NAMA and ARC and Public Relations Content

Chuck Zimmerman

The Agricultural Relations Council and the National Agri-Marketing Association just announced that they have entered into an informal partnership focused on developing enhanced public relations content for upcoming industry events. We’ll see the results of this at the Agri-Marketing Conference next April with the joint creation of PR-track content.

As part of the agreement, an ARC board member – Mike Opperman of Charleston|Orwig – will serve on the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference planning committee.

National Agri-Marketing Association“We are continually looking for ways to strengthen the content of our conferences,” said Jenny Pickett, executive director of NAMA. “With this new partnership with ARC, we have a great opportunity to drive a more meaningful discussion about the role and utility of public relations in agri-marketing, and how our members can more effectively use PR to support their own business goals.” Pickett noted that the partnership between NAMA and ARC, each an independent organization, fits in with NAMA’s goal of forming alliances with industry organizations to help strengthen professional development.

Ultimately, ARC will contribute to developing two tracks of “ARC-approved” PR sessions that will take place during the 2011 conference, said Den Gardner, executive director of ARC. “This new partnership with NAMA gives ARC a bigger platform from which to promote the art and science of agricultural public relations,” Gardner said. “It also fits with our mission to give ARC members who attend allied meetings a great opportunity to stay connected to ARC’s timely and relevant PR programming throughout the year.

ARC, NAMA

Outsourcing Social Media

Chuck Zimmerman

Hopefully the title grabbed some attention. I’ve been meaning to write a post about this for a while. But after seeing some examples this week, both good and bad, I thought it was time. So let’s get started.

There is nothing wrong with outsourcing the management of your social media channels. I’m speaking directly to agribusinesses and farm groups. I’ve seen some serious growth in this practice lately. This can be a good thing. However . . .

There is a right and a wrong way to go about it. In my opinion the number one “right” way is with the T word = Transparency! Be open and honest about what you’re doing and who is doing it. Or, please don’t do it at all. I’m talking about you companies that outsource your Twitter account and Facebook page to an agency. Why won’t you let your customers or members know this? Afraid to? Why do I care? Because social media is about personal engagement and trust. If you want me to believe that you care enough to join the online conversation then please don’t pretend that what you’re “saying” is you when it’s not you. I would much rather know who I’m listening to. Take Monsanto as an example. They make good use of their Twitter bio to let you know who is tweeting. They are doing it internally but the bio could just as easily have said that the person tweeting worked for an agency. Are you aware of any ag companies who are transparent about this, especially when they outsource it? What is your opinion?

So is the reason companies aren’t open about who is doing their social media because they think it will negatively impact their credibility? If so, what do they think their credibility is like when customers find out it’s not them? And they will find out!

I believe social media is very different than traditional forms of marketing like advertising. When you see an advertisement you aren’t wondering who produced it and you’re not trying to interact with it. However, how many ads do you know where the producer/agency has been news themselves for their creativity? It’s not unheard of. Don’t consumers assume the company outsourced the creation of their advertising?

Enough for now. Coming up soon, I’ll try to move on to right and wrong ways to use your social media channels and how to pick a “social media expert.”

Advertising, Agencies, Social Networking

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Unveiled on the final day of the National Fisheries Institute’s (NFI) annual meeting in Chicago, PickMyFish.com is designed to end indecision by helping people find types of fish they’ll enjoy eating.
  • Nicholson Kovac, Inc., has announced promotions in its media and public relations departments, as well as six recent additions to the agency’s account service, social media and public relations groups.
  • Chevron’s brand of Delo lubricant has selected the finalists for its 2010 Delo Tractor Restoration Competition.
  • Broadhead + Co has expanded its creative staff by seven to keep pace with its growing and evolving business needs.
Zimfo Bytes

Alltech Café Citadelle Helping Haitians

Chuck Zimmerman

If you’re a coffee lover and want to support a good cause then consider Alltech Café Citadelle. I bought two pounds at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games where Carlos Ronchi was pouring for attendees.

Carlos says that a cooperative in Haiti is producing the coffee and they’re re-building after the devastating earthquake earlier this year. Attendees at the WEG like the coffee and the story behind it and are very happy to help. You can listen to my interview with Carlos: Carlos Ronchi Interview

Here’s what Alltech President, Dr. Pearse Lyons, says about this way to help the needy in Haiti.

We believed that buying Haitian coffee was one of the best ways that we could have an immediate impact. We decided to launch our own brand of Haitian coffee and to incorporate this coffee into existing Alltech products. After several trips to Haiti, we found the perfect partner: Cacgava is a 900 member coffee co-op located in Dondon, a small village in the mountains in northern Haiti. It is Haiti’s oldest coffee co-op and is fair-trade certified by FLO-CERT, an independent International Certification company. The coffee’s name was derived from the Citadelle Laferrière, the largest fortress in the Americas, next to which Cacgava and its member farms are located. Alltech Café Citadelle is a high quality, mild, mountain-grown Arabica. It is naturally shade-grown and is fair-trade.

Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games
is sponsored by: john-deere

Alltech, Audio, Horses, International

Andre Pater and John Deere Support Race For Education

Chuck Zimmerman

Polish born artist Andre Pater was on hand at the John Deere media reception at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. He was signing prints of one of his four paintings that he produced for the Race For Education. You can purchase one of them online.

I spoke with him about his work and support for the Race For Education. He has lived in the Lexington area for over 20 years. He says it’s like living in Heaven. He loves the idea behind the Race For Education and was happy to help them by creating art work of the major competitions at the WEG: reining, dressage, jumping and driving. You can listen to my interview with Andre: Andre Pater Interview
The Race For Education (RFE) is a national 501(c)(3) scholarship organization, that enables young people of equine industry families as well as those who want to pursue an equine-related or agricultural career, both with significant financial need, to obtain a college degree by providing tuition support; financial literacy training to help students minimize their debt load; mentoring services to provide students with emotional support; and permanent jobs upon graduation.

Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games
is sponsored by: john-deere

Audio, Education, Horses, John Deere

AdFarm Adds

Chuck Zimmerman

AdFarmAdFarm has expanded their public relations staff with the hiring of two new employees and an internal promotion. Congratulations guys.

Dan Kirkpatrick has been hired as a senior public relations strategist and business development lead, with a special focus in Iowa. A marketing practitioner with 25 years experience, Kirkpatrick’s industry expertise ranges from production agriculture to the rural lifestyle market to the green industry.

Neil Neumeyer has been hired as a public relations account executive. He has worked in multiple marketing communications agencies since 1998 and specializes in strategic public/media relations, cause marketing, event management and copywriting. For more than seven years he was the corporate communications manager at Bernstein-Rein.

Dan Danford has been promoted to strategic team lead. In this role, he leads the team for a group of client business — providing strategic counsel and direction to effectively achieve clients’ business objectives, as well as concentrating on account growth and new-business opportunities. He is a veteran media relations and marketing professional with a strong background in agri-marketing and public relations.

Agencies

Fabulous Farm Babe at Dairy Expo

Cindy Zimmerman

world dairy expo 2010The weather has been fabulous so far this week for the 2010 World Dairy Expo and Wisconsin’s own Fabulous Farm Babe (Pam Jahnke) has been hard at work as usual. She was the first person I saw when I walked in the door yesterday morning, so I figured she would make a great first interview for the expo since she has been the local farm broadcaster in Madison for over 20 years.

I talked with Pam about her background, her career, covering the expo as a reporter and judging cattle as a kid, how the show has changed and how the dairy industry in Wisconsin is doing these days.

Enjoy my interview with the Fabulous Farm Babe here: Pam Jahnke Interview

Check out the 2010 World Dairy Expo Photo Album and the rest of our coverage of #wde10 on World Dairy Diary sponsored by Alpharma, Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition, Charleston-Orwig, Novartis Animal Health and Novus International.

Audio, Dairy, NAFB, Novus International, World Dairy Expo

Hoards Dairyman Celebrating 125 Years

Chuck Zimmerman

world dairy expo 2010 hoards birthdayCindy is on location at World Dairy Expo so I thought I’d share one of her posts from World Dairy Diary:

The World Dairy Expo exhibitor party sponsored by Hoard’s Dairyman is always a special event, but this year it was extra special because they are celebrating 125 years!

To mark the anniversary, the publication called in the University of Wisconsin marching band as surprise entertainment for the event. It just happened to be at the exact time that President Obama was speaking on the UW campus just a few miles away, so there was a little concern about whether the band would make it or not. But they made it right on time, giving up their opportunity to see the president visit their school to pay tribute to the dairy industry.

Watch the video of the band here:

world dairy expo 2010 hoards birthdayInstead of getting presents, Hoard’s was giving presents to celebrate their milestone. They presented World Dairy Expo with artist Bonnie Mohr’s updated “Foster Mothers of the Human Race” featuring all seven dairy breeds. The original Foster Mothers print was created in 1957 followed by updates in 1963, 1991, and 1993 — all of which were painted by former Hoard’s Dairyman Art Director James Baird. Bonnie was commissioned by Hoard’s to paint the new version specifically for the 125th anniversary and it was unveiled officially in June. You can order prints online from Hoards.

2010 World Dairy Expo Photo Album

Thanks to our World Dairy Expo sponsors:
Alpharma Arm & Hammer Charleston-Orwig Novartis Animal Health and by Novus

Dairy, Media, Video, World Dairy Expo

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The National Sorghum Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2010 Sorghum Challenge Scholarship and the Darrell T. Rosenow Memorial Scholarship.
  • John Deere Horicon Works announced production of the company’s 500,000th Gator utility vehicle, marking the milestone by building one of John Deere’s latest models, the XUV825i.
  • The U.S. dairy industry announced that it has completed a carbon footprint study that measured the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with a gallon of milk in the United States.
  • Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey announced that the Doug and Laurie Doran Family, who farm Beaver in Boone County, are the winners of the September “Gary Wergin Good Farm Neighbor Award.”li>

Zimfo Bytes

IFAJ Congress 2013 – Argentina

Chuck Zimmerman

The organizers for the 2013 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) Congress have announced some news.

On July 21, 2010, a meeting took place at the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange Building to create a work team for the 2013 IFAJ Congress. Besides the Argentine Circle of Agricultural Journalists (CAPA, by its Spanish acronym) Executive Board members, 35 representatives of different enterprises and institutions attended the event, all of which are related to the agribusiness sector. The first issue developed was the image we want to show to the world. We analyzed the results obtained from the survey made to the members of the CAPA and members of the IFAJ, in which the selection of a logotype and a slogan representing the 2013 IFAJ Congress was proposed. The participants also gave their opinions and finally, the most voted logotype was selected.

Following this line of work, another important issue we worked on was the slogan and the Congress objectives. The following concepts were put forward: “We have the potential to feed the world”, “Showing a diversity of sectors”, “Genuine traditional countryside elements wealth”. Possible venues suggested by the participants were also evaluated, including Buenos Aires, Salta and Rosario. After the debate took place, it was agreed that the most accurate option would be Rosario, due to the wide and assorted range of possibilities this city offers: ports, dairy farms, cattle farming, agriculture (it is the heart of one of the most productive regions of the country). Even so, we do not exclude the possibility of visiting other cities and an inevitable stopover in Buenos Aires. In addition, within the possible topics to be discussed in the Congress, biodiesel was the most suggested by the participants.

IFAJ