Driving Green in HD

Chuck Zimmerman

Perhaps you’ve heard about YouTube allowing bigger file uploads and HD quality. Perhaps not. That’s what ZimmComm is here for.

This week I’ve been experimenting with video to provide higher quality via the online destination for video. It has not been easy but then whatever is that’s worth it? With the new John Deere Drive Green project we’re involved in I decided to upgrade my MoJo (I’ll be doing an update of this soon) with a Canon HD (AVCHD) camera. I naively thought it would be “the same” when it comes to editing, etc. Wrong. It’s a whole new learning experience which has involved mastering at least 5 new programs and hours of experimenting with exports, uploads, etc. Maybe I just need a new Flip?

So, here’s my first successful HD video clip. What do you think? And before someone comments, yes, I will use the wind filter on the mic next time.

John Deere, Video

Happy Holidays

Chuck Zimmerman

This holiday greeting comes from the Mother Nature Network.

Holiday Greetings From Mother Nature Network

Dear friend of Mother Nature,

Welcome to the hundreds of new subscribers who have joined us since our beta quietly launched earlier this month. The buzz is building…see what the New York Times has to say. And we greatly appreciate the helpful advice and ideas you’ve sent our way.

Up next, our environmental news, green innovation, lively blogs, family tips, and how-to guides. Opinions?

With a holiday glow,

The MNN Team

Media

Cow Art and More

Chuck Zimmerman

Cow Art And MoreI’m not sure why I haven’t found this before but you can thank Twitter. Cow Art and More also has a blog.

Cow Art and More is the online art gallery where “art and agriculture meet.” It is the project of Kathy Swift, a veterinarian and jewelry artist. She came up with the idea after realizing that the art and agriculture communities do not tend to cross paths. Since 2008, Cow Art and More allows highly talented artists an opportunity to exhibit and sell their art to cattle enthusiasts across the country.

CowArtandMore.com accounts are quick, free and easy to set up. Buyers on the site can rest assured that we maintain a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Users can also utilize a number of unique services, which enable them to refine their preferences and ultimately select the right piece of art. CowArtandMore.com also works to safeguard the online security and privacy of its users.

CowArtandMore.com’s goal is to make original art centered around the agriculture community, with all its visual and emotional appeal, more accessible to members of the said community so that it can become a bigger part of an increasing number of people’s everyday lives. Towards this end, CowArtandMore.com works hard to maintain its position at the leading edge of the industry with innovative, useful and user-friendly products and services.

Uncategorized

Happy Holidays

Chuck Zimmerman

NewCentury Marketing Services Holiday GreetingThis time from NewCentury Marketing Services, Inc.

Season’s Greetings

Wishing you…

every happiness this Holiday Season and prosperity in the New Year. Thank you for being our customer. We look forward to continuing our relationship in the coming year.

Holiday Hours
Our Office will be closed
Thursday December 25th, 2008 and Friday December 26th, 2008.
Thursday January 1st, 2009 and Friday January 2nd, 2009.
We will re-open Monday January 5th 2009.

All the best to you and your family

NewCentury Marketing Services, Inc.

Agribusiness

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Arendt’s Holstein Resort, Inc. was named Minnesota’s 2008 Producers of the Year by the Minnesota Milk Producers Association at the Midwest Dairy Expo on Dec. 9 in St. Cloud, Minn. Mark and Kathi Arendt own and operate Arendt’s Holstein Resort near Mazeppa, Minn., along with their son Nate and his wife Mindi.
  • The Appaloosa Horse Club is now accepting applications for the 2009 Cowboy Way Trading Post in Jackson, Miss., held June 22 through July 4 at the State Fairgrounds.
  • LibertyLink soybeans are now officially commercialized for the U.S. soybean market—giving growers a new nonselective herbicide-tolerant system in soybeans for the 2009 season. LibertyLink soybean varieties featuring top-yielding genetics and built-in tolerance to Ignite herbicide are available through more than 85 seed companies.
  • Sustainable Oils, a producer and marketer of renewable, environmentally clean, and high-value camelina-based biofuels will participate in an historic flight by Japan Airlines planned for Jan. 30, 2009. The demonstration flight will make JAL the first Asian carrier to fly on fuel derived from sustainable feedstocks and the first airline to use camelina-based bio-jet fuel.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Happy Holidays

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Herd It Was Christmas TimeHey photographers. Have you got a holiday card to share?

    Lisa Perrin, Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association does. The photo in the card (cover) is hers. The hats were added afterward.

    She “Herd It Was Christmas Time.” Merry Christmas Lisa.

    Ag Groups

    Blue Ribbon Cookbook Wins Prize

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Blue Ribbon CookbookLiz Harfull, IFAJ e-news editor and author of The Blue Ribbon Cookbook is pretty excited.

    A best-selling book about South Australian country show cooks and their prizewinning recipes will represent Australia in the 2008 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

    The Blue Ribbon Cookbook by Adelaide Hills author Liz Harfull has been selected from a record number of entries to be named Australian winner for the Best Easy Recipes Book category. It will now compete against finalists from other countries for the Best in the World award, due to be announced at a gala dinner in May 2009.

    Published by Wakefield Press, the book celebrates the traditions of country shows and their cookery competitions. It features the stories, recipes and secret tips of about 50 show cooks throughout state, with historic and contemporary photos of the shows, the cooks and the food.

    ‘It is extremely exciting to have the book recognised at such a high level, and a great tribute to the team at Wakefield Press who worked on it, as well as the talents and generosity of the show cooks who so willingly shared with me their stories and knowledge,’ Liz said.

    Media

    Happy Holidays

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Ervin Group Holiday GreetingThe Happy Holidays just keep coming. I’m trying to space them out but this is proving to be a popular post.

    This time we’ve got a Warm Fuzzy from the Ervin Group. You sensitive types may want to know that it’s faux fur.

    Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from everyone at Ervin Group in Omaha!

    Thanks Ken. Same back at you.

    Agencies

    More Media Fragmentation and Diminished Importance of Reach

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Loyal AgWired fans will know that I am a big fan of Steve Rubel, Micro Persuasion. He’s one of the new media guru’s who helped form my initial thinking about the online world and the direction it was going at the time we started ZimmComm New Media. He posted a great outlook for where media is going yesterday which is also his column in AdAge. In it he addresses one of the key issues that “traditional” media and “traditional” media buyers/planners are having with online content delivery mechanisms – fragmentation and meaningful metrics.

    Although advertisers increasingly are exploring other metrics, i.e. engagement and reputation, reach still rules — at least for now. Unfortunately, reach is slowly losing its value as media consumption increasingly moves deeper into the digital realm.

    Where in the analog age we might be loyal to a given media brand, today’s consumers are far more agnostic. We’re more likely to dip into an array of online sources including traditional news sites and blogs — and often via search or social networks.

    All of this diminishes the entire concept of reach. After all, if a site claims that it reaches millions but they’re all just drive-bys, do such figures truly matter? In the years ahead, advertisers will rethink reach and not pay nearly as much for it as they did when they bought media based on a rate base and/or circulation. This will create tremendous disruption for media companies as they have to shift to new ways to prove their value.

    It’s his belief (I share it) that “five years from now all media will either be completely digital or well on its way to becoming intangible.” Then marketers will have to rely on great creative and employ multiple media channels to achieve their goals.

    If you’re in media buying or planning what are your major concerns right now? How do you plan to best invest your limited dollars? Do you think you understand today’s consumer (farmer) media consumption habits?

    Media

    Happy Holidays

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Livestock Publications Council Holiday GreetingHappy holiday this time comes from the Livestock Publications Council.

    To all of our LPC friends and associates, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We look forward to a brilliant 2009.

    Diane Johnson
    Livestock Publications Council

    I’ve been asked if I’m going to put all these in a Flickr set. Hmm. No probably not. Unless you think I should . . .

    LPC