Reaching our Customers--Everywhichway

Remarks by Bruce I. Knight, Chief,
Natural Resources Conservation Service, at
Public Affairs Specialists/
Earth Team Coordinators Training Conference

Philadelphia, PA
August 9, 2005
 

Thanks, Michelle (Eginoire).

It’s great to be in Philadelphia with the public affairs specialists and Earth Team coordinators. Employee meetings like this one are a high priority for me.

Here in Ben Franklin’s city, I’m reminded that when he served in the Continental Congress, he observed the emblem of a sun—rising or setting—on the back of the chair in front of him. At the end of the Congress, he stood up to say that he had wondered if it was a setting sun or a rising sun—and whether the sun would rise or set on their efforts. When the Congress concluded, he was clear—the sun was rising on a new nation. And I am clear also—the sun is rising for NRCS.

It’s been said that half the world’s problems are caused by poor communications….And the other half are caused by good communications!

The first part of that saying makes sense to me. But the second half sounds like cynical Washington-speak. Because I believe good communication is what solves problems—or prevents them before they occur.

I always prefer the challenge that arises from open and honest communication over the challenge that comes from stagnant or selective communication. Good communication increases understanding. It reduces confusion. And it links people who share common goals and objectives.

We all want our communication to hit the mark. We want to reach our customers. We want them to get our message. And we want them to respond.

You’re here in Philly to strengthen your communication and outreach skills, to expand your creativity, to improve transparency and to exchange ideas and strategies with other public affairs specialists and Earth Team coordinators.

That’s good.

I’ve seen your agenda, and you have many opportunities to learn from experts and, maybe more importantly, from each other.

Importance of Good Communication

I want you to know that I value what you are doing for NRCS. I see your work as critical to the success of our agency.

We’re in the business of helping people help the land. Specifically, our mission statement says that NRCS will provide leadership in a partnership effort to help people conserve, maintain, and improveour natural resources and environment.

We cannot lead, we cannot partner and we cannot help conserve resources without effective communication. Communication and outreach can make or break an agency.

I’ve been telling everyone that Job 1 for NRCS is getting conservation on the ground. But to get conservation on the ground, we have to get farmers in the door, on the line or over the Net. We have to be transparent and inclusive. And that’s your job—as much as the local DC’s.

You help build bridges between NRCS and its customers. You tell them what we have to offer. Externally, you sell our programs, our expertise and our experience. Internally, you also have a vital role—you need to ask “Why?” You need to demand transparency, simplicity and accountability.

You help everyone to see the fundamental value of conservation—safeguarding the land for future generations.

NRCS actually owes its beginning to good communication—an impassioned plea to recognize and solve a problem—soil erosion.

In 1935, the Father of Soil Conservation, Hugh Hammond Bennett, urged Congress to act immediately to halt the loss of soil on our Nation’s valuable farmland. Bennett won the day by declaring that soil erosion “seriously threatens the welfare of large farming populations, and, eventually, will result in partial or entire abandonment of many sections and serious impairment of standards of living in other parts of the country if not vigorously combated without further delay.”

Of course, he had a little help, in the form of a huge cloud of dust that blackened Washington skies and made his point graphically as well. But his words—and the dust storm—moved the Congress to create the Soil Conservation Service, which we know now as NRCS.

So critical to the creation of our agency, effective communication—and some creativity—remains integral to the work of NRCS. We can’t separate communication from programs. They go hand-in-hand.

I want our public affairs specialists—in every state or office—sitting at the table as key players when programs and plans are developed. I want you involved at every stage of the process when we’re kicking off a new program or planning a sign-up. And I want your creative juices flowing.

Communicating Everywhichway

Marshall McLuhan is famous for saying “The medium is the message.” I say, “Use every medium to get out the message.” In other words, communicate everywhichway you can.

I’m not kidding.

We need to be creative. Someone said, “North Americans communicate through buttons, T-shirts and bumper stickers the way some cultures use drums.” And that’s true.

Think about all those t-shirts and caps in your bottom dresser drawer. They’re all carrying someone’s message—and when you put one on, it becomes your message as well.

We need to do more than three-fold brochures. We can use buttons, jackets and paperweights. We can try webpages and email. We can draft news releases, grant interviews and go on the radio.

We can hold workshops, staff exhibits and develop newsletters. We can meet across the counter, in the field and at the country store.

Whatever, whenever, however—everywhichway that works.

We need to tailor the format of the message to fit the audience. Communication isn’t one size fits all. I guess that’s Communication 101.

But I just wanted to reiterate that I value your creativity and your professionalism in trying different ways to reach our varied audiences—farmers, ranchers, ourselves, our partner organizations, the public, outdoor enthusiasts, state and local agencies—and others.

At the same time, I believe it’s very important that our messages are coordinated and consistent. They must be clearly identified with NRCS. That’s why we’ve stressed the importance of a single logo and a clear identity for the agency.

I know the Conservation Communications Staff is providing leadership, both for graphics and on messages. The work they’re doing can help us coordinate, be consistent and stay focused.

No one knows better than those of you in this room the importance of going beyond just giving out information. That’s one-sided. Communication is a two-way street.

I know what you learn this week will help you do your jobs more effectively—and NRCS, producers and the nation will benefit.

Earth Team Efforts

Let me turn specifically now to those of you who are here as Earth Team coordinators. Congratulations on your 20th anniversary. And thanks for the more than 11 million hours of help contributed to the agency by more than 350,000 volunteers you’ve worked with.

There’s no question the Earth Team is a key force for cooperative conservation. We can’t be successful without your efforts. Not only does it provide free help to NRCS, it builds a conservation consciousness and ethic among those who stand beside us.

As coordinators you must draw in volunteers. You must also make the best use of their time and commitment.

I’m eager for us to fully integrate our volunteers with our conservation objectives—to get more conservation on the ground. I know a number of our Earth Day special events included Earth Team volunteers. We need to use them more frequently in the field.

I’d like to see them helping restore wetlands, planting willows or taking brush out of a stream. I also want to be sure that when we tally volunteer hours, we’re counting the help our Snotel and soil survey volunteers provide.

We have national agreements with 4-H and FFA that pave the way for young people to volunteer with NRCS. We want to take advantage of this opportunity to establish a commitment to conservation among our youth through hands-on experience.

In addition, we need to be sure we’re reaching out to faith-based groups, in line with the President’s faith-based initiative. Many of these groups have a commitment to stewardship that transcends increasing productivity or leaving a legacy to the next generation.

Their focus and their commitment make them logical partners, and we want to be sure they have an opportunity to participate in our cooperative conservation efforts.

FY 2005 Wrap Up

I want to turn now to some of the themes you’ll be hearing from the agency—and sharing with our customers—over the coming months. As I said earlier, completing the work we’ve begun under the 2002 farm bill is top priority for our employees.

Follow-through is critical. Doing a good job—and finishing it—is the best way to get ready for the challenges ahead.

The 2002 farm bill authorized $17.1 billion in conservation spending. So we still have a lot of work to do. And we need to do that as effectively, efficiently and prudently as possible.

My plea is that you help the agency convey the message of effectiveness and efficiency in program administration. That’s the most important way or all of us to prepare the ground—literally and figuratively—for the next farm bill.

2007 Farm Bill

As you know, discussions are already beginning on the 2007 farm bill. Secretary Johanns has held the first four listening forums on the next farm bill—in Tennessee, North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Two more have been scheduled for this week in Iowa and California. And USDA will hold three next week—Pennsylvania, Wyoming and Indiana. The Secretary wants to hear directly from our customers—well in advance of Congressional debate and dialogue.

In announcing the listening sessions, the Secretary said, “I do not begin this process with preconceived notions about the direction future farm policy should take. We will use the feedback we receive to help us determine the best course for a new farm bill.”

The listening sessions are focusing on a variety of topics, including conservation. The Secretary wants our customers to tell us how the next farm bill can assist them in a variety of areas.

As communicators, you will be key participants in this effort. You’ll need to be flexible and professional and maintain a sense of humor.

Returning to Our Roots

As we look toward the next farm bill, I think we’ll be moving more toward our traditional core business—knowledge-based conservation. The future will be more about technical assistance than dollars shared.

Whatever programs we have need to be simpler. We also need to streamline the application process, similar to what we’ve done with the CSP self-assessment tool.

We need to work with the “quality of life” farmers—those on small farmsteads—Tribes and those running consolidated family farms. All of them need to know how to conserve the land.

With such a varied customer base, we need to talk about and deliver our services in a variety of ways. Some of our traditional customers expect us to go belly to belly and toe to toe with them. They don’t own computers and don’t surf the Net.

But others have embraced the Internet as a rich source of information available 24/7. They routinely conduct business over the Net, and filling out the CSP assessment online came naturally to them. They also may not have the time to show an NRCS staffer over their land.

The point is, we need to speak the language and use the communication medium that our customers prefer. We need to communicate everywhichway we can.

Communications Assessment

To communicate as effectively as possible, we need feedback on how we’re doing.  And we asked a firm called Mission Strategies to help us get that feedback. Our goal with this assessment is to help us find ways to take a good communications program and make it great.

Just as we pride ourselves in NRCS on the professionalism of those in the scientific disciplines, we need to recognize and rely on professionalism in other disciplines.

Last week at the NLT, I told our top program staff and our State Conservationists that I want them to get the advice of you—our communications professionals when they are making programmatic decisions—not after it’s a done deal. I want to see each of you take a place at the table from initial discussions to final wrap-up.

Mission Strategies shared the complete report on our communications program with NRCS leadership last week. I’ve asked them to give the same presentation here at your conference.

Some of the report I agree with; some I disagree with; and some I want to think about further.

I’m looking for your feedback. When you return to your office, please discuss this with your State Conservationist or office director. Then, early this fall, we’ll identify the recommendations that will move us toward an outstanding communications program for NRCS and begin to put them in place.

Conclusion

We all know we’re entering a very busy season, with the White House Cooperative Conservation Conference later this month, winding up this year’s work and announcing the new CSP watersheds.

We need to reach out and draw our customers and our volunteers in. We need to do the best job we can of communicating our programs and the value of conservation.

One of the great communicators in our country was Joseph Pulitzer, a newspaperman in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He set this formula for good communication: “Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and above all accurately so they will be guided by its light.”

I can think of no better advice.

I trust you will enjoy this conference and return to work refreshed, energized and prepared with lots of new ideas to communicate everywhichway.

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