James Dean Memorial

Chuck Zimmerman

James Dean BillboardI’ve got a number of things to post here on AgWired but I think that too many time zones, time changes and meetings are catching up to me this weekend. So here’s all you get today. Actually a lot got done here on the home front including some office catch up work.

This post is ag related in that I stopped along California Hwy. 46 at Blackwell’s Corner to buy some almonds and pistachios. As I pulled in this is the sign that greeted me. I didn’t realize that I was on the James Dean Memorial Highway. Apparently this is where he gassed up his race car on September 30, 1955 before his fatal crash. This is what it says on Wikipedia:

Dean was driving west on U.S. Route 466 (later State Route 46) near Cholame, California when a black-and-white 1950 Ford Custom Tudor coupe, driven from the opposite direction by 23-year-old Cal Poly student Donald Turnupseed, attempted to take the fork onto State Route 41 and crossed into Dean’s lane without seeing him. The two cars hit almost head on. According to a story in the October 1, 2005 edition of the Los Angeles Times,[10] California Highway Patrol officer Ron Nelson and his partner had been finishing a coffee break in Paso Robles when they were called to the scene of the accident, where they saw a heavily-breathing Dean being placed into an ambulance. Wütherich had been thrown from the car, but survived with a broken jaw and other injuries. Dean was taken to Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 5:59PM. His last known words, uttered right before impact, were said to have been “That guy’s gotta stop… He’ll see us.

So there you have it. I learned something new and interesting thanks to California agriculture.

Uncategorized

Hondo Group Team Grows

Chuck Zimmerman

Van ArtiagaThe Hondo Group has added two people to their team, Traffic Manager Van Artiaga and Public Relations Director René Smith.

As traffic manager, Artiaga will be responsible for project management and maintaining the flow of jobs for all clients. As public relations director, Smith will be responsible for raising the level of awareness of their clients and The Hondo Group.

“I’m enjoying the work and the people,” said Artiaga. “Everyone here is very creative so our work product is absolutely a result of outside-the-box thinking.”

Artiaga started her career as an account director for Lowe Worldwide in Vietnam, working on clients including Coca-Cola and Unilever. After moving to the United States, Artiaga continued her career as an account executive and project manager for two local companies before joining The Hondo Group. She holds a bachelor of arts in English from the University of Sciences and Humanities in Vietnam and a bachelor of arts in business administration from the University of Economics in Vietnam. In addition, Artiaga has extensive training in specific disciplines including e-mail marketing, campaign planning, brand communication and direct marketing through various workshops and seminars.

Rene SmithPrior to joining The Hondo Group, Smith was a senior account executive at a communications firm in Houston, Texas where her responsibilities included the development and execution of public relations campaigns. She specializes in industries such as technology, healthcare, real estate, transportation and consumer goods. Smith holds a bachelor of arts in public relations and journalism from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

“I’m excited to be here,” said Smith. “With so much growth and opportunity at The Hondo Group, this is a great time for me to be tasked with increasing our visibility.”

In conjunction with expanding the team, the company is planning a celebration for its newest office located in Darlington, Wisconsin. The office helps to better serve The Hondo Group’s many clients in the agricultural industry. The opening celebration for the Darlington office is planned for May 1, 2008.

Agencies

AgWired On The Beach

Chuck Zimmerman

AgWired on the BeachWow, what a day it’s been. To start with the weather has been much nicer than in central Missouri. Then I got to teach a class in podcasting to a group of students at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.

From there I drove through Morro Bay to get some Pacific Ocean shots and then on back to Bakersfield for supper with Robert and Dana.

In the morning I’ll be on the road back to ZimmComm world headquarters. I think you’ll find some interesting pictures in my photo album from this trip since I took the same path back today that I did yesterday going to San Luis Obispo.

University

Cal Poly Ag Publications Class

Chuck Zimmerman

Cal Poly ClassHere’s Dr. Scott Vernon introducing our podcasting class today. We’ve created a demonstration podcast where I interviewed Erin who will be attending the Ag Media Summit again this year along with 20 other students from Cal Poly.

If you’d like to get the demo podcast and listen to Erin then you can use this link.

We’re about out of time and faculty are up next. Hopefully they’ll get this like their students do!

Podcasts, University

Getting Started at Cal Poly

Chuck Zimmerman

San Luis ObispoI’m on the Cal Poly campus here in San Luis Obispo and getting ready to start my podcasting class. Students are filtering in and opening up the new iPods we’re going to use as part of the training.

I’ll probably be posting a little more from here today but we’re not really doing a blogging session.

I also added to my photo album from a little trip into town earlier this morning. California Trip Photo Album

University

Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Land O’Lakes Purina Feed announces the official launch of AMPLI-Calf™ Technology, a revolutionary new calf starter technology now available in selected Land O’Lakes Purina Feed calf starters. AMPLI-Calf™ Technology is a blend of unique, proprietary ingredients proven to increase feed intake, weight gain and overall height of young dairy calves. In recent Land O’Lakes Purina Feed research studies, calves fed starter with the new technology consumed 26 pounds (11 percent) more calf starter, gained 17 pounds (14 percent) more weight, and also grew 1.2 inches (3 percent) taller than calves fed a starter without the new technology.
  • The farm section of the Wisconsin Public Service utility’s Web site features online calculators that estimate the potential savings in energy and money by using four energy efficient technologies. Farmers can do calculations on variable speed drives for vacuum pumps, in-line milk coolers, engine block heater timers or energy-efficient fans. Farmers can find the online energy calculators by clicking the “For Farms” banner at the top of the page, and then clicking “Energy-Saving Tools & Ideas”.
  • Truffle Media Networks was featured on FFA Today! which aired on the RFD-TV network, Thursday, Feb. 28 at 4:00 p.m. EST. During the On the Job segment, Truffle Media Networks was showcased as the leading digital media company in agriculture.
    Zimfo Bytes

    Almonds and Sunsets

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Almond Tree in BloomIt’s been a really productive day here in California working with the ZimmComm Web Man. Look for some AgWired changes soon. I also learned a lot more about my Mac since he’s been on them way longer than I have.

    After leaving Bakersfield I headed on to San Luis Obispo where I’ll be presenting at Cal-Poly tomorrow. The first thing I saw lots of were almond trees in bloom. They’re beautiful and the smell is almost overpowering. I stopped in Wasco before dark to just make sure of what I was looking at and smelling. When I got out of the car the perfume almost took my breath away.

    California SunsetI was driving west so it was sunset time approaching the mountains over nearer the coast. I had to take pictures and I’ve uploaded them into an online photo album you might enjoy looking at.

    I passed a large area of oil wells too so there’s some interesting shots of them in the sunset. The vineyards I passed were all dormant but there were lots of them. As I came through Paso Robles it was getting too dark to see but I’m tempted to drive back through there tomorrow before sunset so I’ll probably be adding to the photo album.

    Uncategorized

    BASF Bids Best Wishes to Dan Muys

    Cindy Zimmerman

    Here at ZimmComm, it is very true that our clients are our friends and we hate to see them move on. So, it is with mixed emotions and fond memories that we say goodbye to our friend Dan Muys with Quarry and wish him the very best as he moves across the country of Canada for personal reasons. I found out Dan was leaving Quarry during last week’s Commodity Classic from his good friend and client Pat Morrow of BASF. My response was “That sucks!” She was much more eloquent. Here is her farewell message to Dan:

    Today we bid best wishes to Dan Muys, soon to be formerly of Quarry Integrated Communications, who is headed west to pursue new opportunities in Calgary, Alberta. In addition to pursuing new opportunities, he will undoubtedly cheer for the Calgary Flames NHL team — the only Stanley Cup for the Flames was won 1989! Perhaps the odds are in their favor in 2008……..

    On a more serious note, Dan has been a great colleague and friend to many at BASF and in the ag business. He has helped innovate and direct many of the new opportunities for the BASF crop communications these past eighteen-plus months, and has been a joy to work with and know. His legacy will be felt for a long time to come. Dan, we wish you only the best and much success and happiness in your new ventures, and many thanks for your dedication, hard work, and great spirit. Please keep in touch with your friends at BASF and through the U.S. ag industry. We hope to see your smiling face again soon!

    La bonne chance et les meilleurs souhaits !

    My best memories of Dan are from our BASF Germany/Brussels trip last year. He kept us all organized, didn’t get us lost too often, and spent lots of time looking for ATM machines!

    Danke dank, Dan. You better stay in touch or we may just make good on that threat to kidnap you and hold you hostage in Holts Summit! Peace and all good things to you, my friend.

    Agencies, BASF

    Two New VP’s at Bader Rutter

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Bader RutterThere’s two new Vice Presidents at Bader Rutter & Associates.

    Mike Fredrick has been promoted to vice president, associate creative director in the agency’s creative group. Fredrick first joined Bader Rutter in 1997 and later rejoined the agency in 2003 as a senior copywriter. In his new role, he will continue to help lead the creative group and drive the creative direction for GE Healthcare, several divisions of Dow AgroSciences and other clients.

    Tom Posta has been promoted to vice president, group leader in the agency’s account management group. Posta joined Bader Rutter in 1996. In his 12 years with the agency, Posta has played a key role in developing lasting client relationships as well as growing the businesses of some of the agency’s largest clients. He will continue to work on the Dow AgroSciences and GE Healthcare accounts.

    Agencies

    Dupont Has FAST Corn

    Chuck Zimmerman

    DupontDupont (Pioneer Hi-Bred) is now able to research FAST. Included here is some video of their robot.



    DuPont today opened the doors to a revolutionary approach to evaluating advanced plant genetics and new biotechnology traits that the company says will help increase productivity. DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred opened a new research and greenhouse facility that brings together cutting-edge robotics and imaging, and the capability to grow test plants at an accelerated rate.

    “The technology in this new, state-of-the-art research facility will significantly increase the rate at which we bring new and better products to our customers to meet increased demand for grain for food, feed, fuel and materials,” said William S. Niebur, DuPont vice president, Crop Genetics Research and Development.

    The 12,000 square foot facility expands the capacity of proprietary FAST Corn technology and introduces robotics to facilitate testing 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It increases testing throughput eight-fold over the original FAST Corn facility and process.

    “Innovation is at the core of our customers’ success,” Niebur said. “This new high throughput approach is exciting news for corn growers. It allows Pioneer research scientists to evaluate advanced plant genetics and critical new traits more quickly in more plants, ultimately delivering new discoveries faster to Pioneer customers.”

    FAST Corn – Functional Analysis System for Traits – allows researchers to grow corn to maturity in a fraction of the time required for traditional corn. Before FAST Corn, researchers were required to wait for a plant to reach full maturity before studying the affect of new traits.

    Agribusiness, Corn