2016 Miss Rodeo Washington Pageant; The Rodeo Chat Snapchat Takeover

This past weekend I had the AMAZING opportunity to drive 6 hours northeast of my hometown of Corvallis, Oregon where I got to watch and learn at the 2016 Miss Rodeo Washington Pageant. I had numerous reasons for wanting to go to this pageant which included…

1. … my study buddy competing for the title of 2016 Miss Rodeo Washington. 
2. … the fact that I am one of the biggest fans of the 2015 Miss Rodeo Washington Katherine Merck.

   

3. … the fact that I extremely look up to the 2015 Miss Rodeo America Lauren Heaton, who was going to be helping out at the pageant.

   

4. … the most important fact; I have only competed in one pageant and this was an amazing opportunity to watch a pageant run in the format of the Miss Rodeo America Pageant.

Rodeo Chat Snapchat

The weekend at the 2016 Miss Rodeo Washington Pageant presented me with a unique opportunity to reach a national audience while showcasing the pageants of state title holders as well as answer questions that people may have about rodeo queening! I found my way into this AMAZING opportunity due to my friendship with the legendary Paige Gregory who is the owner and founder of Rodeo Chat. Rodeo Chat is a business that has capitalized on social media in rodeo by spreading news about rodeos of all associations, equipment brands, athletes, animals and more! I had originally worked with Rodeo Chat in 2013 when I covered the Miss Rodeo America Pageant and it was exciting to reach out through a new social media spectrum; Snapchat.

If you aren’t familiar with Snapchat I will try to explain it as short as possible, which will be VERY difficult. Snpachat has reached out to start a new method of communication and allows businesses to become more personable with their patrons. Rodeo Chat has only just recently added Snapchat to the line up of other social media sites that they use (Twitter, Facebook, blogging and Instagram) typically featuring question and answering sections with their ProTeam members about sponsors, events, and more.

What I wanted to do as the host for Rodeo Chat during the Miss Rodeo Washington Pageant is really highlight all of the aspects and all of the hard work that these young ladies go through just to COMPETE at the pageant, nothing even close to what they will be doing as a title holder. I think that we were pretty successful! I didn’t realize the extent of social media reach that the Snapchat would have but by the fashion show on Friday night I was surprised when visiting royalty, family members, and more came up to me explaining how exciting it was to follow Rodeo Chat’s Snapchat throughout the day. It allowed those who weren’t at the pageant to be able to keep up on their favorite contestants, it allowed young aspiring or current rodeo queens to check out the fashions for each of the events, and, my favorite, it provided an anonymous forum for people to ask questions.

This was the most amazing aspect of the Snapchat that I was running, the ability to ask questions. Rodeo Chat’s Snapchat has focused mainly on saddle bronc riders, bareback bronc riders, and bull riders but by adding in a female sector we gained hundreds of followers within hours! Not just that but I was impressed with the majority of the question askers being male!!!

Cowboys snapped in from all over the country asking genuine questions that they have always had; How do you wave? Are there actually rules on it?! Do you wave open hand or closed hand? What kind of reins do you use? What’s a horsemanship pattern like? What do they look for in horsemanship? What are the new changes to the Miss Rodeo America Pageant?

This truly warmed my heart as I found that a lot of the cowboys had gained a newfound respect for all that rodeo queens, especially state titleholders, are asked to do! I was also impressed with the love I received over posting the impromptu questions asked of the girls throughout the pageant as fans fought to get the correct answer in the fastest in a trivia game like competition.

We even had some fun with it because, well I DO have a sense of humor! We did this little competition called the #RodeoQueenWaveOff where I demonstrated the 13 different rodeo queen waves that we know and joke about here in the northwest. I did add the disclaimer that there are only three that you should ever do AS a rodeo queen (wash the window, pet the dog and all in the wrist)! Then I challenged the Snapchat followers for their own unique “rodeo queen wave” and let me tell you what… THEY WERE HILARIOUS! Through all of them I got some great snapchats from contestants doing a wave riding a bull (no one was hurt), waving a taco, and even waving to their pets (who then waved back)!

I am a new media communications major at school, amongst other degrees and minors, and the joy that I feel in sharing my world of rodeo, agriculture and the western way of life really gives me the solace that we all desire. I am so excited for my year as 2016 where I will be able to use my social media skills to reach out to the next generation of rodeo queens and role models, as well as make connections between all aspects of rodeo for the rodeo queens.

I have some PHENOMENAL video blogs in the work for my year so make sure to stay tuned on all my social media sites to stay up to date!

Snapchat: @rodeochat

My personal Snapchat: @kt_schr0ck

Instagram: @ktschr0ck

Twitter: @KtSchr0ck

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/katieschrock16 – you can “follow” me there!

Fashion

I used the pageant as my own sort of fashion show, showcasing my unique style and some of my favorite twists on traditional western outfits. Yes, I was just in the stands as I am a lady-in-waiting, meaning that the only identification I wore alluding to my 2016 title was the belt buckle I won at pageant! That didn’t stop me from using the opportunity to practice curling my hair, putting on my make-up, and wearing my outfits knowing full well that the pageant and rodeo queening world would be more than willing to give me feedback!

Horsemanship: I wore my horsemanship interview jacket with a gold, silk undershirt, brown western cross jewelry, blue Wrangler Cash brand jeans, simple light brown boots with a white hat on top. I got so many compliments and numerous people took down the name of the jacket brand out of Arizona. Changes I would make for the future would be a less glittery western shirt and a bone colored hat.

Fashion Show: For the fashion show in the evening I changed into the outfit that my sponsor Desperado had gifted me during the High Desert Stampede when I stopped in to introduce myself and meet the owners as the newly crowned 2016 Miss Rodeo Oregon. This included tall black Justin Boots, black leather skinny jeans, a scoop neck black long sleeve shirt under a forest green old British style jacket, and the entire outfit was completed with my Steam Punk Mad Hatter hat that I adore. Again, I was not wearing a sash or other form of identification of my title but I was approached numerous times and asked about my outfit and style and just WHO I was! I was very flattered because I was even complimented on my outfit by Miss Rodeo America Lauren Heaton and Miss Rodeo Washington Katherine – two of my biggest rodeo queen idols!!

Public Speaking & Mock Media Interview: I decided to keep it elegantly fashionable for the early morning fashion show so I wore one of my favorite pairs of palazzo pants that I purchased at the Cowboy Christmas in Las Vegas when my sister competed for the prestigious title of Miss Rodeo America in 2013. I completed the outfit with the long sleeve black scoop neck tee from the night before, black Justin boots, a floor-length black lace vest with fringe and a black cowboy hat.

Coronation: For the coronation portion of the pageant I wanted to wear something that was eye catching, unique, simple and formal. Kind of hard to combine all of those things right? I took a floor length ruffled grey dress that I had purchased years before on sale at a Nordstrom’s Rack, brown boots, a wide brown belt with “Oregon” tooled onto the back, a denim shirt with lace over the yokes and down the sleeves (courtesy of Desperado in Bend, Oregon), and a white cowboy hat. This outfit was perfect not only for the coronation but for the hope that afterwards I would be able to go to dinner with the new Miss Rodeo Washington who I will be traveling with next year!

2016 Miss Rodeo Washington: Macy LaValley

I would also like to officially announce and congratulate the 2016 Miss Rodeo Washington! I am excited to represent the Pacific Northwest with Miss LaValley as well as Heather Skovgard, the 2016 Miss Rodeo Idaho for the year of 2016.

All of these contestants did such a marvelous job! I can’t express to you how amazing each and every single one of them are and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for all of them as we continue on with God’s plan for us!

It was a truly amazing experience this week as I got to meet my idols Katherine Merck and Lauren Heaton (no titles necessary because I am a fan of WHO they are and represent as poised and charismatic young women) as well as meet and speak with the Miss Rodeo Washington Board of Directors who are all dedicated volunteers!