ZimmComm – New Media, LLC

I was on location this week for the Iowa Corn Indy 250. I’ve made it to the event for 3 out of the 4 years it has been on the IRL schedule. The event is sponsored by Iowa Corn Growers and Pioneer Hi-Bred. This year my coverage on AgWired and Domestic Fuel was sponsored by the Iowa Corn Growers.

So I took over 1,500 photos, conducted 14 interviews and posted them along with a couple of video clips to our websites and the Iowa Corn Promotion Board Facebook page. They got copies for their own use too. That’s a hallmark of our event coverage! It’s kind of like an old fashioned live radio remote on the internet and you get high quality production at the same time!

You can listen to audio from the start of the race here: Iowa Indy Corn 250 Start

Here’s where you can find my photos: Iowa Corn Indy 250 Photo Album

I’ve been following Darren Rowse, ProBlogger, for years. The new media expert from Australia has been very active here at BlogWorld and I caught up to him at one of the final panel discussions today. It’s great to have a chance to meet someone you’ve only communicated with online. Darren is pictured on the left here.

Darren says that a blog allows you to build a community around a niche topic and that if you are successful doing so you’ll find advertisers who want to be a part of it.

You can listen to my interview with Darren here: bwe-09-rowse.mp3

BlogWorld Expo Photo Album

The founder of the BlogWorld and New Media Expo is Rick Calvert. He says feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive. Attendance is way up too. He’s conservatively estimating about 2,200 at this point so the final count could be higher with walk-ins today. That says a lot in a troubled economy where many shows have seen a decline in participants. I think it’s just another sign of how robust the new media business is today.

He says the exhibit show has been packed and I can attest to that since I’ve had to wait at times to get an opportunity to speak with an exhibitor. He says next year’s dates are October 14-16 back here in Las Vegas.

Rick says that one of the beautiful things about new media is that it allows a company or an event to have a media outlet since most of us are in niche topical areas and it may not be big enough to even be mentioned on network television. He says new and social media “cuts out the middle man” and let’s you communicate directly which is how we naturally converse. It’s a tremendous benefit for small business.

You can listen to my interview with Rick here: bwe-09-calvert.mp3

BlogWorld Expo Photo Album

If you’ve been podcasting for a long time or are just getting started, measurement has been a troubling issue. In a session on this topic, Leesa Barnes, Marketing Fit, helped clarify what you need to look at in terms of measurement. There are three main areas: numbers (subscribers, downloads, etc.), results (what action is your audience taking) and influence (is podcast building your brand and business). She says you can’t judge your podcast on numbers alone.

It’s relatively easy to measure downloads and subscribers with services like Libsyn or Blubrry. Results might require conducting a survey of your listeners to determine what they’re doing. For influence Leesa suggests looking at your social networking community with attention to things like Twitter follower growth. In our conversation we also discuss what sponsors or advertisers want to see to show their return on the investment they’ve made in your podcast.

You can listen to my interview with Leesa here: bwe-09-barnes.mp3

BlogWorld Expo Photo Album

Day two of the BlogWorld and New Media Expo is underway. We’re listing to Richard Jalichandra, Technorati, give a preview of this year’s State of the Blogosphere. It will be published next week.

They surveyed bloggers this past year and he’s showing us some selected statistics. He started out by saying that the blogosphere is very healthy and contrary to media reports otherwise, bloggers are blogging even more than last year. Of the professional bloggers, 40 percent have worked in traditional media. He says, “Blogs are media.” I fully agree with that.

I’ll do my best to get an interview with him and update this post if I do.

Post Update: I caught Richard on his way out after his keynote address and you can listen to my interview with him here: bwe-09-jalichandra.mp3

BlogWorld Expo Photo Album

Chris Baggott, Compendium Blogware, provided the most clear reasons for why companies should be blogging that I’ve heard in a while. If you value how your business or brand shows up in search results then having a blog is the best way to improve your results. He quoted a study by HubSpot that showed that companies that have blogs have significantly higher traffic, link and indexing.

He says that not only do blogs increase your searchability but also your results because you’re making the searcher happier. He says to remember that social media is about people. It’s about human beings and blogs help articulate the humanity of the organization.

Chris is seen in the photo talking with some BlogWorld participants after his talk.

Listen to my interview with Chris here: bwe-09-baggot.mp3

BlogWorld Expo Photo Album

Here’s the founder of BlogWorld, Rick Calvert, with opening speaker Laura Fitton. I’m going to find an opportunity to talk with Rick about how and why he started this conference.

After the opening session I did get to speak with Laura, Pistachio Consulting. Laura says that the main message she wanted people to walk away with was “Be Awesome.” She also wanted to plant the idea of using social networking mechanisms like Twitter to connect with other people and get your ideas out in the world where they might yield awesome results.

She says Twitter has helped take her from a busy stay at home Mom to giving the keynote here, publishing a book and launching her business. She points out how well Twitter works for business since there are so many Twitter tools.

Listen to my interview with Laura here: bwe-09-fitton.mp3

Before the end of the Podcast and New Media Expo I got to interview the founder, Tim Bourquin. I was surprised to learn that Tim has a unique background that includes work as a police officer. He just saw a need for an expo of this kind when he got into podcasting and so he started one.

Next year Tim’s moving the conference to Las Vegas to as he puts it, “move it to the next level.” Over 2,000 people were registered here for this year’s conference and my guess is that there’s still a lot of growth potential. For example, I’ll bet some international expos would work well like in Europe or Asia.

Thanks to Gary Cooper, Southeast AgNet, for taking the picture while I interviewed Tim in front of the trade show entrance.

You can listen to my interview with Tim here: pnme-07-bourquin.mp3

The founder and CEO of Personal Life Media is Susan Bratton. She produces 22 podcasts a week and is one of the main organizers of the Association for Downloadable Media.

After our initial meeting of the new organization today I interviewed her. She explains how why she and some others have gone to the trouble of creating a new organization. Basically it has to do with creating some new media industry standards that will allow those of us who create content to better monetize our products. I’m all for that.

You can listen to my interview with Susan here: pnme-07-bratton.mp3