Case Study: Medina County 4-H

A 4-H county program, like any other organization has a constant issue of sharing information with all of the different groups seeking their help. In Medina County, Ohio, the leaders of the 4-H program were tasked with finding a way to share the wide range of information needed to share with their members, parents, sponsors, advisors, and more. A 4-H program has lots of moving parts and sharing the huge amount of resources can be tricky. They turned to Grandstand to help and have used our tools to achieve their goals.

Some of their primary goals for the app included:

  • Better communication with their members and their families
  • Reference for projects available to members & their requirements
  • Full schedule of events for the county
  • List of clubs in the county for new members to connect with
  • Collection of forms and awards applications
  • Access to photos from events
  • Ability to view all social media feeds in one place
  • Contact information for county leaders
  • Fair information including schedule, map of the fairground, and results

Medina’s app is part of the 4H Now container found in the Apple App & Google Play stores. Once you download 4H Now, you can search through the list of apps to find Medina County. The design of the app features a simple background with a historical photo of the junior fair building at Medina County’s fairgrounds. The 4-H Green is used as an accent color throughout along with simple gray and white.

The menu set up uses the graphic menu layout with 1 menu item per line, allowing a longer list of menu items, and a break between main menu items & items linking to information on the fair.

The project list was a key feature that Morgan Domokos, the 4-H Educator for Medina County, set up. Medina used the database of projects for Ohio and included links to their project guides specific to the county requirements. In addition, throughout the year, events relate to the different projects, so Medina ensured those interested in a project would also have information on when meetings at the county-level pertained to that project. When viewing the project list, items are able to be sorted alphabetically, or filtered by category or level of difficulty.

It takes many different committees to organize all the projects involved in 4-H. Finding information based on these committees is easier in the app. One list has all of the committees for each of the type of livestock and animal areas. Medina made the information easy to find for those seeking the committee chair, and when events related to that area were happening. In addition, the rules for the different committees are available within the app.

Medina is also now taking advantage of our integrated RSS feed compiler. Medina sends out a regular newsletter using MailChimp. We were able to pull that RSS feed and integrate it into the app so when updates are sent out, they are reflected in the app. This same system integrates social media feeds, as well, to include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. A great way to get all of Medina’s information sources in the hands of their members.

During the Medina County Fair, the app users have access to a map of the fairgrounds, and a full schedule. In addition, a link to their database of results is provided.

Medina County 4-H’s app is an excellent example of ways you can use the power of the Grandstand System to meet the varied needs of your large membership base.

The Medina app via 4-H Now is available in both the Apple App Store and Google Play store. As with all clients Grandstand produces a promotional website to help with marketing.

Casestudy

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