12/15/06 Name game

Name Game I'm sure you've all heard the saying  I don't care what you call me, just don't call me late for supper! I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back right after this to tell you what to call a rancher. Charley Orchard was a seminar speaker at a cattlemen's convention last month and part of his presentation was some new names for ranchers so non-ranchers might want to hear and learn about that occupation. The names are pretty trendy and somewhat unique, but the reason Charley decided to create these names is unique in its own right. Charley and his wife were at a social gathering some time ago where Charley's wife was off to one side observing people's reaction to Charley's self introduction. She asked Charley what he was telling people his occupation was since she noticed a lot of body language that showed no interest. He said he told them he was a rancher, so she said, "Let's think of a new title for ranchers." Suddenly the body language of people implied interest and attention. What were some of the names Charley and his wife experimented with? How about Energy Transfer Specialist, Used Sunlight Salesman, Natural Resource Economist and one of Charley's favorites  Solar Commodity Broker. Just by renaming his occupation, people wanted to know all about Charley's job, which opened the door to all kinds of understanding and a "I never really thought about ranching like that" attitude. So you see all cowboys, I mean ranchers, I mean all mobile flora protein transformer guidance counselors need to create interest and tell our story. I'm Jeff Keane.