Fastline Promotes Joe McWilliams To President

Chuck Zimmerman

Joe McWilliamsFastline Publications has promoted Joe McWilliams from VP, Sales and Marketing to President.

The former President and founder of Fastline Publications, Bill Howard, will continue his role as CEO of the company.

McWilliams began his career at Fastline as a National Sales Manager in the farm and truck divisions. He has been with the company for 13 years.

“This promotion is in recognition of Joe’s dedication and significant achievements with our company,” said Howard. “His passion and loyalty to Fastline’s products, customers, and staff is unmatched. Joe has demonstrated a continuous desire to see Fastline succeed.”

McWilliams primary focus will continue to be Fastline’s sales. He will also have executive oversight of training and development as well as marketing. McWilliams said, “Along with our entire management group, I will be devoting a significant amount of my time and energy to ensure that Fastline continue our path of appropriate growth and development. These are challenging times but there are also great opportunities. Our focus has been and will continue to be, helping to make our customers even more successful.”

Media

Social Networking and Blogs Beat Out Personal Email

Chuck Zimmerman

In advance of the upcoming NAMA convention and our breakout session on social networking, this Nielsen Online report (pdf) is very timely and interesting.

Now visited by over two-thirds (67 percent) of the global* online population, “Member Communities,” which includes both social networks and blogs, has become the fourth most popular online category – ahead of personal email. It is growing twice as fast as any of
the other four largest sectors (search, portals, PC software and email), according to The Nielsen Company’s “Global Faces and Networked Places,” a comprehensive report published today revealing the new global footprint of social networking.

“Social networking has become a fundamental part of the global online experience,” says John Burbank, CEO of Nielsen Online. “While two-thirds of the global online population already accesses member community sites, their vigorous adoption and the migration of time show no signs of slowing.

Social networking will continue to alter not just the global online landscape, but the consumer
experience at large. This study explains why.”

According to the Nielsen report, Facebook – the world’s most popular social network – is visited monthly by three in every 10 people online across the nine markets in which Nielsen tracks social networking use. Orkut in Brazil has the largest domestic online reach (70 percent) of any social network in these markets.

The report, available today, provides insights into the changing size and audience composition of the global social networking audience and the increasing share of Internet time for which it accounts. The report also analyzes how the major players are faring and what advertisers and publishers can do to take advantage of the social network phenomenon.

Other key findings include:
– One in every 11 minutes online globally is accounted for by social network and blogging sites.
– The social network and blogging audience is becoming more diverse in terms of age: the biggest increase in visitors during 2008 to “Member Community” Web sites globally came from the 35-49 year old age group (+11.3 million).

Uncategorized

Portcasting and Platform Independent Media Consumption

Chuck Zimmerman

Association for Downloadable MediaThanks to a heads up from the Association for Downloadable Media I read a great article by Jim Meskauskas, iMedia Connection. He writes about media planning and buying and this one is titled, “Your outdated planning process and how to fix it.” He gets right to the point in the subtitle:

The way audiences use media has changed, but agencies’ planning processes have not. Here’s how marketers need to adapt for the platform-independent future of media consumption.

Platform independent media consumption. Interesting term we’re hearing more of lately. The old platforms are not working so well. Look at what’s happening with newspapers. So what does he think of today’s media buyers and planners?

Today, media planners and buyers still focus on determining the right platform for carrying messages, the currency for placing that message and the metrics for determining the success or failure of that platform. The audiences that planners and buyers wish to reach, however, do not think of their media consumption this way. Thus, much of the planning landscape is being neglected by the discipline’s practitioners. They end up measuring the potential of a platform rather than the content associated with an ad message. In short, planners and buyers are measuring forests without knowing anything about the trees that are in them.

He also has an interesting new way to define what we have been calling podcasting.

Portcasting

“Portcasting” is the term I use for what in the past would have been called podcasting. Because the near-future of media usage is based on its portability, “port” is the operative descriptor for the media being “cast.”

It’s a good read and I appreciate your thoughts on it. If you’re in the agency business consider this last excerpt:

If they hope to maintain relevance in the coming years, agencies must find a way to address the meaning of platform-independent content and the need for real cumulative media effectiveness measures across platforms.

I think some of this will be included in my social media breakout session at the upcoming NAMA conference.

Podcasts

Accelerate Your Beans In 2009

Chuck Zimmerman

Monsanto AcceleronBesides the new Genuity brand, Monsanto was also promoting other brands at Commodity Classic. One such brand is Acceleron, a seed treatment system. I’m sure there are still people who aren’t quite sure just what Acceleron is. To help explain it, I spoke with Tom Schaefer.

He says they launched the product line last fall. They had in-field plots out and saw great performance and yield increases. He says growers should know that the beans will be a different color and they’ll see good plantability and early season performance. There is a pretty tight supply this season on Round Up Ready Yield on bean varieties so he suggests calling your dealer now.

New Acceleron™ Seed Treatment System helps maximize the performance potential of your seed and traits right from the start. Designed to complement new seed and trait products, Acceleron can improve stands and plant health to help maximize the performance potential of your crop.

Available in 2009 as a feature of Genuity™ Roundup Ready 2 Yield™ soybeans. Followed by the introduction of corn in 2010 and expansion into other crops and vegetables in 2011 benefiting hybrids, varieties and traits across a broad geography.

You can listen to my interview with Tom here: cc-09-monsanto.mp3

Agribusiness, Audio, Commodity Classic

PCV Vaccine Studies

Cindy Zimmerman

There are a number of vaccines currently on the market for hog producers to control PCV2 and associated diseases. The question for producers is, which one is best for them, especially given today’s challenging market for the hog industry.

BIVI John WaddellSome of the vaccines are single dose, some require more than one injection – and most are designed for healthy pigs over the age of 3-4 weeks. A number of studies have been done on the vaccines available and what producers can expect when using them. Some of those studies were presented at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Swine Health Seminar in Dallas on Friday.

Dr. John Waddell with Sutton Veterinary Clinic in Sutton, NE presented his findings on the evaluation of Ingelvac Circoflex on growth performance of pigs in a subclinical PCVAD herd. “We found about a tenth of a day average daily gain in the finishing phase, which equates to about 8-10 pounds at finishing,” he said.

Listen to an interview with Dr. Waddell here: bivi-09-dallas-waddell.mp3

BIVI Paul YeskeDr. Paul Yeske with the Swine Vet Center in Minnesota talked about the effect of different PCV2 vaccine protocols on weaned pig performance to slaughter weight. “We learned that the vaccination for PCVAD is effective no matter which vaccine they use,” Yeske said. The main difference they found was that the single dose vaccines resulted in less treatments overall for the animals. “Certainly anytime we can reduce labor is helpful for producers.”

Listen to an interview with Dr. Yeske here: bivi-09-dallas-yeske.mp3

BIVI Joel NeremDr. Joel Nerem with Minnesota’s Pipestone Veterinary Clinic compared the efficacy of a couple of different vaccines on the market, and once again found very little significant difference between them. “What we found was that the one dose CircoFLEX at weaning was equivalent to the two-dose product we were on,” Dr. Nerem said. But a big difference they did find was in mortality, “The CircoFLEX was the only treatment that was statistically different from controls.”

Listen to an interview with Dr. Nerem here: bivi-09-dallas-nerem.mp3

Download the interviews here:
Dr. John Waddell
Dr. Paul Yeske
Dr. Joel Nerem

BIVI 09 Dallas Photo Album

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Q and A on PCV2 Vaccination

Cindy Zimmerman

BIVI Tanja OpriessnigPorcine circovirus type 2 – better known in the swine world as PCV2 – has become increasingly important for hog producers to control through the use of vaccines.

One of the world’s leading researchers on the topic gave a comprehensive presentation to swine vet practitioners on Friday at the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica swine health seminar in Dallas. Dr. Tanja Opriessnig with Iowa State University discussed some of the recent research in the field and the commonly asked questions regarding PCV2 vaccines.

Listen to an interview with Dr. Opriessnig here: bivi-09-dallas-tanja.mp3

Download the interview here: Dr. Tanja Opriessnig

BIVI 09 Dallas Photo Album

Audio, Boehringer Ingelheim, Swine

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The 910GH is a new backhoe offering that fits New Holland’s sub-compact (<30 hp) tractors. Easily transported between job sites, the 910GH is designed for working in close quarters.
  • AgriLabs is awarding a total of $1,500 for scholarship grants to three state associations: The Nebraska Cattlemen Foundation, Lincoln, Neb.; the Oregon Cattlewomen in Salem, Ore.; and the Oklahoma Cattlewomen, Oklahoma City, Okla.
  • The American Soybean Association will serve an array of soy-based foods to members of Congress, government officials and industry representatives at the Seventh Annual Congressional Soyfoods Lunch on Wednesday, March 11.
  • With 236 companies exhibiting in 943 booths, the 2009 Commodity Classic Trade Show set a record in Grapevine, Texas, for the largest show in the history of Commodity Classic. More growers attended Commodity Classic this year than in 2008—1,513—with total attendance of 4,527.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Recommended Reading – WWGD?

    Chuck Zimmerman

    What Would Google DoAfter just getting home I saw that my copy of the Jeff Jarvis book, “What Would Google Do?” has arrived. I highly recommend reading this book and I’ll probably do an occasional post about something I find in it.

    For starters, on the first page:

    The mass market is dead, replaced by the mass of niches.

    Boy, how hard is that for the traditional marketer to accept much less understand?

    How about:

    Owning pipelines, people, products, or even intellectual property is no longer a key to success. Openness is.

    I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked why all the information we publish is “free.” Why do we teach other people about new media? Or as most put it, “to do what you do?” Why would we place our content online, especially in platforms like YouTube or Flickr?

    Hmm. Let me think about that for a minute. Could it be because that’s where the people I want to interact with are? Could that be where your customers or members are?

    Internet

    Dixie Deer Classic Wrapup

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Dixie Deer RacksThe Dixie Deer Classic will end tomorrow but I won’t be here. I finished up my work with the Drive Green Tractor Utility Show this afternoon.

    It wasn’t all hard work though and I had time to wander around. Today they had a flea market on the grounds that was huge. Apparently it’s every Saturday on the North Carolina State Fair grounds. The weather couldn’t have been more picture perfect. I took a few and added them to the photo album.

    As they measure or score more and more deer racks, the number of “trophies’ lining the walls gets bigger and bigger. Here’s a shot of just one side of the area where they do it. Your first rack can be measured and entered in competition here for no charge but then your next one is only $5.

    Dixie Deer Classic Photo Album

    Hunting

    10 Ways to Increase Your Twitter Followers

    Amanda Nolz

    For you tweeters, this headline must have caught your eye. After all, most of us are on Twitter to try to project a message about our place of business, our passions and the things that interest us. An increase in your following with increase your ability to spread your messages to a wider audience. My Twitter life has substantially increased since the first day I signed on to give it a whirl. I’m still figuring things out, but I have decided it’s a fun way to let everyone know what I’m up to and stay in contact with other professionals. If you are on Twitter, and you are interested in my adventures, my two accounts are AmandaNolz and BEEFMagazine.

    kevin-rose Anyway, I found an article at the Poynter Institute titled, “10 Ways to Increase Your Twitter Followers.” The article was written by Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg and the cofounder of Pounce and Revision3. (Photo courtesy of Poynter Institute.) Kevin has over 88,000 followers on Twitter, and he is the second most followed person, after President Obama. Here is a little excerpt from this very useful article. I took home some important lessons from this article, and I hope you do, too!

    1. Explain to your followers what retweeting is and encourage them to retweet your links. Retweeting pushes your @username into foreign social graphs, resulting in clicks back to your profile. Track your retweets using retweetist.

    2. Fill out your bio. Your latest tweets and @replies don’t mean much to someone that doesn’t know you. Your bio is the only place you have to tell people who you are. Also, your bio is displayed on Twitter’s Suggested Users page. Leaving it blank or non-descriptive doesn’t encourage people to add you.

    To read the entire article or learn more about Kevin Rose, link to Poynter Online.

    Social Networking