Alltech Has Winning Formula For Symposium

Chuck Zimmerman

Aidan ConnollyThe Vice President of Corporate Accounts for Alltech is Aidan Connolly. He is just one of the team that I’ve had the pleasure to get to become friends with and always enjoy seeing. We joke about how often we run into each other at events around the country. This year Aidan moderated the Alltech Symposium Game Changers Debate once again. I spoke with him afterward.

This year was the first time that Alltech brought in debate participants that didn’t necessarily share viewpoints or experiences with the farm audience. He was fascinated with Ben Self, who was the founder of Blue State Digital, for his idea for using new media and the internet to tell your story to engage the general public. When it came to Hans Johr, Nestle, he was happy to hear how he felt strongly about sharing value with the farmers who supply them with products. Tom Standage, Bus. Editor, The Economist, put forth some viewpoints that challenged people, especially in the area of biofuels, while providing a positive outlook for dealing with the food challenges of today.

Aidan says that when it comes to the Symposium, “I think we have a winning formula.” He thinks the primary reason people get enthused to attend is that they deliver new concepts and new ideas for running their businesses. Like me, he was also very enthused by all the young people who attended this year’s Symposium. Aidan Connolly Interview

See more stories on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and on-demand recordings of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech, Audio

Outside Decorations

Melissa Sandfort

I’m not sure how much I’ve told you about my family. We’re just three of a kind – me, my better half, and my mini-me better half (a.k.a. my husband and 2 ½ year old son who is a spitting image of his daddy). My husband is a born-and-raised farm boy, and that’s how we want to raise our son. We aren’t directly involved in production agriculture, and I don’t think USDA would classify my garden as production ag either, but we’re as close to being farmers as you can get. I’ve worked for farmers almost my entire career, and my husband builds energy-efficient houses and sheds, and installs wind turbines, for those farmers. And, my immediate family is still involved in every aspect of farming you can think of. So I guess that lends a bit of credibility when I write about farm life and being a “farm mom.”

I do live right off a gravel road.

So now that you know what my husband does, I have to tell you about our conversation the other day. We were talking about how he builds beautiful, stunning, amazing houses, but I make them pretty. Please don’t take that as being vain, I mean pretty on the outside.

Just last week, I planted 50 Canadian Hemlock bushes, 1 red maple tree, and 2 Forsythia bushes in our front yard. Of course, there’s my garden, my new Jack-in-the-Pulpits transplanted from my grandparents (who are a stone’s throw away, if you have a strong arm), and the asparagus patch I’m trying to get started.

But these flowers. Aren’t they breath-taking? I have six planters on the front patio overflowing with color. I wish I could freeze frame them through the winter months, but then come next spring, I get the pleasure of growing something beautiful all over again.

That’s my version of outside decorating. Then again, my husband is from western Kansas where the only things that flourish are tumbleweeds.

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Alltech International Symposium Concludes

Chuck Zimmerman

Dr. Pearse LyonsThe 2011 Alltech International Animal Health & Nutrition Symposium has concluded and with a resounding message to dream the impossible dream. Dr. Pearse Lyons took the stage to summarize what we learned and to provide some takeaway ideas that included five things that should be on your business survival action list.

1. No fads, no fashions, just change
2. Don’t be first, don’t be the best, be different
3. Know where growth comes from and get to where it is
4. Don’t act now!
5. It is about you – and everything you do

You can hear him explain these in his closing remarks below. In addition to these action items he listed a number of “Game Changers” that included an announcement that Alltech will make the single biggest investment in the company ever within the next eighteen months. This includes building new plants and expanding others in several countries. He also announced that the National Horse Show will be moving to Lexington, KY with Alltech as the title sponsor and that Alltech will once again be the title sponsor for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games which will be held in Normandy, France in 2014.

Alltech SymposiumAs Dr. Lyons encouraged everyone to dream the impossible dream he was joined on stage by Dr. Everett McCorvey and University of Kentucky students opera singers. They launched into a wonderful rendition of the famous song.

I recorded Dr. Lyons closing remarks which include the beautiful voices we’ve come to love at an Alltech Symposium: Alltech Symposium Closing Remarks

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech, Animal Health, Audio

Think Green and Change Your Life

Chuck Zimmerman

Declan CoyleI thought Declan Coyle’s presentation here at the Alltech Symposium titled, “Get on the Green Platform: The Life Changing Game Changer” would be about recycling and saving the environment. Wrong. He talked about different outlooks on life. He used as examples the green platform or the red platform. Green is good and positive, red is bad and negative. So he then went through a variety of examples to show how you can change your whole outlook on life by re-thinking on the “green platform” instead of the red. It’s not easy, especially when you’re facing a really challenging situation in your personal or work life. Hopefully we’ll all leave here making sure we try to think green!

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech

Alltech Looks To The Future

Chuck Zimmerman

Dr. Mark LyonsThe “younger” Dr. Lyons took the stage today at the Alltech International Symposium. He is Dr. Mark Lyons, director of North America for Alltech. He talked about “Game Changers: The 7th Step for the Health and Vitality of Mankind,” with a focus on future generations

One of the areas he spent some time on was obesity and he shared some startling figures like the fact that worldwide obesity has doubled since 1980 and it costs an average person $1429 per year in increased health costs. He emphasized, “There is a sea of change taking place in our industry. Food and healthcare are at odds and the cost of both is spiraling out of control.”

You can listen to an interview with Mark here that was done by Aly Rowell: Dr. Mark Lyons Interview

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech

Alltech On Programmed Nutrition

Chuck Zimmerman

Dr. Karl DawsonThe closing general session of the Alltech Symposium features a number of speakers. First up is Dr. Karl Dawson, Center for Animal Nutrigenomics and Applied Animal Nutrition, Alltech. His theme is “Programmed Nutrition.” A very interesting concept. He was introduced by Dr. Pearse Lyons as Mr. Genomics since he has created or been involved in the creation of so many new words that end in genomics.

Dr. Dawson says he’s more optimistic about the future of animal health and human nutrition than he ever has been. He then walked us through many of the projects Alltech is working on in this area via the Center that he manages. Some quotes that really caught my attention from his talk include:

“Performance & product quality are not influenced by the genes but ultimately determined by gene expression.”

“You are what your mother ate.”

“It’s not just what we feed but when we feed it.”

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech, Animal Health

Ag Industry Celebrates Life of Lindsay Hill

Cindy Zimmerman

Family, friends and farmer fans are missing a bright light in the agriculture industry whose life was cut short in an accident last week. But as hundreds came to pay their respects at the memorial services for Lindsay Hill this week, they celebrated her brief but stellar career and passion for life.

“Friends have gathered to pay their last respects and tribute to one of the greatest ladies I’ve ever known. The sun is shining, because heaven’s newest angel smiles upon so many today,” wrote Lindsay’s former husband and business partner Andy Vance on his Facebook. Read his touching tribute to her on his blog.

One of those friends and colleagues who attended the memorial service in De Graff, Ohio Tuesday was NAFB Regional vice president Meghan Greber, who served on the NAFB board with Lindsay as president for the past five months. “She was an amazing woman that offered so much to the Ag community and will be missed greatly,” Meghan wrote.

Lindsay had just started work last month as Agribusiness Director for Farm Journal Media with duties on AgDay and U.S. Farm Report, but had already made an impression on the viewers, many of whom commented on her loss. Watch the AgDay tribute to her at the end of Friday’s show.

A quote from Lindsay on her Facebook page has now become her legacy.

“Life is too short to wake up with regrets. Love the people who treat you right. Forgive those who don’t. Believe everything happens for a reason. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.”

Those wishing to make contributions in Lindsay’s memory may do so to: The Lindsay Hill Memorial Fund at The Ohio State University Foundation, 1480 West Lane Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43221. More information can be found here.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her.

NAFB

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

Zimfo Bytes

Alltech Discussion Dinners Get Social

Chuck Zimmerman

Damien and BillyDiscussion dinners on a variety of topics were held last night at the Alltech International Symposium. I attended the Communications dinner which had a focus on social media. Pictured are our discussion moderators (l-r) Damien O’Reilly and Billy Frey. I will be sharing an interview with Billy in next week’s ZimmCast.

Our dinner discussion provided an interesting insight into what people in agribusiness know, or think they know, about social media. Most of those in the room were either personally involved or professionally in their business. Some comments that caught my attention included:

A European participant said that not many farmers are involved in social media. I don’t know what the environment is across the pond but here in America I would disagree with that to a certain extent. So many farm companies and member organizations have been conducting training programs and encouraging farmers to get involved in the online discussion that I believe we have “a lot” of farmers involved in social media.

Another participant wanted to know how you “control” what people are saying about your company or products. Control is a red flag word to me. You have no control! No matter what your desire is, you can’t control what people are saying. However, Billy made a good point about how you can “manage” the conversation by being involved and engaging people even if they write something negative about you or your company. I always say that they’re going to talk about you whether you join the conversation or not.

A student participant startled everyone by telling us to “get off Facebook.” She said there’s no way you can believe anything you read on it and she didn’t like the idea that a company would check up on an applicant by looking at their Facebook page. Sorry, young lady. Facebook along with other social media channels are open to everyone and I highly encourage you to be careful about what you post anywhere. On the point of believing what you read, I agree to a certain extent. You need to be careful about what you read and that includes product reviews. One participant was sure that his competition was paying people to write negative comments about his products online. He didn’t have proof though. But I certainly believe it does happen. I’m just not sure how much.

It was a very good discussion but showed me that there is a long way to go when it comes to companies integrating social media into their marketing communications mix. One other comment that I appreciated was on the subject of ROI for social media expenses. He asked why it is that companies don’t have a clue what the return is on their advertising expenses for traditional media and yet want to know exactly how many widgets they sold by investing some dollars in social media. Good question. It’s kind of like a double standard. Several participants said that their use of social media had positive returns for their business.

Follow the action on the Alltech Innovations Blog, including photos, interviews and there will be live streaming of certain sessions.

2011 Alltech Symposium Photo Album

Alltech, Social Networking

Major Skepticism Over USDA Corn Forecast

Chuck Zimmerman

Well there is certainly a healthy dose of skepticism shown in our latest ZimmPoll in answer to the question, “Will USDA forecast for record 13.5 billion bushels of corn come true?” An overwhelming majority (61 percent) say NO. Only 30 percent say yes and 9 percent say maybe. In light of the weather we’ve had so far this year I don’t find this surprising at all. Do you?

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “What is your opinion about the Farm Bill?” The political rhetoric is already heating up. Chime in with your thoughts.

And if you have any questions you want to suggest for future ZimmPolls please let us know.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

ZimmPoll