique. Because people aren't stupid - if they don't already know there's more to it than simply what you say, Google's going to tell them pretty quick.
Create more public conversations between advocacy and industry groups.
Why? Because conversations lead to better solutions than yelling at each other. I didn't even have to get a Masters degree to figure that one out. I know all sides are scared and potentially unwilling to compromise, but if we can focus on helping the other to better understand what motivates our behaviour instead of what the outputs are, there might actually be more traction.
And why do this publicly? Because crowd-sourcing ideas work. Just ask the guys at HunchBuzz. Your supporters, peers and adversaries are all likely to have a perspective and perhaps one you haven't considered. Even better, they might just know something that could work. So seek it, and be sincere about it.
Cooperating to share the good news stories.
Why don't industry groups and advocacy groups congratulate each other when they do something mutually worthwhile? Why don't they concede for one moment and say "actually, these guys are doing it right and let's celebrate that"? I understand both "parties want to get their side of the story heard, but when it's good news, why can't we all just get along?
In fact, I'd go one step further and say we should actively try to cooperate and share good news stories together. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing: food on the table, a planet we can live on and the feeling that we're making the right choices in life. Just because there's different views on how to achieve these things, there's no reason we can't collaborate to show people the world, in fact, is doing it sometimes. Surely a positive message is only made more powerful when industry and advocacy groups endorse them side by side instead of taking sides?
**Please note my posts only reflect my own personal views and opinions and shouldn't be affiliated with or considered as being part my employer's.