Event Promotional Package
Sherri Sanders
CEA-AGRI
WHITE
1 CEA-AGRI, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, Searcy, AR, 72143
2 Design Specialist - Communications, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, Little Rock, AR, 72204
3 Civil Rights Compliance Officer, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, Little Rock, AR, 72204
4 Legal/Compliance Assistant, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, Little Rock, AR, 72204
Peaches have long been a favorite of Arkansans, and peach production has been one of the major fruit crops in the state for many years. In White county, we have numerous homeowner and commercial peach orchards.
Because of this interest in growing peaches, the White County Extension Service offered a peach pruning workshop. Experiential learning is the process of learning through experience. Hands-on learning can be a form of experiential learning and has proven to be successful in retention of subject matter.This workshop covered the principles of pruning fruit trees, safety practices and included "hands-on" instruction in a peach orchard. The promotional material was designed as a flyer in English and Spanish to reach a diverse audience. A translator was present to interpret during the workshop for the Hispanic participants. I would like to extend an acknowledgement to Barbara Batiste, Civil Rights Compliance Officer, in our state office for her assistance in securing the translator and a resource to translate the flyer to Spanish text. The promotional material was distributed via email and hard copy as an insert in the White county Horticulture Newsletter which reaches 323 people representing 36 counties and 5 states. It was included as an insert in the White county Master Gardener newsletter reaching 109 volunteers. Full-color flyers were distributed to 75 county offices, local businesses, the local beekeeping club and at educational programs (approximately 200). Additionally, it was placed on the White county Extension website: https://www.uaex.edu/counties/white/
Promotional materials were used on social media platforms:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SherriSanders11
UAEX White county Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UAEX.WhiteCountyAgriculture/
White county Master Gardener Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WCMG1997/
Collectively, there were over 26,550 indirect and 827 direct contacts from the social media platforms.
Twenty-five individuals registered for the class (maximum), 12 of which were Hispanic.
The workshop was a success based on evaluations:
89% of respondents gave a superior rating on the principles of pruning portion
92% of respondents gave a superior rating on the pruning safety practices portion of the workshop
94% of respondents stated they thought the best part of the program was the “hands-on” pruning of actual trees.