Tag: YOUTH

As the 2018 sheep show and fiber festival season draws to a close, BLU would like to remind our members of the advertising dollars spent promoting the breed and the breeders during the year.
Since 3 of BLU’s stated goals are promotion related:
* To engage in the education and promotion of Bluefaced Leicester sheep,
*To provide interested people with information about Bluefaced Leicester sheep and their products,
*To promote interest in the Bluefaced Leicester breed of sheep wherever possible in order to attract new breeders for the propagation and well-being of the breed.
the board feels strongly that a large portion of the budget each year should be spent on promotion and advertizing.

Here is a list of the shows and festivals where advertising dollars were spent in 2018. These events have traditionally been attended by BLU members, either showing sheep or BFL fiber, or as vendors in fiber shows.
*Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival – $350.00 This includes support for the working herding dog demonstration given by long time breeder, Nancy Starkey, using BFLs. New this year was a sponsorship for a special award for the winning BFL fleece in the wool competition.
*Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival – $85.00
*Northeastern Youth Sheep Show sponsorship of $50.00

Because the 2018 BFL national show will be held during the Black Sheep Gathering in Oregon, there were special ads place in magazines to promote the event.
*Banner Magazine – $211.50
*Black Sheep Gathering – complimentary ad valued at $99.00

Besides promoting BFLs at shows, there are also ads placed in the major sheep magazines – The Shepherd and Sheep! both have paid listings in the breed section of each magazine, at a total cost of $80.00 per year. The Banner magazine provides space for notes from breed associations at no cost – a great benefit! And because BFLs were the featured breed in the September 2018 issue of The Shepherd, we also placed a color ad in that issue for $105.00.

Each year, Spin-Off Magazine publishes a natural fiber directory insert which lists fiber sources for its subscribers.  This year, BLU placed an ad in the breed association section, which runs $150.00.

Because we also have members in Canada, an ad was placed in Sheep Canada for $392.14

And because our breed display was in need of updating, a new banner was designed and ordered at a cost of $111.99.

The board would like to invite any member who attends a show or festival with their BFL sheep or fiber to submit a request to advertise at that show. We’d also like to remind you that BLU has banners available to borrow if you’d like to promote the breed registry at events. Besides banners, there are also promotional materials available to print here on the website. (click on “about BLU” and then on “Promotional Materials”)