BASF Brings Joy To The Media

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmCast77 - BASF At Ag Media SummitMoving up to gold sponsorship this year at the Agricultural Media Summit is BASF. Gold means sponsoring a lot of things. In this week’s program I interviewed BASF Communications Manager, Joy Watson, to learn what they’re doing and why.

Besides the Media Room, Joy says they’re sponsoring a reception and have a booth in the Info Expo. To help get the word out to ag media, the latest episode of the BASF Ag Media Update (podcast) was an audio invitation to visit the media room and stop by their booth and talk about the latest products from BASF. I heard the invitation on my iPod!

BASF Media RoomJoy also talks about their media-focused website, AgMediaCentral.

Pictured here outside the Media Room is (l-r) Me, Dan Muys, Quarry Communications and Joy Watson. The room has already seen some activity as things get closer to the kickoff here in Portland.

Listen here: Listen To ZimmCastZimmCast 77 (11 min MP3)

The ZimmCast is the official weekly podcast of AgWired which you can subscribe to using the link in our sidebar. You can also subscribe in iTunes.

Ag Media Summit, Agribusiness, Audio, Media, Podcasts, ZimmCast

Wheat Straw Fuel Lowers Heating Costs

Chuck Zimmerman

Harry SiemensAn industrial equipment manufacturer in Manitoba expects to save about 50 thousand dollars a year in heating costs by switching from natural gas to waste wheat straw fuel.

In 1999, Vidir Machine replaced the coal fired heating system at its Arborg, Manitoba manufacturing plant with a three million BTU wheat straw fueled heating system and the company is now installing a smaller one million BTU unit at its manufacturing plant at Morris.
The greenhouse gas displacement system, developed by Vidir Biomass Systems, relies on primary combustion followed by secondary combustion to get a complete burn. Read More

International

Registration Open At AMS

Chuck Zimmerman

Welcome To The Ag Media SummitWelcome to the Ag Media Summit. Registration is open.

I heard that it’s already about 100 degrees outside. This evening we’ll be on a river cruise aboard the Portland Spirit. Maybe it’ll be cooler on the river or they will have air conditioning!

I’m sure I’ll get some good photos tonight and post them tomorrow.

Ag Media Summit

The Stag of Portland

Chuck Zimmerman

The StagIt’s a beautiful day here in Portland. I got out early to run along the Willamette River walk.

I didn’t know they were having a major race or I would have signed up. It’s the Cascade Run Off.

The StagI have absolutely no idea what the significance of the stag is that sits in the middle of a street a couple of blocks from the river. It’s an elk stag and it’s in what’s called Chapman’s Square.

This is my creative picture of the day. I walked back by after Church and took a midday picture of this dude.

Ag Media Summit

Blogging In The Long Tail

Chuck Zimmerman

The Long TailIf you attend my agriblogging and farm podcasting workshop on Monday morning here at the Ag Media Summit you’ll find out about “The Long Tail.” If you’re not going to be here then go out and purchase “The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson. You might also start reading his blog.

Here’s a place where you can get a pretty good description of the Long Tail. One way of looking at it is “products that are in low demand or have low sales volume can collectively make up a market share that rivals or exceeds the relatively few current bestsellers and blockbusters, if the store or distribution channel is large enough.” Examples being Amazon and Netflix. If you don’t think this idea applies to agriculture then we need to talk.

I got my copy on the way to the airport today at a Barnes & Noble in Independence, MO. I haven’t made it very far but I know how important this book is to anyone involved in marketing in today’s world. This includes you agrimarketing professionals! Even the introduction is filled with some great stuff and I’m going to find time to bring some excerpts to you like:

The great thing about broadcast is that it can bring one show to millions of people with unmatchable efficiency. But it can’t do the opposite – bring a million shows to one person each. Yet that is exactly what the Internet does so well.

Increasingly, the mass market is turning into a mass of niches.

Seen broadly, it’s clear that the story of the Long Tail is really about the economics of abundance – what happens when the bottlenecks that stand between supply and demand in our culture start to disappear and everything becomes available to everyone.

Uncategorized

Checked In To The Portland Hilton

Chuck Zimmerman

Hilton Portland, OregonWelcome to the Portland Hilton & Executive Tower. This is going to be the scene of the next several days as we attend the Agricultural Media Summit. I say “we” because we’ll be doing it together.

I’m using my Sprint Mobile Broadband card and it’s working great. It’s another hotel with internet access for about $10/day. Not me. This should save about $40 this trip.

Just for comparison purposes. In Kansas City this morning I connected at 460K download and 128K upload. Here in Portland I just measured 415K download and 106k upload. Not as good as I’d like to see but it will get the job done.

Things don’t get started until tomorrow evening but I’m sure I’ll find something to share with you before then.

Ag Media Summit

Brownfield Open Phones

Chuck Zimmerman

Brownfield Brownfield, Ag News and Indiana Pork are teaming up for another teleconference coming up July 26.

Called “Open Phones,” the teleconference session allows callers to listen and ask questions of a panel that will discuss the emergence of Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV2), which affects growing pigs and causes respiratory problems and weight loss.

The hour-long open phones session starting at 8:00 p.m. (EDT) on Wednesday, July 26, will focus on what producers need to know about preventing and controlling PCV2, and provide lessons about what producers have learned first-hand about the disease. Read More

Ag Groups, Media, Pork

Beef Babes At MBIC Party

Chuck Zimmerman

Beef BabesWe had a great going-away party for Steve Taylor today in Columbia, MO. Stevie “Wonder” is going off into the sunset to Moscow, ID. He’s leaving behind the Beef Babes, current and future.

Aren’t they cute? The Missouri Beef Industry Council office was all decorated. We had a bluegrass band, hamburgers and cake. Good luck with the move Steve and great job Beef Babes.

Beef

Cow Got Arthritis?

Chuck Zimmerman

Cow and ArthritisI’ve been in a lot of airports lately. Take today as an example. We got out of Raleigh okay and then had to circle St. Louis for a while. Then we got to sit on the tarmac for a while until the plane at our gate got out of the way. Then it only took 45 minutes for baggage to show up.

So, when you’ve got time in an airport you look around. And see things like this advertisement for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and The Arthritis Foundation. The cow caught my eye and at first I thought it was weird that anyone was worried about a cow with arthritis. But then I noticed that the focus is on the woman’s leg. Duh.

So, next it’s off to Portland and some more airports. My knee is feeling a little sore. You don’t suppose . . . nah. You can learn more about knee pain here.

Uncategorized

Jeske Interim President of Meyocks Group

Chuck Zimmerman

The Meyocks GroupAhh, the “Interim” position. Hopefully in Doug Jeske’s case it will become permanent. That would be cool Doug. Doug is the Interim President of The Meyocks Group since:

Donna Tweeten, president of The Meyocks Group, will leave the agency in mid-August to take a position as assistant vice president of communications and brand management with Hy-Vee, Inc., the agency’s parent Doug Jeskecompany. Doug Jeske, agency senior vice president, will lead The Meyocks Group as interim president during an internal and external search for Tweeten’s successor.

Jeske joined The Meyocks Group in 1993. A native of Eldora, Iowa, he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Iowa State University and then completed a master’s degree at Northwestern University. He worked in corporate communications at Sandoz Agro before accepting a job with the agency.

Doug was one of the first ZimmCast interviews I did and you can still listen to it.

Agencies