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Through the CYL program I had the opportunity to attend the NCBA convention in Nashville at the start of February. I had heard nothing but great things about the convention especially when it is held in Nashville but everything about it still blew me away.

For starters the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center was a spectacle of its own and was the part I was the least prepared for as my image of big didn’t even come close to its actual size. However, when you factor in that there were 8-9000 people attending the conference all in one building it seems a lot more reasonable.

The speakers at the conference were also worth the trip. We heard from a Mt Everest survivor, a media advisor to George Bush, Cattlefax outlooks, and more. Every one of these speakers provided tremendous insight and were great to listen to. This was one of the things that I found the most different than the conferences I’m used to attending is that they focused on a couple major speakers each day rather than having more shorter speakers or breakout sessions throughout the day.

It was also nice to have such a strong contingency of Canadians at the conference including fellow CYL’ers Nicole Viste and Jessica Sperber. Having them as well as past CYL members along with all the other people that I got to reacquaint with or met made the trip fun and educational as I was able to learn a lot from everyone that I got to visit with. Being there with CYL also opened the doors to a lot of cool sessions including. These sessions included the trilateral meeting as well as several Young Beef Leaders Events all of which were certainly worth being a part of. I’m grateful for the opportunities this CYL program provides.

As enjoyable and as beneficial as the conference was, I certainly am interested in attending more in the future. I certainly encourage others to do so as well. I also hope to be able to return to Nashville in the future as the whole city has a cool vibe to it. The Grand Ole Opry is one of few things that could keep me sitting on an old wood bench for hours on end-it was something special for sure.

I want to thank all the sponsors that make the CYL Program able to function the way it does by allowing us to be a part of such a great convention. I know personally this opportunity greatly helps expand my knowledge and network base in the industry and will help me to be more successful now and in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Nashville for the NCBA conference and I look forward to applying what I learned and attending in the future.

Luke Marshall