When I managed the Brownfield Network Mike Cady was one of our engineers. He was one of the people we would call as soon as something didn’t work right and he never lost his cool. Maybe that’s why he’s moving into the affiliate relations field. I don’t know. Maybe he’s just a little bit crazy too. If you don’t know what affiliate relations is in the farm radio network business then listen up. It involves traveling on the road a few days a week and visiting the owners and managers of radio stations and convincing them to devote a portion of their broadcast time to farm programming, specifically your farm programming. Doing it right means you know more about their family than you do your own sometimes. I’m not kidding when I say this is a challenge. I’m sure he’s up to it though.
Brownfield, Ag News for America, is pleased to announce Mike Cady is joining the Brownfield team as the Brownfield Affiliate Relations Manager. “Mike’s extensive background in local radio and his high level of professionalism make him a true asset to the Brownfield team,” said Cyndi Young, Brownfield Farm Director. “For the past nine years, in addition to other engineering responsibilities, Mike worked closely with Brownfield affiliates, offering technical support as needed. He brings a valuable skill set to the position of Affiliate Relations Manager for Brownfield.”
Website Metrics Questions
As the audience for AgWired has grown so has the need for us to keep close tabs on how we measure it. You’ve started seeing more advertising and sponsored event coverage and those companies and organizations want to know what they’re getting for their investment. One of my online mentors pointed me to a pretty well-written AP story on this subject. It deals mostly with the issue of whether “page views” is still a reliable metric to evaluate your online advertising expense. I think the case is being made that it isn’t but the problem is what to replace it with.
Hopefully you know that “hits” is really not a useful number when looking at the actual traffic to a website although I keep seeing companies brag about it. I just don’t even report it although it is the biggest number we can measure. If you wonder why feel free to call me and I’ll explain. Here’s an excerpt from the story that provides one of the reasons why page views is now becoming an unreliable metric too.
Other technologies that could deflate page views include Really Simple Syndication, or RSS, which pulls a news site or blog’s new entries, allowing a visitor to bypass a site’s home page and ads for the item of interest. Likewise, someone can watch a three-minute video clip without needing to retrieve a new page.
In such cases, visitors may view fewer pages, but they are more engaged and thus more likely to pay attention to any advertising, said Steve Rubel, senior vice president with the public-relations firm Edelman Worldwide.
Another reason has to do with websites using Ajax, something I can also help you understand if you’re interested.
Besides all this I’ve been finding that no two website statistics packages seem to come up with the same number for the same categories of measurement. For example, we’ve been using Awstats here on all our websites and I’ve been evaluating Google Analytics and most recently a new one called Mint. All three come up with different traffic numbers. I wish I was tech savvy enough to know why. This doesn’t help in the confidence department. Without a standard I have to wonder if we’re comparing apples to apples sometimes when evaluating different websites.
I know how important measurements and numbers are when it comes to justifying an investment. However, as we continue to see the development of standards and software to accomplish this online I would urge companies to also looks at customer feedback and take the time to properly develop a new channel of communication. Sometimes having a smaller group of very engaged customers or members is more important than a larger number who don’t spend much time with the information you’re trying to convey.
AgTalk Welcomes Farmers Online
AgTalk welcomes farmers who are looking for a little help from their friends. I was unaware of AgTalk until reading an AP story sent in by alert AgWired reader, Gary Truitt. This looks like an online forums spot that’s been up and running for quite some time. I don’t know much beyond what you can see but maybe I can get in touch with them for an interview to learn more.
The AP story makes a point about farmer use of the internet that I think some in the ag communications world are still finding it hard to accept, “Online message boards and chat rooms are replacing rural coffee shops and feed mills as places for farmers to talk farming and trade tips as more of rural America goes online.” Any of us who have been immersed in online agricultural communications know this and we also know how difficult it is to quantify it and qualify it.
I thought it was interesting that the story doesn’t mention blogs or podcasts at all even though we’re seeing a real growth in the number of both dedicated to agriculture. Blogs that are updated frequently and in reaction to the requests and comments of readers can be a very good interactive communication tool to help farmers keep up to date more quickly than with traditional methods. I can see how user forums can be very useful to farmers too as they get direct feedback from their peers.
Do you think AgWired should start a user forums section? I can implement it fairly easily and quickly.
Kenna Rathai Helping Out AAEA
If you’ve wondered what Kenna Rathai is up to then wonder no more. To start with she jumped into the business world last fall when she launched Kenna B. Rathai Communications. She does independent public relations and freelance writing assignments. And now she’s got a new gig helping out the American Agricultural Editors Association (AAEA) as associate director on a part time basis. Kenna will assist Den Gardner, AAEA executive director, in managing the day to day activities of AAEA. Her responsibilities will include editing The ByLine and managing Ag Media Summit exhibit booth logistics and other duties.
Newham Moves to Farm Journal
Farm Journal Media Publishing has a new Vice President and head of their Livestock Group. He’s Bill Newham.
In his new position, Newham will oversee the company’s livestock operations, including managing the Elite Producer Business Conference. In making the announcement, Farm Journal Media Senior Vice President, Allen Moczygemba, said: “We’re extremely fortunate to have someone with Bill’s experience and abilities join Farm Journal Media. I’m confident that under his management and leadership the Farm Journal Livestock Group will demonstrate continued growth while at the same time introducing new and innovative products that contribute to the profitability of Farm Journal Media. ” In his new role, Newham will be looking to staff two new sales positions, both reporting directly to him. Newham, who lives in Kansas City, will establish a regional office in the Kansas City metropolitan area and report to Farm Journal Senior Vice President, Allen Moczygemba.
Roundup This Hall of Famer
The man who discovered glyphosate, or as most of us know it, Roundup, will be honored this coming May as he well should be. I don’t know about you but when it comes to weeds Roundup has always had a place in my arsenal.
In 1970 John Franz, Ph.D., discovered that a chemical, later named glyphosate, had the amazing ability to block the growth of vegetation. Because of his discovery, glyphosate soon became the active ingredient in Roundup herbicides, now the world’s most effective and top-selling herbicides.
This monumental discovery will be formally recognized on May 5, when Dr. Franz is inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio. He joins other leaders of the agricultural industry, including Eli Whitney, John Deere, and George Washington Carver, who were previously inducted to the Hall of Fame, which honors the women and men responsible for the great technological advances that make human, social and economic progress possible. Read More
Garst BYG Winners
Here’s putting your promotional money where your research mouth is. If you’re going to promote products that help in the production of ethanol, or biofuels in general, then what better way to promote it than by using the end result – the fuel. That’s what Garst did.
. . . the company is driving support for biofuels by giving the keys and free one-year leases for new Chevy 1500 Flex Fuel pickup trucks to 11 growers who were grand prizewinners in its Blue + Yellow = Green (BYG) sweepstakes. The BYG initiative highlights Garst’s continued efforts to support growers and the biofuels industry. In addition to the 11 grand prizes, Garst awarded 110 first-place prizes of $100 ethanol certificates. Growers had the opportunity to register for the prizes by contacting a Garst sales representative or by attending a Garst field day or other company event in 2006.
Grand Prizewinners
Ten of the 11 grand prizewinners of the one-year truck leases from Garst are growers from across the United States. The eleventh is a Garst dealer and producer from Indiana. The winners include:
Clint Ashbaugh of Dunlap, Ill.
Bob Brock of Monument, Kan.
Mark Brookhouser of Brunswick, Neb.
Dave Felt of Adel, Iowa
Melvin Frei of Lott, Texas
Steve Kane of Summit, S.D.
Todd Manke of Bangor, Wis.
Ken McDonald Sr. of Chesapeake City, Md.
Dale Quiring of Lohrville, Iowa
Brian Waier of McLeansboro, Ill.
Ed White of Kewanna, Ind.
“Congratulations to all the growers who won the BYG sweepstakes. This has been an exciting program for our employees and our customers to kickoff Garst’s stepped-up commitment to the biofuels industry,” says David Witherspoon, head of Garst. “This initiative is part of our continuous efforts to provide seed and traits that help our customers be more productive and meet the increasing demand for corn that’s being driven by renewable fuels.”
Farm Progress Show Iowa Biennial Location
Looking past this year’s Farm Progress Show to next year, the location has been set and it’ll be the permanent biennial site in Iowa. The dates for 2008 are set for Aug. 26, 27 and 28. The location is east of Boone, Iowa.
This long-term facility for the nation’s largest outdoor farm show will be developed on nearly 600 acres at the intersection of U.S. Highway 30 and Iowa Highway 17. Extensive site construction will begin this spring and is scheduled to be completed in time to host the 2008 show. The show will be held every other year on this site, with alternate years at its other permanent biennial facility in Decatur, Ill. The developed Iowa site will also be known as the Central Iowa Expo. It will host other events and activities when it is not occupied with the Farm Progress Show.
“We are very excited to establish the nation’s greatest ag showcase in central Iowa and make this Central Iowa Expo site a permanent biennial Farm Progress Show location,” says Don Tourte, Farm Progress national sales and events director. “The communities of Boone and Ames have been exceptional to work with, and we look forward to the next 20-plus years together.”
This year’s show is schedule for August 28 -30 in Decatur, IL.
FarmerFeeds For Farm Podcasts
My friend Dwayne Leslie, from north of the border just announced a new website that you should visit. It’s Farmer Feeds. I was one of the people he had look at this when it was in beta and I like what I see here of the finished product.
FarmerFeeds.Com has been launched as the first website designed to help the farm media communicate better with farmers and the agriculture industry. “Farmers spend more time with the radio than they do with any other form of media. ” says FarmerFeeds.com creator Dwayne Leslie. ” Listening to audio content on their MP3 player is the natural progression so they can listen to the daily markets and news regardless of what time it is or where they may be. Having the opportunity to listen to specific programming from outside their regular listening area is also a huge benefit.”
With the explosion of personal MP3 players and Ipods, many producers of farm radio programming have adjusted their online offerings to allow others to download their audio files in a standard MP3 format to their computer so that it can be listened to when it is more convenient. This is known as “podcasting” Read More
Charlie O’Brien VP of Ag for AEM
Charlie O’Brien will be boosting an “expansion of services” for the agriculture-related members of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. He’ll be the new Vice President of Agricultural Services.
“Agriculture is a vital industry segment and AEM has a long history of representation,” stated AEM President Dennis Slater. “The agriculture sector faces increased business challenges and opportunities, and we are broadening our activities to most effectively meet the needs of our ag equipment members. Charlie has solid management and leadership credentials to help us achieve this goal.”
O’Brien’s responsibilities include directing AEM’s ag-specific member work groups, and acting as chief staff liaison to the AEM Board of Directors for ag-related issues. He will also serve as primary liaison with ag-specific industry organizations, customer groups and government agencies. And, he will lead AEM initiatives related to the forestry sector as well as renewable energy.