It wasn’t real easy but I was able to ask llinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich, a quick question after he cut the ribbon prior to the trade show. I think it’s interesting how agriculture is being integrated into this year’s conference here in Illinois so I asked him about the importance of agriculture and especially renewable fuels to the state.
You can listen to his answer here: 
Governor Blagojevich (1 min MP3)
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The trade show here at BIO 2006 is in full swing and it’s huge. I don’t see how it’s possible to visit every aisle in 3 days if that’s all you did.
To kick it off, Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich, did the ribbon cutting. Just before they pulled the scissors out he and BIO President, Jim Greenwood made a few comments.
You can listen to the ribbon cutting remarks here: Ribbon Cutting Remarks (3 min MP3) Note: The audio was a little too hot but it’s very understandable.
AgWired coverage of BIO 2006 is made possible by:
The barbershop guys were good but give me some blues. Like these guys who were singing about Georgia.
They got people’s attention.
Short video: 
Blues Dudes (1 min wmv)
AgWired coverage of BIO 2006 is made possible by:
What does a bored blogger do after 7 hours of driving? Find something to blog about. Kids, this is not something I recommend unless you’ve driven several million miles like I have.
Short video clip: Arriving In Chicago (2 min wmv)
AgWired coverage of BIO 2006 is made possible by:
Talk about getting the word out in advance. I guess this show is so big you’ve got to start working on it over a year out. Shelley Khal, chairman of the World Ag Expo Media Committee, has been named 2008 World Ag Expo show chairman.
The future chairman brings a heritage of passion for World Ag Expo to her role. She is not only the wife of past chairman, Dan Khal (2003), but a member of a large family of Orange Jacket volunteers. Brother-in-law, Andre, works for Dan on the Building Committee; sister-in-law, Carla, helps in the Media Center as does son, Brian, 13. Son Chris, 20, is on the Motor Pool Committee while son David, 15 1/2, helps in the Media Center and in ‘07 will serve on the Freight Committee. Other family members serve as interpreters for the International Business Center .
A report from Ipsos Reid shows most Canadians will support extreme measures to contain the threat of a human pandemic resulting from avian influenza. With many experts predicting H5N1 Avian Flu could reach North America by this fall, a survey of 16 hundred Canadians conducted earlier this month, as part of a tracking study of attitudes toward the issue, found six in ten Canadians have concerns about the virus.
Vice president in charge of Ipsos Reid’s public affairs trends division Dr. Glenys Babcock says the study explored potential public policy. “”It turns out Canadians overwhelmingly support serious measures to contain avian flu should it arise in Canada as an epidemic,” said Glenys. “We asked about people spending time in quarantine due to the avian flu, should they be in contact with it, and facing criminal charges if they violate it, businesses being required to waive sick leave, mandatory court ordered quarantines and pets, including destroying pets infected with the H5N1 virus to prevent transmission of the virus to humans.”Read More
I’ve been meaning to follow up on a story from last month on how D&PL’s grassroots initiative for National Agriculture Week went. Janice Person was kind enough to send me a page from their employee newsletter that highlights individuals and how they found creative ways to distribute the “Did You Know” cards supplied by the National Cotton Council. For example, the picture is Mary Madeline, this year’s Tiny Miss Georgia Cotton who attended the state’s ag week kick-off with her mom. Her dad (D&PL employee) made sure they had cards in hand as Mary Madeline visited with commissioner of agriculture Tommy Irving (shown in photo).
The efforts of D&PL’s employees and business partners to draw positive attention to the cotton industry for National Agriculture Week went well. The photo at right from agwired.com shows the type of attention we received from media – this was shared by customers and others who found the information of interest.
We have heard some success stories on how well employees used the cards and want to say thank you to everyone who helped raise awareness.
In addition to this, employees at the National Cotton Council conducted similar efforts across the U.S., with employees in their Washington DC and Memphis offices joining their field employees. And Planters Bank in the Delta handed them out at the 14 branch locations across the region.
It sounds like this might become an annual event.
If you’re not “horsey” then you might not have heard about the fact that a couple of horses were cloned recently and seem to be doing very well. They’re the result of a collaborative effort between Viagen, Inc. and Encore Genetics.
“The legendary cutting horse Royal Blue Boon, a registered American Quarter Horse, became the first mare to be commercially cloned when a foal was born to a recipient mare on Royal Vista Southwest farms in Purcell, Okla., on Feb. 19, 2006. The foal was born healthy and continues to thrive on the farm where she was born. She was joined soon after by a clone of the mare Tap O Lena, born at the same farm on March 9, 2006.
You can watch a video of the Royal Blue Boon meeting her clone here: Clone Video (13 min wmv) There are a number of additional clones to be born still this year.
It’s all going to be here on AgWired too. I’ll be blogging the BIO, live from Chicago’s McCormick Place starting at the end of this weekend. This is going to be an interesting challenge. They’re claiming a crowd of nearly 20,000 people from all over the world.
The biggest news though is that my coverage is being sponsored by Rhea & Kaiser Marketing Communications. Just recently we reported that the agency has joined with Worldwide Partners, Inc. I think these folks are really open to new ways of doing things and this sponsorship is ample proof of that. In fact, R&K is going to have the distinction of being the first agency to advertise on AgWired. Is it too early to call it a trend?
I want to say thank you to Steve Rhea and his staff for this opportunity to work with them on this event. You’ll be seeing lots of interesting content here as we work through the coming days.
I’ve got to give you my BIO news release update. I’m up to 60 news releases that have been emailed to me this week so far. Most of them are an announcement about a press conference or interview opportunity. There’s no way a lone blogger can make them all but I’ll be at as many as I can. I look forward to bringing you the best of the BIO.
I just had to post this because of the picture. We just sent out a Talking News Release for long time client, the Missouri Beef Industry Council on the steak sundae. It had me fooled when I first looked at it. I was wondering how beef would go with ice cream. But read on:
April is the “Month of the Young Child” and anyone who has children knows how difficult it can be to get them to eat nutritious foods. To make it a little easier, the Missouri Beef Industry Council (MBIC) offers a fun idea for even the pickiest eaters – the Steak Sundae. According to MBIC marketing director Dawn Thurnau, the treat can be made by alternating layers of mashed potatoes and chunks of steak with warm barbeque sauce or gravy in a sundae dish.
“Then on the top you put your chunks of steak with another little dollop of mashed potatoes and then a cherry tomato on the very top with some green onions. So it looks just like a chocolate sundae, but tastes like an open-face roast beef sandwich,” said Thurnau
Listen to Dawn here: Dawn (MP3)
