Actually I’ll be incommunicado for a couple days on an annual retreat. Gotta re-charge those batteries. Cindy might post something if she gets time otherwise you’re stuck without me until Sunday evening sometime. Lots of good information came in today and I would have posted more of it but this server move has created some challenges.
This means that there will be lots more coming so feel free to browse back through posts you might have missed.
Until then . . .
Here’s a great example of how you can use a blog to accomplish a communications goal. You need to meet Leon the Milkman. He’s a blogger in South Africa who was fed up with all the negative information about dairy on the internet. He’s also got a website at Dairy-Info.org. He’s offering a free dairy dictionary if you visit either of the sites and register.
Leon the Milkman says that he finds it quite easy to get new issues to discuss on his blog – he just writes about everything that happens during his workday. He finds blogs to be the easiest way to get his ideas on the Internet and also likes that he can easily change the template and look of his site, using the WordPress Blog 
format. This comes in handy with changing seasons or wanting to change the blog’s look for a special holiday, like making everything green for St. Patrick’s Day.
“I find it so easy to just sit back at the end of a day and writing something short for the blog – it even helps to get perspective – much like writing in a journal would.” Leon philosophizes, milk in hand. Yes, he blogs in the evening, because mornings are for fresh milk deliveries of course.
We can all learn from a little from Leon.
I posted this last night but it got deleted in our server move (which is still in process). I’m sure I wrote this differently but here’s today’s creativity.
The question of when to send out an email or e-newsletter is definitely one everybody has an opinion on. Now we have some interesting research from Exact Target to help us decide. Guess what. It’s Friday. Of all days. I wouldn’t have thought so but . . .
Emails sent on Friday had the highest average open rate in 2005, according to the 2005 Response Rate Study by on-demand email service provider ExactTarget. The most comprehensive study to date includes data collected during the 2005 calendar year from more than 4,000 organizations, 230,000 email sends and 2.7 billion email messages.
“ExactTarget’s 2004 study asserted that there is no such thing as a universal best day to send email, and we still hold this view,” said Morgan Stewart, director of strategic services at ExactTarget and author of the study. “The results of our 2005 study show that organizations still must conduct their own tests to determine which day of the week works best for them, but all organizations should consider Friday and Sunday as viable challengers.”
According to the study, Friday had the highest average open rate for 14 months straight – from October 2004 through November 2005. (more…)
Hello AgWired fans. We’re in the process of moving to new servers. This is a bigger challenge than I thought it would be but we’re working through it. So far the only glitch is losing the last 3 posts I did last night.
This should all be completed within the next day or two. I’m only letting you know in case something else happens that would affect your viewing of the site.
The North Dakota Grain Growers Association has a new website. Very nicely done.
I particularly like the weather page they have.
If you’re in the dairy business and have seen The Matrix then I hope you’ve got a sense of humor. This is funny. Actually it’s really a sad waste of misguided talent. It’s a Matrix film spoof to blast corporate farming called The Meatrix II. I never heard of it before but the group doing this claims the first one’s been downloaded over 10 million times and they’ve won awards for it. They are short animated movies.
They even have a blog about it which you can find here. The whole thing is a project of the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment (GRACE).
Now if you want the truth about corporate dairy farming you might want to visit this website.
First, Truth About Trade has a podcast series going. I guess we didn’t get the release but they’ve got about 13 episodes done it looks like. I just subscribed and will listen while I’m on the road tomorrow.
Second, the latest installment of Monsanto’s “Conversations About Plant Biotechnology” is out, featuring Klaus Ammann, former director of the Botanical Garden and an Honorary Professor Emeritus at the University of Berne, Switzerland. This is in a video podcast series that I just subscribed to. Works beautifully and looks great on my iPod.
I really like the explosion of web apps we’re seeing in agriculture today. Farm Journal Media just announced their AgWeb Search engine and I tried it out right away.
I searched for “agwired” and sure enough we were there. Then I searched for “podcast” and found some I didn’t even know about. Why don’t people tell us these things. I’ll put it in the next post.
I’m not sure I can give up Google though. But I can see how you might want it if all you’re looking for is ag-related search results.
Now, there’ s a Search Engine just for Agriculture…and your farm. AgWeb Search is simple. Just type in a specific word or phrase and AgWeb Search does the rest. We’ve indexed thousands of agricultural websites to deliver the specific information you want and need for your farming operations.
AgWeb Search is different. We only deliver information relevant to agriculture . From crop or livestock production to machinery and technology, we search for the information that best matches your needs. There are millions of pages on the web on just about any topic , we just deliver ag results to you.
This past weekend we unveiled the new skin for Domestic Fuel, our alternative fuels website. Check it out. We’d love to know what you think. We switched to a 3-column blog format to allow us more opportunities for advertising and promotions and to make navigation easier.
Like AgWired, the site has been upgraded to the newest version of WordPress. We like to keep up don’t you know. The biggest story we’ve ever covered on Domestic Fuel happened this weekend too with the tragedy in Homestead, FL at the Indy car race.
If you or your organization have an interest in biofuels like ethanol or biodiesel I hope you’ll make Domestic Fuel a regular pit stop.
You can get a ZimmComm blog network update on this week’s ZimmCast. I review some of the highlights of the past week on AgWired, Domestic Fuel and World Dairy Diary.
To begin with though I had to include the interview I did with Paul Dana on Saturday before Sunday’s tragic accident at the Toyota Indy 300 since it was apparently the last media interview Paul did. I include it to honor him and show the energy he radiated when talking about racing and ethanol. The ethanol industry and all of us who support it will truly miss the driver of the #17 Ethanol car.
You can listen to this week’s program here: 
ZimmCast 62 (13 min MP3)
The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar.
You can also subscribe in iTunes.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
The Avian Flu crisis is a big wild card in the pricing of all meats says Jim Long, Pork Commentator. Much of the major mediums are giving it lots of attention. Time Magazine, USA Today, etc, are intensely discussing the challenges of Avian Flu.
In marketing theory at least, the perception is repetition of a message creates an impression and retention. The media, the chicken and health sectors keep repeating the chicken and Avian Flu message many times. “People dying and the fear of a pandemic are not a message you want to put out there to create demand,” says Long, Vice President Genesus Genetics. In parts of Europe and Asia, reports suggest chicken consumption has dropped 20 percent. French government officials are resorting to eating chicken on television to promote its safety. Eating chicken in France is a patriotic gesture. (more…)
I found out about the tragic event in Homestead, FL yesterday while I was on a Katy Trail walk in the sunshine. I had different posting plans at that point. They included posting some pictures from my hike which I’m doing now.
You can see the pics on my Flickr photo album.
Rather than update the previous post announcement on this I thought I’d just copy the post from Domestic Fuel:
Today the Rahal-Letterman Racing team suffered a serious blow when the #17 Ethanol car was in a pre-race warmup accident and driver and ethanol champion Paul Dana died from the injuries he suffered. “It is a black day for us, and on behalf of Rahal Letterman Racing, our sponsors and associates, our prayers and sympathy go out to the entire Dana family,” said team co-owner Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner. “This is a great tragedy. As a result, and in honor of Paul, we will not run the team’s No. 15 (with driver Buddy Rice, the 2004 Indy 500 winner) and No. 16 (with driver Danica Patrick, the 2005 Indy 500 and IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year) cars in today’s event.”
“Paul was a very special guy,” said David Vander Griend, president and CEO of ICM, a primary sponsor on the Team Ethanol car. “He demonstrated his belief in what ethanol can do for all of America through his racing. He helped us with so many things in bringing ethanol to the IndyCar Series. He will be missed tremendously. Our thoughts are with his family today.”
Domestic Fuel sponsor and Ethanol Car sponsor, Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) has released a statement. You can read the full release from EPIC here (Word doc).
I also spoke with EPIC Executive Director, Tom Slunecka a few minutes ago. He is obviously still in shock over the tragedy after spending some time with Paul during the last couple days and being onsite when the accident occurred. On behalf of the EPIC staff, board and members, Tom offers his condolences to the Dana family, his friends and teammates. You can listen to Tom’s statement here: EPIC Statement (1 min MP3)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Here’s a post I wish I didn’t have to write. Actually I was on my way home to link you to the posts we did yesterday about the big opening race of the Indy Racing League in Homestead, FL. That’s because it’s the first race in which all the cars will be running on a blend of ethanol and one of our clients is the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC). However, tragedy struck today prior to the race.
I found out just before the race started that Paul Dana, driver of the #17 Ethanol car for Rahal-Letterman Racing has died from injuries he suffered in a pre-race warmup crash. This is an absolute shock since I had just interviewed Paul yesterday afternoon. You can read the story on the Indy Racing League website here.
I will be speaking with Tom Slunecka, Executive Director of EPIC shortly and will post his statement. EPIC is a sponsor of the car that Paul Dana was driving.
Cindy and I offer our prayers for Paul, his family, the Rahal-Letterman team, EPIC and all the people affected by this tragedy. I had the honor to meet Paul and interview him several times over the last year. He is a hero in my eyes. You won’t find a better role model for what you can achieve if you work hard and stay focused. He was an untiring champion of ethanol and I can’t imagine at the moment what we’ll do without him.
I’ll have more information to post soon.
I don’t know if I’m the only Monty Python fan in agrimarketing but just in case I’m not I wanted to alert you to a great little video clip of the crew being interviewed on KERA in Dallas, TX in 1975. You can watch the video or download it in iPod format (which I did). It’s set during KERA’s pledge drive since they are a public tv station. The clip is brought to us by The Sound of Young America blog.
I started my career as an engineer at WUFT-TV in Gainesville, FL. I remember loading Monty Python’s Flying Circus on 2 inch videotape reels many, many a time. And I won’t ever forget pledge drives. Ask Cindy about them. She was talent (money begger) while I was behind the cameras in engineering or even directing the breaks.
via CNET Esoterica Blog.
My man Keith Good just keeps getting gooder. Now he’s using audio and making interviews on FarmPolicy available on a new blog site called Ag Policy Soup.
“Ag Policy Soup” is a blog that features audio interviews with U.S. farm policy experts on specific topics that are impacting the current political environment and future direction of domestic agricultural policy. Ag Policy Soup is brought to you by FarmPolicy.com, Inc.- publisher of The FarmPolicy.com News Summary.
The inaugural edition of Ag Policy Soup highlights the concept of revenue based farm programs and is now available at www.agpolicysoup.blogspot.com. Ag Policy Soup is a free webpage and new posts and interviews can be expected about twice a month.
You can hear his first interview here (10 min MP3). Next up Keith is to podcast this thing.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Fellow blogger Matt Mullen brought the African tobacco tourning tales of Taco Tuinstra to my attention. “He is on a tour of tobacco farms and leaf dealers in southern Africa right now and has set up a blog to chronicle his travels. Pretty cool that technology today allows you to do some of this stuff, even from places that remote.”
Taco seems to be doing okay although he just got started yesterday and found out how pricey food at Heathrow Airport can be.
After flying all day yesterday, I spent the night at the Heathrow Hilton in London, and now I am having $35 scrambled eggs with orange juice. The Britons must all be millionaires (or not eat out often). They have to, with these prices, because otherwise they’d all be at poverty level.
Ain’t it the truth. It should be interesting following this trip via blog. Taco and Matt write for Tobacco Reporter.
I know that Auburn University has people who get new media. A trackback to a post on AgNewsWire.com alerted me to an example of it. It led me to Auburn public relations student, Lara’s Blog. Lara had to critique an audio news release (what we call a Talking News Release) and she found one we produced and distributed for the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.
I’m happy to say she wrote very positively about the release. Way to go Cindy, who is our main editor.
What I’m very impressed with is Lara though. Here’s a budding public relations professional who’s blogging while still a student. She’s creating an online resume that a prospective employer can visit and within a few moments know more about her and her capabilities than any traditional resume will ever show. Not only is she providing us a glimpse into her abilities and personality but she’s using one of the new media tools that are going to be a standard part of the work she’ll be doing for her clients in the future. She’ll be able to provide her clients with advice based on personal experience.
I can tell you without reading more than a few posts that Lara would get my serious consideration. How many of you public relations professionals are blogging? Want to dip your toe in the water. Give me a call or better yet, get in touch with Lara.
Learn more about Trends in Agriculture by attending NAMA's fall conference.
This year the National Agri-Marketing Association will be holding it's Trends In Ag conference in Minneapolis, MN due to a hotel scheduling conflict in KC, MO. I talked about the situation with Jenny Pickett, NAMA CEO, who also talks about the program which has the theme, "Agriculture In a Globally Local World."
