Happy 4th Birthday AgChat

Chuck Zimmerman

Happy 4th Birthday AgChat. That’s right. Four years of a weekly Twitter conversation about agriculture and food (FoodChat). Last night was a lively AgChat on the topic of “What’s needed in #socialmedia for #ag.” Our moderator was the very popular @cowartandmore who did a marvelous job. You can find the very first tweet here: Testing out #agchat…currently scheduled for Tuesdays …

Ag Groups

Penton to Announce New Ag Division

Chuck Zimmerman

According to the the Association of Business Information and Media Companies, Penton will be unveiling its new ag division during the Agri-Marketing Conference. The Agri Council Intelligence Report say that Penton “plans to relaunch its Farm Industry News with a focus on agriculture production technology. “Farm Industry News previously existed as a horizontal brand and with our new strategy we …

Media

2014 International Year of Family Farming?

Chuck Zimmerman

During our weekly AgChat session last night several folks interjected messages about a United Nations sanctioned initiative called the 2014 International Year of Family Farming, Feeding the World, Caring for the Earth. So I had to look at it and can’t say I like what I see. If you click around their website you’ll see some pretty mixed messages. There …

Ag Groups, Farming, International

We’ll Be Winging it in Buffalo

Chuck Zimmerman

Full registration for the 2013 Ag Media Summit doesn’t open until May 1 but you can get your hotel reservation made now. Just got mine taken care of. If you’re looking for the best place to promote your company or organization’s products and services, then you’ll want to be at the 15th Annual Ag Media Summit in Buffalo, New York, …

Ag Media Summit, Media

Thornton Promoted at AFBF

Chuck Zimmerman

Congratulations to our good buddy Mace Thornton. He’s just been named Executive Director of Communications for the American Farm Bureau Federation. Here’s Mace at last year’s Agricultural Relations Council meeting. Mace just turned that gavel over at this year’s meeting. Mace will implement AFBF’s communications strategies, manage the Communications Department and staff, and help lead AFBF as a member of …

Ag Groups

Nuts & Bolts of Ag Communications

Chuck Zimmerman

There’s an upcoming workshop put on by the American Agricultural Editors’ Association and Livestock Publications Council titled, “The Nuts and Bolts of Ag Communications.” It’s part of a continuing series. The workshop will take place May 16-17 at the Hyatt Regency, Milwaukee. Sessions will include video, photography, ag issues and writing. Registration is $80 for members and $100 for non-members. …

ACN, LPC, Media

Dairy Makes Sense Parody Video

Chuck Zimmerman

This is just too good not to share. The Midwest Dairy Association just published Feedin’ A Nation, a very entertaining music parody video. Thank you to the more than 65 dairy farmers from age 1 to 81 for helping bring this video to life. All footage was filmed at dairy farm family homes in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota. Join …

Ag Groups, Dairy, Video

Precision Pays iPad mini Winner Happy Farmer

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s our happy Precision Pays iPad mini Giveaway winner, Nick Leibold. Thanks to his wife, Kendra, for taking the photo. She says Nick will put it to good use on the farm. Since Nick is standing in front of a John Deere tractor I wonder if he’ll have to get one of their new custom mobile device mounts for the …

Equipment, Farming

World Backup Day

Chuck Zimmerman

Happy Easter which is falling on World Backup Day. Have you taken the pledge? The World Backup Day Pledge I solemnly swear to backup my important documents and precious memories on March 31st. I will also tell my friends and family about World Backup Day – friends don’t let friends go without a backup. It is very important that you …

Farming, Technology

Find ZimmComm at 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmComm New Media will be forging new frontiers once again at the 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference. Here’s where you’ll find us in the Connection Point. We’ll be at booth 402. Yeah, booth numbers don’t always make it easy to find. Just follow the arrow. We’ll have an announcement out soon about a very cool booth giveaway and of course there will …

Ag Groups, NAMA, ZimmComm Announcement