Communicating Renewables Summit

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast-207 - Communicating RenewablesIf you’re involved in getting the message out about renewable energy then there’s a new conference just for you. It’s the “Communicating Renewables Summit.” In this week’s program Cindy talks to conference founder, Joanna Schroeder, 4RCommunications.

Some of you probably know Joanna from her days at the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (now Growth Energy). ZimmComm New Media and Domestic Fuel are media partners with the Summit.

Communicating Renewables SummitThe Summit takes place April 21-23, 2009 in Minneapolis, MN at the Hilton Minneapolis.

Energy Security. Economic Viability. Environmental Sustainability. Core benefits of the alternative energy industry. But how do you most effectively communicate these benefits without losing credibility with your target audiences? The first annual Communicating Renewables Summit is the only conference dedicated to the success of communicators working in the alternative energy industry. Discussions will cover issues such as: One Message Does Not Fit All; Common Pitfalls Felling Communicators Engaged in an Issues Management War; Sink or Swim: The Importance of Unification of Messages; Developing Media Relationships in a Hostile Environment; the Role of Public Policy in the Short-Term Viability of the Alternative Energy Industry; and more.

This week’s program ends with music from the Podsafe Music Network. It’s called, “To The Summit,” by Jon Schmidt. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

You can download and listen to the ZimmCast here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 207 (17 min MP3)

Or listen to this week’s ZimmCast right now:Interview with Joanna Schroeder - ZimmCast 207

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes

Audio, Energy, ZimmCast

National Agriculture Day 2009

Chuck Zimmerman

National Agriculture DayNational Ag Day is coming up very soon. Are you going to the “Investing in the future of agriculture and the future of America” Meet-and-Mingle Luncheon in Washington, DC? If so, please send me a photo since I will not be there. Here’s the details on it:

March 12, 2009
12:30–2:30 p.m.
Cannon House Office Building
25 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, D.C.
Caucus Room

Invited speaker:
Senator Tom Harkin

Honored guests include 50 student delegates from FFA, 4-H and AFA

Hosted by the Agriculture Council of America in celebration of National Ag Week.

National Ag Day materials are now available online.

Ag Groups

Fleming Leads Interactive For Lessing-Flynn

Chuck Zimmerman

Josh FlemingLessing-Flynn has launched an interactive division with Josh Fleming at the helm.

In response to a rapidly accelerating demand for web and online advertising capabilities, Lessing-Flynn has launched a new division of the firm designed to help clients develop marketing strategies and programs using the web and other interactive technologies.

“We’ve been helping clients with websites and other online marketing tactics for several years, but as clients and marketers are looking to take more of their marketing online to
help reduced marketing costs and measure their return on their marketing investment, it has become critical that we offer a more serious level of support in this area,” said Tom Flynn, President of Lessing-Flynn.

The new division will be led by Josh Fleming. Fleming has worked in interactive marketing for seven years with Dice.com and The Integer Group managing digital strategy and projects for clients. Fleming has also spent time at Gannett, Pulitzer and Tribune Publishing and graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor’s degree in English.

The interactive division will offer full-service interactive marketing, including web design/development, search engine optimization, online advertising, direct marketing, blog
sites, social media marketing, web analytics and other services.

Agencies

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The Hondo Group announced their green partnership with the Joint US-China Cooperation on Clean Energy. The Hondo Group will deliver a variety of creative services including green branding and development and Web site re-design.
  • Monsanto announces the launch of the Cotton Community, a new online Web site designed to encourage farmer-to-farmer exchanges on topics such as variety performance and agronomic practices. The site was put together as part of the on-going commitment to provide cotton farmers with in-depth information on the latest Deltapine Class of ‘09 varieties.
  • Ag Leader Technology, Inc., introduced the patent-pending SureStop electric row clutch for row crop planters. SureStop clutches, the latest component of Ag Leader’s SeedCommand system, provide growers with a low-maintenance, user-friendly solution to reduce seed costs and increase yield potential.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Join My Session at NAMA

    Chuck Zimmerman

    NAMA Session 2009At this year’s Agri-Marketing Conference I’ll be moderating a sizzling breakout session on social networking. We’re going to have some hot solutions for all of you who are scratching your heads over Twitter, Facebook, forums, blogs, podcasts, YouTube, Flickr . . . The theme is Hot Ideas, Sizzling Solutions in case you were wondering.

    This great looking group will be your panel, (l-r) David Coustan, Vice President, Digital, Edelman Digital, Kyle Flaherty, Director of Marketing and Social Media, BreakingPoint Systems, David Brazeal, General Manager, Learfield Data and yours truly. The session is titled, “Social Media DOES Fit in Your Marketing Decision – Moving Beyond This Decision.” Here’s the session description:

    Social media is everywhere these days. It is no longer a question whether social media fits your marketing strategy. Now it’s a decision of, “How? Where? What type?” Learn how to take the first steps in answering these questions and working to complement existing strategies.

    The panelists, from both inside and outside of the agriculture industry, will share real-life examples of social media successes and failures. Take their hot ideas and lessons learned to create sizzling solutions that make your organization stand out!

    Dave Coustan, Vice President, Digital, Edelman Digital

    Dave was one of the first official corporate bloggers for a national brand, serving as blog master and social media strategist for Fortune 1000 Internet service provider EarthLink. He has led best practices sessions on social media strategy and corporate blogging at nationwide events.

    Kyle Flaherty, Director of Marketing and Social Media, BreakingPoint Systems

    Kyle is an experienced social marketing and technology communications professional with a broad range of skills characterized by successes in high-tech marketing communications, public relations, social media, web development, community creation and community engagement.

    David Brazeal, General Manager, Learfield Data

    After attending J-School at the University of Missouri, David Brazeal worked as a radio reporter and wire service editor. Then the Internet lured him away from the newsroom. Now, he uses his experience to help clients communicate better with their customers and employees through a wide range of social media tools.

    And you know who the farm podcasting agriblogger is.

    NAMA

    Tricia Toughing It Out In Guatemala

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Tricia and Hooters GirlsThe U. S. Grains Council has a delegation on a trip to Guatemala this week and RFD Radio’s Tricia Braid-Terry is there on location.

    I’m not sure if you can tell which one of these Guatemala Hooters girls is Tricia but she wants us to know that she’s surviving. She also mentioned something about salsa music.

    You know they’ve got to feed those chickens something before we can get their wings. How about some great U. S. grain?

    International, Media

    Simple Solutions to Organizing Your Office

    Amanda Nolz

    Do you read this title and scoff at it because you are surrounded by an immaculate workspace? Do you cringe because the idea of organizing your office is more scary than a trip to the dentist’s office? Do you laugh because you haven’t organized your office since 1972, and your filing system consists of mountains of papers that only YOU know how to find?

    donnahrezoWherever you fall on the organization scale, I think anyone could benefit from a seminar like this. Today, I did just that as I listened to the founder of ilove2organize, Donna Hrezo, speak at the conference on organizing our lives, offices and homes. Here is what I learned…

    1. Filing systems should be all about easy retrieval, not about putting things out of sight.
    2. Straight line tabs in alphabetical order within a filing cabinet are easier to process than staggered tabs.
    3. Instead of color coded files, use color coded tabs to save money and label levels of priority.
    4. Keep your filing system 1/4 empty to allow space and easy filing.
    5. Plan to purge papers once a month. Ask yourself, “What is the worth thing that could happen if I don’t have this paper?”
    6. Tax and legal documents should be filed in a different place than things that are used on a daily basis.
    7. Reference material in two categories: active and archive. Keep archives separate from the active materials for quick references to the important things.

    For more tips and ideas on organizing your life and office space, sign up for the monthly e-newsletter today!

    Education

    Dairy Farm Makes a Difference

    Amanda Nolz

    My new friend, Annie Link, spoke at the Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference in Grand Rapids, Mich. today during the Partners Program. Annie is part of a multi-generational dairy operation called SwissLane Dairy Farms that is dedicated to their cows, the community and the environment. The dairy operation consists of 2,500 cows and 23 family members living within a two mile radius, working hard together every day to produce a high quality dairy product for consumers.

    website20pics2000420mediumRecently, Annie and her family established the Dairy Discovery Tour, an agri-tourism venture that opens up their farm for tours. Schools, churches, foreign travelers and the media have come to tour the farm and learn more about food production. Recently, the Oesch family even hosted a neighbor night, with over 600 attendants at the farm. The event included a meal, a guest speaker and guided tours. The tour is so popular that during the summer months, Annie and her family welcomed over 75 groups and 3,000 visitors to their operation. These are true advocates for agriculture, and they are doing a great job of incorporating a new marketing approach to their thriving business.

    wesjamison_tnInterestingly, Dr. Wes Jamison, a professor of animal welfare at the University of Florida, thinks that farms shouldn’t clean up before visitors arrive to the farm. Jamison spoke last night, and his topic was titled, “Animal Producers from Mars, Animal Lovers from Venus: Directing Agriculture through the curves of ethics, attitudes and expectations.” Dr. Jamison’s speech entered us into the minds of our opponents to better understand the reasons for this movement that is progressively changing the face of food production. Although Jamison gives props to operations like the Oesch family’s, he thinks the industry needs more transparency and openness to survive the animal rights movement and gain the trust of consumers, once again.

    “Don’t just show them the pretty side of the farm,” said Jamison in his keynote speech. “Show them death; show them dirt; show them the rough side of food production. If we try to hide these things, the animal rights activists will expose and exploit these things for us. We need to be open and honest and tell our own story.”

    So, what do you think? Should I start posting dehorning, castrating, vaccinating, weaning and calving videos on YouTube? Will this transparency backfire, or is it the secret to ending this movement before it’s too late? Curious minds want to know…

    Events, Farm Policy

    Energy Secretary Wants Us To Be Very Afraid

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Since I did a post on FarmPolicy.com I guess I can do another policy one on something that Joe Cornely brought to my attention via Twitter. He pointed to a story in the Los Angeles Times from an interview with our new Energy Secretary. If you look at the category for this post you’ll see where I place this guy. I just thought I’d point you to it since he’s one of the people who will be affecting policies and administrative decisions for at least 4 years and they could significantly change the way we do business in this country and especially in farming. Here’s a couple of Chu’s statement excerpts that might give you some pause for thought. California is his home state btw.

    ‘We’re looking at a scenario where there’s no more agriculture in California,’ Steven Chu says . . .

    California’s farms and vineyards could vanish by the end of the century, and its major cities could be in jeopardy, if Americans do not act to slow the advance of global warming, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said Tuesday.

    “I’m hoping that the American people will wake up,” Chu said, and pay the cost of rewiring.”

    I thought our new administration promised hope not fear. If this isn’t fear mongering then I don’t know what is. I personally don’t believe in man made global warming or that we can change natural climate change simply by making lifestyle changes. I do believe in climate change. We have these things called the seasons for one thing. I think we had an ice age once, actually more than one. I do believe that we should practice good environmental care and that farmers are some of the most environmentally friendly people on the planet. Air and water quality in big cities can be improved and renewable fuels is a good way to work on that besides relieving our dependence on foreign oil from countries that are not our friends. I think the bottom line is that we’ve got people in power now who have a goal of re-shaping society into their personal vision of it. Since the majority of Americans would never agree to it they have to have a very scared public in order to get their policies enacted and they have to push very quickly before people wise up.

    We’ve got some challenging times ahead and I don’t think it’s just the economy.

    Energy, Wackos

    FarmPolicy.com Lands New Sponsor

    Chuck Zimmerman

    FarmPolicy.comI want to congratulate Keith Good, FarmPolicy.com, for his new sponsor, McLeod, Watkinson & Miller. Keith is a shining example of the new media entrepreneur. He exhibits the classic traits of what can make you successful including, knowledge of his subject, passion and persistence. Here’s what his new sponsor has to say about him and his product:

    We have come to rely on the daily email reports of FarmPolicy.com as the best way to keep up with the many developments in American and global agriculture. There is no other report, either paid or free, that does as good a job as Keith Good does in FarmPolicy.com. Therefore, we were alarmed by the announcement that the reports would end on February 17th. We immediately called Mr. Good and worked out an arrangement for McLeod, Watkinson & Miller to fund the continuation of FarmPolicy.com after his arrangement with the German Marshall Fund ceases. Additionally, the daily emails of FarmPolicy.com will be posted on www.Agriculturelaw.com.

    Keep it up Keith!

    Farm Policy