Later this month the shade of blue you see in Indianapolis gets a little deeper than Colts blue as the FFA jackets move into the city for the 85th national convention. It’s the final convention before moving to Louisville as those two cities begin a 3 year rotation of the event.
Indiana FFA now has a Kentucky native on its staff. Coty Back, a former state and national officer, is the Assistant Director of Leadership Programs. The national convention theme is Grow, and he says that’s just one reason for members to attend.
“National Convention is one of those things that hard to put into words,” he told HAT on the Purdue campus. “The electricity, the energy, the excitement that is 
there, on the streets, in the sessions, all of it, Steak and Shake at midnight when all the state officers and chapter members are grabbing milkshakes. It’s just an exciting week and members can expect to grow. I think that’s a perfect theme for convention because of the opportunities there.”
Those opportunities include “business and industry tours at local farms in Indiana and with local industry members. We’ve got opportunity for them to serve their community fighting against hunger. We’ve got children fighting against hunger and lots of other service opportunities at the food bank and other things throughout the week.”
Convention in Indianapolis is the first time in a big city for many FFA members, so their world is stretched in many ways by attending. Likewise, Back says those members often impact local residents.
“It happens every year that people who have never had any involvement with FFA happen to meet a member, or happen to be engaged somehow with convention, and they always say these are the most respectful high school students I’ve ever been around. So FFA members, advisors, you can expect to have a blast, to grow, to be challenged, to have fun, and to expand your horizons with what FFA has to offer.”
Back comes to Indiana FFA from a position with Dow AgroSciences in Montana. Since graduating from Western Kentucky University he has also assisted RFD TV with its FFA convention coverage.
Online convention registration closes Friday, October 12, 2012 at 5:00 PM Eastern. Convention dates are October 24-27.[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/10/Coty-Back-on-National-FFA-Convention.mp3|titles=Coty Back on National FFA Convention]