We put AgriTalk on AgWired so often you would think they paid us!
They don’t – but, who knows? Maybe someday they will.
Here is Mr. AgriTalk – Mike Adams – interviewing American Coalition for Ethanol executive vice president Brian Jennings live on the trade show floor at the 21st Ethanol Conference and Trade Show in Omaha on Wednesday. Mike says they have been doing the “state fair” circuit lately – making stops in Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, etc.
I just found out that I’ll be live blogging AgNite during the Republican National Convention. This is going to be very cool and a lot of fun. There’s an impressive list of companies and organizations already supporting this opportunity to showcase American agriculture to a national audience.
You can count on seeing some live video via AgWired Live TV and lots of photos and interviews. My coverage will be sponsored by the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council and AgStar Financial Services. I’m betting some additional sponsors will come on board too. If you’re interested please contact the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council.
Now that I’m going to be in Minneapolis for the convention, I’m working on media credentials for the RNC itself. This is proving to be a challenge but one I’m certainly going to continue to work on. If I’m going to be there early in the week I think it would be great to stay longer and find interesting stories about rural America and agriculture.
My coverage is planned for AgWired and Domestic Fuel primarily but I’m sure I’ll find content we can use in a variety of other outlets we contribute to as well.
I’ve just started working with the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council on logistics for the venue that AgNite will held at (The Depot) but assuming I can get credentialed for the RNC, here’s what their venue looks like (Xcel Energy Center):
According to NAMA Boot Camp committee chairman, Matt Coniglio, Fastline, this year’s event has the highest attendance since it was started 5 years ago. He says there are quite a few non-members and the attendees are with a very diverse group of companies and organizations. I know I spoke with several last night who are getting their first look at NAMA.
This year’s program features a producer panel which is kind of a mainstay element of the program. It’s taking place right now and I’ll have an interview with one of them posted later.
Matt says the committee that put this program together has for the most part been the same members for a couple of years now. He says they make a great team and that it’s a real team effort putting this event together. Matt would like to see the program be a great learning experience for more than just newcomers to agricultural marketing.
You can listen to the conversation I had with Matt over coffee this morning here: nama-boot-camp-08-coniglio.mp3
Check out the NAMA Boot Camp Photo Album.
“Fueling Revolution” is the theme of the 21st Ethanol Conference & Trade Show which kicked off Tuesday in Omaha at the Qwest Center. The event is the big show of the year for the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE).
The conference is expected to draw more than 1,200 attendees, with more than 200 companies represented at the trade show. Topics that will be covered during sessions over the next two days include ethanol blender pumps and mid-range blends, innovations in corn ethanol, cellulosic ethanol commercialization and feedstock logistics, and much more.
I am here in Omaha to blog the event today on Domestic Fuel and also the Renewable Fuels Association‘s blog Good Fuels, but ACE has also developed a new blog to follow the convention proceedings – at ethanol.typepad.org. Check it out!
NAMA Boot Campers got connected tonight during the opening Speed Networking session. After a few remarks it was time to get things moving. Networking with other people in agrimarketing is probably one of the greatest benefits of belonging to NAMA in my opinion. So, what we had people do was talk to each other and see how much they could learn in 3 minutes before switching to another table.
Let’s just say this was a livelier and noisier session than listening to some old agriblogger talk with a bunch of slides. If you’d like to see what it was like then here you go:
Of course there’s a NAMA Boot Camp Photo Album.
NAMA Boot Camp has started here in KC, MO. There was a sold out tour today which I didn’t get to participate in.
I’m getting ready to head down to the opening reception that we’re (ZimmComm) sponsoring. I’ll be emceeing our Networking session tonight and you can count on the fact that the participants will hear about online social networking. I’ve got some fresh numbers on the AgWired community for example. If you look at my Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, ZimmNews, AgWired Mobile, ZimmCast, AgWired RSS subs, then I can safely say that I’m connecting with almost 5,000 people each month. Now some of them are monthly and some are daily or even more often. That doesn’t count the approximately 15,000 unique monthly visitors to AgWired either!
This didn’t happen overnight and obviously there are people in the community that get different types of communication. But all in all, I dare say it’s a pretty impressive group. At least I think you are.
So, If you’d like to promote your brand to this agribusiness marketing community then let me know how we can work together to get that done.
The USDA Crop Production Report is out. It forecasts reductions in corn, soybeans and cotton but wheat is pretty much unchanged. I expect we’ll see lots of spin today.
AdFarm U. S. has been selected by Agrotain International, LLC as its marketing communications agency of record for U. S. ag business.
The move represents a continued expansion of the Agrotain International business and an increased investment in customer communications.
“Establishing this relationship with AdFarm is just one example of the continued expansion of our business,” said Jeff Whetstine, Vice President of global marketing for Agrotain International. “As the demand for our products escalates, we are doing everything we can to service our customers around the world. We’re growing our sales force, building new facilities and making other investments into the business, so we needed an agency that was 100 percent focused on agriculture to help us communicate to our partners and our customers.”
Bob Wilhelm, managing director of AdFarm U.S. said the agency is very excited about working with Agrotain International. “Throughout the agency review process, we were very comfortable with the people at Agrotain International because we all share the same focus on and enthusiasm for agriculture,” said Wilhelm. “Now that we’ve been named as their strategic partner, we at AdFarm are very excited about helping Agrotain International achieve the high goals they have set for their business.”
First it was food for fuel, now it’s food for jewelry.
It might not look like it, but this American flag pin is actually made out of grits. For those of you less enlightened Northerners who may not know what grits is – according to Wikipedia – “Grits is a Native American corn-based food common in the Southern United States, consisting of coarsely ground corn.” That I knew. What I didn’t know is that – “three-quarters of grits sold in the United States are sold in the “grits belt” stretching from Texas to North Carolina. The state of Georgia declared grits its official prepared food in 2002.” There is actually a “grits belt” – the things you can learn from Wikipedia!
Anyway – this here is the “Grit Lady” – aka Carol Kautz of Lilburn, Georgia. She is the creator of the above American flag pin made of grits and many other grits-inspired decorative items – from fruits and vegetables to snowmen and hot air balloons, crosses and Easter eggs. She makes them as earrings, pins, magnets and ornaments.
All of her pieces are handmade and treated to protect them from insects and deterioration. “No two pieces are exactly alike as some dry flat while others curl somewhat when they dry,” she says. She has even sent some of her creations to government officials and celebrities.
She sells items in bulk – minimum of 12 pieces per order – and there are a number of specialty stores in Georgia that sell her grit creations. Find out more at gritlady.com.
