AdFarm St. Louis Welcomed Jay Baer

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s an event I wish I had been able to attend. It was the AdFarm St. Louis office “get to know us” party. While there guests heard from Jay Baer, pictured on the right with 2010 NAMA Marketer of the Year and AdFarm CEO, Roger Reierson. Here’s what you missed if you weren’t there.

Jay is a social media strategist, author, speaker and the founder of five companies. His blog Convince & Convert is ranked among the world’s top marketing resources.

At the event, he’ll talk about the seven shifts to make your businesses faster, smarter and more social.

The first 100 people who attended received a copy of Jay’s book, The Now Revolution.

Thanks to Neil Neumeyer for the photo.

Agencies

WillowTree Makes Mobile Beautiful

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast 301Mobile apps are where it’s at. That’s kind of the theme of this week’s program. I’ve been asked many times who developed the AgWired App? The answer is WillowTree Apps. In this week’s program you can listen to my conversation with Tobias Dengel, CEO.

Tobias says the company was started in 2007 by Michael Prichard and has grown significantly. That’s because they say, “We Make Mobile Beautiful.” They also make it functional and just plain rock solid. WillowTree built one of the first iPhone apps and they’ve had several featured in Apple advertising and even in by Steve Jobs in the iPad 2 launch!

Besides talking about WillowTree Apps we also discuss considerations for creating a mobile app and the growing need to make sure your own website is mobile enabled. AgWired has been mobile enabled for years and I’ve had lots of positive feedback on it so I know how important this is becoming. So if you’re interested in mobile app development I really think you need to give Tobias or Michael a call. Just tell ’em Chuck sent you. The company has already published over 70 apps and they do work for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Mobile 7, Blackberry and Web apps/optimization. Follow their blog, The WillowTree Wire, or follow them on Twitter.

Listen in on our converstation in this week’s program: WillowTree Apps ZimmCast

This week’s program ends with some music from Music Alley. It’s called “Weeping Willow” by The Shinkickers.

Thanks to our ZimmCast sponsor, Growmark, locally owned, globally strong, for their support.

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired. Subscribe so you can listen when and where you want. Just go to our Subscribe page

Apps, Audio, ZimmCast

AgWired App

Chuck Zimmerman

Just thought I’d remind you to download the AgWired App on your iOS or Android device. The price is right (free!).

iTunes Store
Android Market

If you do have the app and have a moment, please give it a rating or leave a review or comment. It’s very helpful and much appreciated.

I’ll be doing an interview later this morning with our app developer, WillowTree Apps, which will be the subject of this week’s ZimmCast. I should have that posted later today. Listen in and learn more about developing mobile apps.

Apps

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

Zimfo Bytes

Waiting for the School Bell

Melissa Sandfort

Remember sitting in class toward the end of the day, just waiting for that final school bell to ring so you could escape those white sterile classroom walls? The hallways would fill up with bustling students, after-school conversation and the sound of locker doors slamming closed on yet another day.

Spring Valley School was different. It was a one-room schoolhouse that used to sit up the road from our house. And it only had one chiming clock. My great grandparents taught at this school, and I’m sure the kids back then were just the same – waiting on that old clock to tick away those final minutes – and looking forward with anticipation for the school clock chime.

I also have an old school desk from that schoolhouse. On its wooden seat is inscribed: Hi. It’s just the past, stopping in to say hello, reminding me not to waste the time between the alarm clock and the final schoolhouse bell.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Happy Easter

Chuck Zimmerman

We wish you a very blessed and happy Easter. It is the day to celebrate Jesus rising from the dead. The greatest event to ever happen in the history of the world.

One way to celebrate is with some healthy food and the Easter Egg is a good choice. We’ve decorated a number of them to enjoy with dinner today. The American Egg Board has a lot of ideas for decorating as well as cooking eggs. The also have an Incredible Easter Egg Designer where you can create your own virtual egg and email it to friends and relatives. That’s where this AgWired egg came from.

Food

Investing Back In Agriculture

Meghan Grebner

Illinois and fiscal responsibility aren’t exactly words that go hand in hand but Illinois State Treasurer Dan Rutherford is trying to change that.  Earlier this week Rutherford announced his Ag Invest program in conjunction with the Illinois Farm Bureau.  Ag Invest (formerly known as Cultivate Illinois) partners with eligible lenders to offer low-interest loans to Illinois farmers that can be used for operating costs, equipment purchases, construction related expenses and livestock purchases.

So why tweak Cultivate Illinois?  Rutherford says their goal is to give Illinois farmers the opportunity to pay less interest in operating expenses.  He adds along with increasing the amount producers can now borrow – the Illinois Treasurer’s office has made the loan process less cumbersome for lenders and farmers.  By reducing the paperwork and tedious questions they are able to streamline the lending process.

The changes made to Ag Invest are key for Illinois Farmers.  Illinois Farm Bureau President Philip Nelson says, “Farming is a capital intensive industry and having access to capital is important to farmers.” He adds this is a positive step the Illinois is taking to assist its largest industry.

Ag Invest
Agribusiness

Foursquare Show Down at United Fresh

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s an idea for your next convention or farm show. Wish I was going to United Fresh 2011 to compete in the DMA Solutions, Foursquare Showdown. DMA Solutions, Inc., is a marketing firm focused on the produce industry. I assume you all know about and use Foursquare by now right?

United Fresh 2011 attendees that have GPS-enabled mobile devices can download the foursquare app, connect with the contest and “check in” with The Core Blog at various points of interest throughout the week to win prizes.

“The fresh produce industry as a whole is finally starting to see the opportunities that social media marketing has to offer,” says Dan’l Mackey Almy, president. “We are hosting this contest to engage the industry at one of our most well attended events and to give our peers the opportunity to experience first-hand how social media marketing vehicles work to connect.”

United Fresh 2011 attendees that enter the contest should follow these simple steps to enter and win:

Download the foursquare app to their mobile phone
Login or create a foursquare account
Add The Core Blog as a friend in foursquare
Follow The Core Blog’s “check in” status on foursquare for tips and information throughout the Convention
Play to win one of several gift card prizes

To top it off, each of The Core Blog’s foursquare friends will be entered into a drawing for a $250 VISA gift card. For every new friend of The Core on foursquare, DMA Solutions will also give $10 to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans, up to $500. DMA Solutions will host a booth at the Global Conference on Produce Technology and Innovation on Thursday, May 5, 2011 at the Hilton Riverside Hotel. The booth will feature DMA Solutions’ new PLUG IN campaign designed to help fresh produce companies plug into consumers utilizing social media marketing.

Produce, Social Networking

Farm Podcaster Tool

Chuck Zimmerman

Here’s a great gift for your favorite farm podcaster. A USB microphone made by Samson that also looks very cool on your desktop or wherever you need to record. It’s the Meteor Mic.

Meteor Mic is the universal solution for recording music on your computer. Perfect for your home studio, Meteor Mic is also ideal for Skype, iChat or voice recognition software. With Meteor Mic, you can make incredible recordings that are out of this world.

Since there’s no need for drivers, you can start recording right out of the box on any computer. And Meteor Mic is compatible with most computer-based digital audio workstations. A USB cable and carry pouch are also included.

Read all about it on their website.

Equipment

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Bayer CropScience and DuPont announced that they have entered into a global licensing agreement for a canola herbicide tolerance trait.
  • Verde Bio-Science has added a line of patent-pending EPA-registered and USDA-certified organic products available for licensing by others.
  • GROWMARK announced it intends to purchase the assets of Select Seed, Camden, Ind.
  • A new online tool to help farmers decide which cover crops will benefit their row crop rotation is now available in Indiana.
    Zimfo Bytes