Photo by Sarah Dorroh Sweeney This year’s FFA National Convention will be broadcast live on the Alltech Ag Network.

In a significant technological move forward for agriculture, the National FFA Organization will stream its 2011 National Convention in Indianapolis Oct. 19 to 22, 2011, live online via the newly launched Alltech Ag Network on iHigh.com. The televised convention will be accessible in real time via computers, iPads and all iPhone, Android and BlackBerry mobile devices.

Because FFA membership stands at more than one-half million students throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, iHigh.com expects this to be their largest telecast ever. Yet the significance of the FFA-convention broadcast goes beyond record-breaking metrics.

“Agriculture is taking the lead in communications, moving high-tech to engage the world in its story,” says Billy Frey, general manager of the Alltech Ag Network. “iHigh.com’s unique platform enables it to, for example, on a recent Friday night, broadcast more than 170 high school football games simultaneously and live to mobile devices free of charge. This is a capability far beyond many major sports organizations and applications. FFA is now harnessing this power, broadening its reach at a time when our growing population is moving increasingly far away from the stories of the farm and the origins of their food.”

iHigh.com, the Global Youth Network, is designed to provide free feature-rich Web services to schools, students and youth organizations, and enables live streaming of events, mobile broadcasting, unlimited photo uploads and more. Currently, iHigh.com receives 1.3 million unique visitors per month with a growth of 30 percent during September 2011.

“iHigh.com is a true supporter of FFA and exemplifies this by providing the means to take our convention message to tens of thousands of FFA members throughout the country and beyond, who aren’t able to attend the event,” says Dwight Armstrong, CEO of the National FFA Organization. “This is a major opportunity for FFA, and we are extremely grateful for iHigh.com’s expertise, resources and abilities to reach our membership in a new and meaningful way.”

The broadcast schedule for the 2011 FFA National Convention is as follows (times are listed in EST):

• I Believe – Opening Session at Conseco Fieldhouse – Oct. 19, 2011 at 7:15 p.m.
• I Believe in Action – 2nd Session at Conseco Fieldhouse – Oct. 20, 2011 at 2 p.m.
• I Believe in … – 3rd Session at Conseco Fieldhouse – Oct. 20, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
• I Believe in Service – 4th Session at Conseco Fieldhouse – Oct. 21, 2011 at 8 a.m.
• I Believe in Leadership – 5th Session at Conseco Fieldhouse – Oct. 21, 2011 at 12 p.m.
• I Believe in Excellence – 6th Session at Conseco Fieldhouse – Oct. 21, 2011 at 3 p.m.
• I Believe in Possibilities – 7th Session at Conseco Fieldhouse – Oct. 21, 2011 at 7 p.m.
• I Believe in Passion – 8th Session at Conseco Fieldhouse – Oct. 22, 2011 at 7:45 a.m.
• I Believe in the Future – 9th Session at Conseco Fieldhouse – Oct. 22, 2011 at 1:30 p.m.

View the broadcasts live on the Internet or an iPad at ffa.ihigh.com. For mobile phone, the broadcasts may be accessed at m.ihigh.com/ffa by clicking on the Media button and selecting your smartphone type.

Broadcasts will be viewable live and on-demand at no cost to users. If there are any issues viewing a broadcast, contact 859-514-3886 for technical support.