NAMA President Thrilled With State of Industry

Cindy Zimmerman

The president of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) is thrilled with this year’s conference attendance and the current state of the organization.

“It’s always good to be the queen when things are good,” said Vicki Henrickson of BCS Communications. “We have 1700 members this year, we haven’t had that many since the year 2000. We’ve got 1200 registrations for conference this year, we’ve not had that many since 2001. We had 155 plus first timers at the conference this year – amazing. Everything is good!”

Listen to my interview with Vicki here:
Vicki Henrickson Interview

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
Agencies, Audio, NAMA

Become An 800-Pound Gorilla

Chuck Zimmerman

The first educational session at this year’s Agri-Marketing Conference focused on “Becoming and 800-pound Gorilla: How To Dominate Your Market.” Our presenter was Bill Guertin, Chief Enthusiasm Officer, The 800-Pound Gorilla. Well I guess he should know how to do it then!

I talked with Bill before his presentation. He says that the 800-pound gorilla is “the dominate player in any marketplace whose tactics and techniques result in an unfair share of the available business.” So he was here to help us discover how to achieve this. He uses an anecdote from the sports industry to make a point of how you can do this. Listen in: Bill Guertin Interview

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
Audio, NAMA

Giving Reversible a New Meaning

Melissa Sandfort

I’ve owned reversible jackets, pants and hats, but I’ve never owned a pair of cotton flannel double-thumbed gloves. They might look a bit of an oddity, but they were quite popular back in the day for husking corn. Corn picking was done by hand, and then you’d have to take the husks off before putting it in the sheller or grinder. What a chore for your hands!

Double-thumbed gloves to the rescue. Once you wore through the palm on one side, you’d just flip it over and get back to work.

And well aware that money only stretched so far back then, they would sometimes smear tar on the gloves to make them last longer.

I’m thinking a pair of these would be nice for avid gardeners.

And by the way, isn’t that what a combine is for these days?

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

Making Agri-Marketing Google Juice

Chuck Zimmerman

It has been a great opening day to the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference. ZimmComm has continued to make Google Juice and actually shared a little with our fans and clients in the Connection Point trade show. So cheers from Kansas City, MO.

Cindy and I will be collecting stories and interviews throughout the meeting and probably won’t get them all posted until after the conference since we’re both going on to other locations before getting back to ZimmComm World Headquarters. However, photos are being updated and we’ll have a lot more coverage here as we work our way through the next couple days. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hello this evening and we will see you from the show floor again tomorrow.

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
NAMA

Judging NAMA Student Marketing Competition

Chuck Zimmerman

What would a NAMA Student Marketing Competition be without judges? Here are some judges hard at it this morning during the preliminary presentations. I spoke to one of them, Kelly Loganbill (center). She’s just another example of NAMA member volunteer in action.

Kelly says these students represent “the fantastic future of agriculture.” She got involved to give back to the organization and see the ideas these students come up with. Listen in to our conversation: Kelly Loganbill Interview

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
Audio, Education, NAMA

Hall Monitor Maven

Chuck Zimmerman

It takes a lot of volunteers work to put on an Agri-Marketing Conference and a student marketing competition. Nancy Barcus, Agriculture Future of America, Director of Leader Development Programs is one. She’s the hall monitor during the early round of student presentations. She has to keep the hallway clear during presentations to prevent distractions. This is important stuff here!

Nancy is a new member of the NAMA Careers Committee. I spoke with Nancy about her job: Nancy Barcus Interview

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
Audio, NAMA

Visiting With Vance

Chuck Zimmerman

What is the one thing you like best about NAMA and the Agri-Marketing Conference? For me it’s the opportunities for networking and fellowship with clients and friends. That’s what I got to do at the Vance Publishing reception at The Cashew last night. While there I met Tim Tobeck, VP/Publishing Director. Tim is relatively new to Vance so with my trusty iPhone in hand we did a short interview so we could get to know him and learn what’s new.

Tim says he’s excited about coming to Vance since he’s been in business publishing for nearly 40 years. He grew up on a ranch and has been breeding livestock in Colorado. He says he came back to the business “because I saw Vance as a company that used old media and new media together to really build a sense of community” That’s speaking my language Tim!

Learn what’s new with Vance: Tim Tobeck Interview

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
Audio, Media, NAMA

AgWired App Now In Android Market

Chuck Zimmerman

The AgWired App is now available in the Android Market. You asked for it and you’ve got it. One of the new features we’re offering in this app (and soon to be added to the iPhone version) is the ability to share out stories via multiple mechanism like email, Twitter, etc. The first person to download the AgWired Android App to his phone was Deron Johnson, Rhea & Kaiser (AgWired sponsor), just prior to the student activities at the Agri-Marketing Conference.

Just like its iPhone predecessor, the app offers one-touch access to all the latest news and information in the agribusiness and agricultural marketing world posted on Agwired.com, including audio, photos and video, and connections to other ZimmComm news sites. The AgWired App features a news tab drop down menu to select ZimmComm News Network feeds as well as individual news on AgWired.com by category.

You can find the AgWired App in the Android Market with this link. The AgWired iPhone App has been downloaded onto almost 3,000 iPhones/iPod touches/iPads since we introduced it and is being opened for viewing between 3 to 5 times per day, showing a high level of use by those who have it.

I’ve been asked who we worked with to develop the AgWired App and will point you to rock solid mobile app developer WillowTree Apps.

App sponsors are being sought. Contact ZimmComm for more information, including rates. First time and early sponsor discounts available.

Apps, ZimmComm Announcement

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Chuck Zimmerman

Our last ZimmPoll asked the question, ” How should farmers respond to critical documentaries such as Food Inc.?” It’s not an easy question to answer really. Here’s what our poll results show. 45% said to Let their own actions shape their reputation, 43% said Promote ag through social media, 8% said Be informed but don’t initiate discussion and 3% said Ignore it, it will go away. Well, we know it’s not going away. What else can be done when faced with these types of attacks?

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What causes higher food prices?” Let us know what you think and thanks your your participation.

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

ZimmComm Will Make Google Juice at NAMA

Chuck Zimmerman

I’m just saying that when it comes to Google Juice you just don’t need to look further than ZimmComm New Media. So plan to stop by booth 412 and let us introduce you to Google Juice ZimmComm style.

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
NAMA