CMA Music Fest Photo Album

Chuck Zimmerman June 12, 2006

I took a few more pictures at the CMA Music Festival than I posted. They’re all uploaded into a Flickr photo album for you if you’d like to browse them. You can find it here: CMA Music Festival Photo Album (442 photos)

I know the guy on the right likes to be in the background but he needs to get a lot of credit for one of the most creative promotional campaigns I’ve seen in a long time. That’s Gene Hemphill, Industry Affairs Director for New Holland and next to him is his wife Michelle. Finally I got to meet the better half!

Gene, not only was the CMA booth/promotion/tractor race fantastic but so is the whole campaign which started last year. How are you going to top this?

Tractor

Tractor Signing

Chuck Zimmerman June 11, 2006

All of the celebrities that raced today signed this New Holland tractor which will be auctioned off on Ebay soon.

Here’s Michael Peterson adding the last signature.

I was very proud of him saying the following during his performance today: Michael Peterson Says Visit AgWired (11 sec MP3)

That’s it for today folks. Time to call it a day. It’s road time tomorrow before another major road trip which will be blogged on Domestic Fuel beginning Wednesday. Check it out.

Audio, Tractor

Michael Peterson Performance

Chuck Zimmerman June 11, 2006

After the tractor race and announcements Michael Peterson and band performed for the crowd.

It was a large crowd and they sure seemed to be enjoying themselves. Michael played some of his classics. If you’d like to hear what they heard then you’re in luck.

I recorded it and if you would like you can listen in here: Michael Peterson Performance (19 min MP3)

Audio

Drawing Winners Announced

Chuck Zimmerman June 11, 2006

There were two winners to pick today and to help Michael Peterson out Elizabeth came up on stage.

The first winner announced was for the video iPod that will be pre-loaded with my pics and interviews from the CMA Music Festival. The winner is Tim Faltynski from Osceola, Indiana (I hope I spell these names right). His iPod will be shipped after I get all the content loaded onto it.

The second winner announced was for 2 4-day passes to next year’s CMA Music Festival. The winner is Tom Etletta from Hamilton, Ohio.

You can listen to Michael announce the winners and make some extra comments on the stage here: Michael Peterson Announces Drawing Winners (2 min MP3)

Audio

Wade Hayes Wins Tractor Race

Chuck Zimmerman June 11, 2006

The winner of the first ever New Holland/Michael Peterson Celebrity Tractor Race is Wade Hayes, pictured here with Michael on stage.

Wade receives a plaque and his favorite charity (Habitat For Humanity) will receive a portion of the sale of the New Holland tractor that was signed by all the celebrities and will be auctioned off on Ebay.

You can listen to Michael announce the winner and make some extra comments on the stage before presenting the plaque to Wade here: Michael Peterson Announces Race Winner (3 min MP3)

Audio, Tractor

Tanya Tucker The Tractor Racer

Chuck Zimmerman June 11, 2006

The last contestant in today’s tractor race was Tanya Tucker. Boy did the crowd love her.

And after interviewing her I can see why. She is a lot of fun and was ready to race. In my interview she said that she might just keep driving that New Holland Boomer right on home. She said she’d like to have several of them.

You can listen to our interview here: Tanya Tucker Interview (2 min MP3)

Besides interviewing her I shot a video of her competition laps: Tanya Tucker On The Tractor (2 min WMV)

Audio, Tractor, Video

Selective Service Director Races

Chuck Zimmerman June 11, 2006

One of the contestants in today’s tractor race was the Hon. William Chatfield, Director of the Selective Service System. He’s on the left btw.

I interviewed him after his turn on the obstacle course today. He can’t say enough about how beneficial it is to have the support of entertainers like Michael Peterson and companies like New Holland. (fyi:The first minute of the interview is a little distorted due to the bass coming out of the speaker system from the stage. That’s a new one on me.)

You can listen to our interview here: Hon. William A. Chatfield Interview (3 min MP3)

He looks good coming around these hay bales but he didn’t have the winning time. That’s coming up in a future post.

Audio, Tractor

Announcer Max Armstrong

Chuck Zimmerman June 11, 2006

Today’s tractor race was announced by Max Armstrong, This Week In Agribusiness.

You can see that Max has his Frogg Togg on. He had to introduce each contestant and announce their results. He also had to entertain and inform by letting people know things like the fact that these tractors were running on biodiesel and what that means.

Besides his towel, Max had a fan but I’m telling you it was a scorcher out today. He held up through it all and headed on home to take part in the Heritage Tractor Adventure.

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Frogg Toggs Relief

Chuck Zimmerman June 11, 2006

The New Holland/Michael Peterson Celebrity Tractor Race is history and I’ve got a ton of material to post. Before I get started I want to point out the blue towels you’ll see around a lot of people’s necks like the one modeled here by Memarie.

They’re Frogg Toggs and on a hot day these things are wonderful. You dip them in ice water, wring them out and hang ’em around your neck for cool relief. I highly recommend them.

I wish I’d had one of these on many a hot day on the golf course for example.

Uncategorized

Race Setup

Chuck Zimmerman June 11, 2006

Here we are on a beautiful Sunday morning in Nashville. The New Holland team is setting up the race course for today’s celebrity tractor race. I just spoke with Michael Peterson. He’s already out here to make sure everything is ready. The race isn’t until after noon. I think he’ll be available to sign autographs here at the New Holland booth.

I’m in the Hilton hotel lobby across the street. Not just because it’s air conditioned but because I can get online here (for $9.95/day). I think someone needs to sponsor a “media room” for reporters here in the convention center and provide us with high speed internet access. I know I’m not the only one who needs it and there’s over 500 reporters here!

I’ll have lots more to come later today.

Tractor

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