Adjust Your Antenna

Chuck Zimmerman

BusinessWeek Online LogoBusinessWeek has a very interesting article about what media giant company, Clear Channel, is going through to cope with the changes in the way consumers are getting their entertainment and information. The article quotes radio division CEO John Hogan as telling his staff, “Radio is more than tall towers in big fields. We can no longer be limited to a singular distribution method.”

Yes indeed. Hello podcasting, satellite and internet radio. The game is changing and Clear Channel appears to be admitting it and working feverishly to come up with new ways of doing business. They certainly have “content.” It’s just a matter of how they can distribute it and make money.

One of the main reasons we started ZimmComm, the publisher of AgWired, is because the market for information distribution was changing. The traditional models will evolve or become a thing of the past.

With the tools available to us today you can go directly to the consumer. That’s what we’re doing with AgWired! If you’re reading this consider that ZimmComm doesn’t own any radio stations, tv stations, magazines, newspapers and we don’t even publish any electronic newsletters! Yet I dare say we’re communicating with more people everyday in this industry than anyone else out there.

The article in BusinessWeek is titled “Antenna Adjustment.” Here at AgWired we’ve been tweaking our antenna for the last year and I hope you like what you see and hear!

Internet, Media

Learn To Be A NAMA Leader, Then Play Golf

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMA LogoIt’s Regional Leader Workshop time and that means have a workshop and then play golf!

Tomorrow I’ll be attending the Region II workshop in Kansas City and staying over to golf in the MOKAN Chapter Golf Classic.

The next regional leader workshop will be for Region III which has been scheduled for 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, June 23, prior to the North Central Golf Outing at Willinger’s Golf Club, 6900 Canby Trail, Northfield, MN 55057 (Just NW of I-35 Exit 169).

I like this leadership golf connection!

NAMA

Good Weather Story On USDA Radio Newsline

Chuck Zimmerman

USDA Radio Newsline

I’ve wanted to write something about them for a while but just haven’t had a chance. After getting the list of the latest stories on USDA’s Radio Newsline though I thought it was time. There are a number of folks working there like Larry Quinn, Brenda Curtis, Gary Crawford and Kristi Pettis that just keep producing a great product year after year. How many years guys? You can find a contact list of them all here.

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood here in Missouri and when I saw a Gary Crawford story about good growing conditions I thought, “Let’s put it on.” So you can hear it here Download MP3 File

I think they sound good and do a good job. Would you like to hear more USDA audio on AgWired?

Audio

Melamed On Knowledge Tag

Chuck Zimmerman

Leo MelamedI’ve never met Leo Melamed but he sounds like an interesting guy. His website describes him as “. . . financial market innovator, writer, lecturer, and international authority on futures markets. Mr. Melamed is recognized as the founder of financial futures and currently serves as Chairman Emeritus and Senior Policy Advisor to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.” I just received a note that “Knowledge Tag,” is the commencement address at DePaul University delivered by Leo Melamed on June 12, 2005 at the Allstate Arena. Here’s how he starts out talking to these new graduates about their graduation.

It’s big! How big? Well, not to get overly metaphysical, it is a moment that more than anything symbolizes the difference between mankind and our counterparts in the animal kingdom. Other animals must learn everything anew from birth; humans have the capacity to record what they have learned and pass it on.

In other words, today’s commencement exercises, in a very real sense, symbolize the moment at which the cumulative knowledge of all preceding human generations has been passed on to you. That’s scary big.

When you think about it in this fashion, graduation is like a giant game of tag. Except now you are it. And you will remain it until you pass it on to the next generation.

I remember my high school and college graduation and that fleeting feeling of freedom until reality crept in.

Agribusiness

Handy Legal Guide For Bloggers

Chuck Zimmerman

For Freedom's SakeThis looks like a very handy guide to have if you’re going to delve into the blogoshpere. Wish I’d had it a while ago since it helps answer questions that are bound to come up if you’re going to be serious about blogging. It’s available from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

For example, one very interesting excerpt concerns a trademark issue:

Can I use a trademark in my blog’s name or in the title of a blog post?

Yes, if it is relevant to the subject of your discussion and does not confuse people into thinking the trademark holder endorses your content. Courts have found that non-misleading use of trademarks in URLs and domain names of critical websites is fair. (Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp. v. Faber, URL http://www.compupix.com/ballysucks; Bosley Medical Institute v. Kremer, domain name www.bosleymedical.com). Companies can get particularly annoyed about these uses because they may make your post appear in search results relating to the company, but that doesn’t give them a right to stop you.

Sometimes, you might use a trademark without even knowing someone claims it as a trademark. That is permitted as long as you’re not making commercial use in the same category of goods or services for which the trademark applies. Anyone can sell diesel fuel even though one company has trademarked DIESEL for jeans. Only holders of “famous” trademarks, like CocaCola, can stop use in all categories, but even they can’t block non-commercial uses of their marks.

More information on trademark:http://www.chillingeffects.org/trademark/faq

Thanks to Debbie Weil at Blogwrite For CEO’s for the head’s up on this guide.

Uncategorized

New CBB Budget Subject Of This Week’s MBIC Report

Chuck Zimmerman

MBIC LogoAs already posted here on AgWired, the Cattlemen’s Beef Board operating committee has recommended a new budget so that’s what this week’s MBIC Report is all about. In the report, Missouri Beef Industry Council chairman, David Dick, talks about the new budget. David serves on the CBB operating committee that created the recommended budget.

You can listen to this week’s MBIC Report here Download MP3 File

The MBIC Report is also available in podcast form by subscribing to the link in our sidebar.

Ag Groups, Audio, Podcasts

Beef Board Operating Budget Recommended

Chuck Zimmerman

Cattlemen's Beef BoardThe Beef Board has a new operating budget to vote on. The operating committee met last week and came up with a new budget. It looks like the Beefmobile program has been a successful program. So much so, that the committee is recommending a re-allocation of funds to add $25K to the program this year. The recommended budget now needs full Beef Board approval as well as approval from USDA.

OPERATING COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS FISCAL 2006 BEEF BOARD BUDGET

KANSAS CITY (June 14, 2005) – The Beef Promotion Operating Committee has recommended a $50 million Cattlemen’s Beef Board budget for fiscal year 2006, reflecting a slight decrease from the $50.5 million budget for fiscal 2005.

The Beef Board, which administers the national checkoff program, projects revenue of $45.4 million for fiscal 2005, plus $4.6 million to be available from current program budgets as a result of projects costing less than originally estimated.

The breakdown of the budget recommendation, which must be approved by the full Beef Board and USDA before any funds are expended, includes the following budget elements: promotion ($25.5 million); research ($7.3 million); consumer information ($5.8 million); industry information ($1.35 million); foreign marketing ($5.1 million); producer communications ($2.2 million); evaluation ($230,000); program development ($120,000); USDA oversight ($200,000); and administration ($2.25 million). The 2006 fiscal year begins Oct. 1, 2005.

“We looked carefully at challenges and opportunities in the marketplace to determine what areas we need to emphasize to give cattlemen the best return on their checkoff dollar,” said Al Svajgr, a producer from Cozad, Neb. and chairman of the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and the Beef Promotion Operating Committee, which met in Kansas City June 8-9, 2005.

For more information contact Diane Henderson.

Ag Groups

Beef – It’s What’s For Father’s Day

Chuck Zimmerman

Missouri Beef Industry CouncilDon’t you know that I’ll be grilling this coming Saturday?! Just in time for Father’s Day the Missouri Beef Industry Council has some great tips in their latest Talking News Release.

Beef – It’s What’s For Father’s Day

COLUMBIA, MO (June 13, 2005) – Forget the ties and the coffee mugs this year. Nothing says “Happy Father’s Day” quite like beef. The Missouri Beef Industry Council (MBIC) has several suggestions for beef-related gift giving this Father’s Day that Dad can really sink his teeth into.

According to MBIC Marketing Director Dawn Thurnau (turn-ower), you could get Dad into the mood for summer grilling with some brand new grilling utensils.

“There are some interesting ones out there now that are actually like a branding iron, so that you can brand a steak with your initials.” (:06) ( mbic-fathers-day-cut1)

The steak branding irons also come in various designs including college team logos and are available by mail order from a number of websites, such as www.steakbrands.com.

You can download the full release here: MBIC Release

For more information contact Dawn Thurnau.

Ag Groups, Audio

Remember Slides (Pictures)?

Chuck Zimmerman

AAEA ByLineYou can only receive the American Agricultural Editors’ Association electronic newsletter “The ByLine” if you’re a member. It’s one of the benefits. In the latest issue Betsy Freese, who is livestock editor of Successful Farming and immediate past president of AAEA and also a member of the AAEA Strategic Planning Committee, points out how important it is for the organization to make sure it’s meeting the needs of its members. She rightly makes a point about how dull “strategic planning” is for most people (not me, I’m one of the sickos who actually likes planning).

Instead of launching into a boring strategic planning description she uses a neat story to point out how much has changed in agricultural journalism. I was lucky to have a talented young student from Iowa State University, Alicia Clancy, working as my apprentice this past year. Recently we were pulling together visuals for a story, and I mentioned that I had some old slides we could use. “Slides?” Alicia asked. “What would we do with those?” She had never worked with slides. In fact, she had never worked with a story that didn’t involve digital images, e-mail transmission, InDesign software, and information collected on the Web. I started to tell her how I had written my papers on a manual typewriter in journalism classes at Iowa State, but I could see her eyes glazing over.

Betsy, I remember slides only too well as I’m sure many of our readers do. I can’t remember when I took a picture with a “film” camera last though. The story makes a great point that I hope all ag groups of any kind will learn from. Look at who’s going to be taking your place someday soon. They don’t have the same experiences and they’re growing up in a digital world. Are you planning how your organization is going to meet their needs?

If you want to have input in the AAEA strategic planning process, visit their website and contact any of the leaders or committee members.

Uncategorized