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by Susie Taylor

A new feature on the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation (OFBF) Web site will give members more opportunities for input into organization policy and direction.

The Discussion Thread is an interactive, online message board that allows members to respond to questions and to discuss issues with other members throughout Ohio, according to Chip Nelson, OFBF director of advisory council programs and Discussion Thread coordinator.

"We have 215,000 members and only 8,000 of them are in (advisory) councils," Nelson said. "This (Discussion Thread) will be just one more way to get feedback and input from more of our members."

The first step in participating in the Discussion Thread is to register to get a user name and password. To register, go to the OFBF Web site (www.ofbf.org), scroll to the bottom of page, click on Member Registration and complete the form. Once you submit your information, a user name and password are sent back usually within the hour, but be patient as the action could take up to a couple of days, Nelson said.

Once you have a user name and password, which is available only to Ohio Farm Bureau members, you can access the Discussion Thread by visiting the OFBF home page and clicking on "Discussion Thread" in the left side list of choices. Type in your user name and password, and you’ll be admitted to the message board.

New discussion questions are posted every two weeks, but previous topics will remain on the site to encourage continued conversation, Nelson said. "Our hope is for the Discussion Thread to become self-running, with the members directing the conversation and posting the questions," he added. "We want to make it as easy as possible for members to share their opinions. This message board gives another way, other than face-to-face, to get member input."

What Nelson is cautious about is that the Discussion Thread could become a "classified ad" site. "We don’t want this to become a ‘marketplace,’ so to speak. That’s one thing we looked at very carefully to ensure that this develops into a legitimate way for members to express their opinions on important topics." Nelson will have the ability to remove any inappropriate postings from the site.

Even though the Discussion Thread is reminiscent of an "online" Advisory Council, the topics and issues discussed will not necessarily be related to the topics published in the monthly council guide, Nelson added.

A pilot group helped work out most of the bugs, he said, giving great input on how to access the message board and how to monitor discussion.

For Nelson, the Discussion Thread is a natural fit to the council program.

"Our council program is excellent but it’s only once a month," Nelson explained. "With the Discussion Thread, we can ask a new question every two weeks and get immediate, more timely feedback."