Today we honored and roasted my good friend (and client) Gene Hemphill. Gene’s sort of retiring but not really from New Holland. He’ll be staying on to continue to work with us and also pursue some other projects he’s been wanting to do like write a book.

At the media reception this evening we paid him a tribute and after we got through some of the roasting part the true feelings I think all of us in ag media share for Gene came through. For many of us he’s been a friend, a mentor, a person of integrity who we can count on to always help out in any way he can. In fact, he’s also someone who cares about the people he interacts with on a personal as well as professional level and that means a lot.

I know I’ve enjoyed working with Gene, especially as Cindy and I have worked at creating a company of our own in a very competitive media world. I’ve had the opportunity to travel with him and meet some very interesting people like Jay Leno, Michael Peterson and recently, Chuck Leavell. These are people who share his interests and values and he’s found creative ways to make those relationships work for the benefit of New Holland. I know they know they’ve got a gem and that’s why he’s going to continue to be there for us. Here you can see him getting a standing ovation during the reception.

It’s a pleasure to do this post about Gene, especially since New Holland is the sponsor of our coverage of Commodity Classic.

AgWired coverage of the 2008 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: and