The Missouri Beef Industry Council was our first client back in 2004 so we’ve been working with them for over six years. Projects have included creating the first beef industry podcast which is now Checkoff Chat and the first beef industry blog, Missouri Beef Buzz. We also provide assistance with the production and distribution of press releases, especially ones with supporting media files like images and audio.

Soon after we started working with the MBIC we also started working with the Cattlemen’s Beef Board on what is now called MyBeefCheckoffMeeting.com, a blog about the activities of the Beef Board at their two annual meetings. I will be the Beef Board Blogger once again in just 2 weeks at the Cattle Industry Summer Convention along with many members of the MBIC.

To start with, Cindy will be attending a BASF Sustainability Summit in Chicago. From there she’ll join Joanna Schroeder and John Davis at World Pork Expo working with sponsors Boehringer Ingelheim and Novus International. It’s going to be a busy week for the @FarmPodcaster.

Next week Chuck will also be on the agriblogging highway starting with the Corn Utilization & Technology Conference in Atlanta working with the National Corn Growers Association. From there he’ll head to the Carolinas to ride and drive new Gator Utility Vehicles with John Deere. Make sure you follow @AgriBlogger and AgWired to keep up with all the action.

Have you got us on your event’s schedule? We’d be happy to live blog your event while providing professional photography services!

You can find our event photos in our Flickr set: Normal CornBelters Home Opener

Additionally, ZimmComm will be live blogging the show in Orlando, FL on AgWired.com while also assisting AEM with social networking services. It’s a good example of how we can help a company or organization that needs to outsource some or all of their new/social media communications efforts.

Registration is now open for the event by the way. This is a “must-attend” event for anyone in agricultural communications. I don’t care if you’re a farm broadcaster, podcaster, editor, publisher, blogger or agriblogger. You need to be there.

It’s not just that there will be good professional development sessions although that’s reason enough. It’s also because this is your chance to interact with some great people from around the world who will be attending. Many of them will be coming to the United States for the first time. Let’s give them a fantastic welcome.

It’s the first time that the IFAJ Congress has been combined with an event like the Agricultural Media Summit and I think it’s going to go down as the best ever. There are a lot of people working to make it so. Maybe our new administration in DC will find a way to participate.

ZimmComm was on the scene, publishing content on both AgWired and the AgNite Blog.

This is one of the over 300 pictures Cindy and I shot during the event. You can see 200 of them in our online photo album. We also conducted 12 interviews and produced 1 YouTube video. So far we’ve produced 15 stories from the event and counting.

That’s what you get when you bring in the agriblogging and farm podcasting experts from ZimmComm.

You can count on seeing some live video via AgWired Live TV and lots of photos and interviews. My coverage will be sponsored by the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council and AgStar Financial Services.

In this monthly episode Moe talks about risk management. The production has been done locally here and I’ve also worked with Joel Jaeger, YourFarm/Commodity Update on the project. You can watch the latest episode here:

We’ll be taping two more episodes later this morning.

This week I’ve been blogging at the World Championship Appaloosa Show in Ft. Worth, TX. Pictures like this are to be found everywhere and I’ve got lots in the online photo album for the event.

I’ve never seen the American flag displayed in action on horseback while our National Anthem is being sung. It was very moving (no pun intended).

So what we’re in the final processes of creating is an organizational membership blog which is open so that prospective members can see what they would have access to if they were members. All files are password protected. This way none of the content can be accessed without membership but it’s there for anyone to see. I think that makes membership more enticing.

I’ll be doing some staff training on how to manage the site. EPIC staff will be able to upload their own files that include pictures and documents. They’ll be able to posts announcements and other member information themselves and do it from wherever they are.

Another benefit will be the fact that the site is search engine optimized so after posting for a while it will be more easily found in keyword searches. The site also has the comment feature enabled so members or prospective members can ask questions, pose ideas and provide feedback. Members will know that the organization cares and with quick responses they’ll be treated much more personally than otherwise.

I think this is a great example of how blogging can be incorporated into an overall communications strategy.

It’s too early to call the site a success but measurement tools are in place to keep track of visitors and audio file downloads.

To get an idea of how extensive this coverage can be check out the posts I did at the recent Syngenta Media Day in Raleigh, NC. Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc., through their public relations agency, Gibbs & Soell, sponsored my trip. That is, they paid me to attend and write about what I saw and heard. I took photos, used some they supplied me and interviewed some of their people. This event started around 8am and was finished around 3pm. I posted 20 times including over 20 pictures and 5 audio interviews and they were all on AgWired before the end of the day (same day). Many of the posts were done during the actual presentations.

I just did a Google search for the words, Syngenta Media Day. Of 256,000 results, AgWired was the #1 result above Syngenta’s own website! Not too shabby for a little old “new media” outlet, eh?

Syngenta can now point anyone they want, including customers or media representatives who didn’t attend, to go to AgWired and view the content and download audio or images. If someone needs hi-res pictures all they have to do is email me and I’ll return one to them immediately.

At the end of the event I burned all the pictures and audio to a CD and left it with them. They can post them onto their own website and it’s my understanding that is exactly what they plan to do. Their investment in this is minimal and yet they have immediate multimedia content that’s online before the other media attending even get home to their offices.

I started the week at the Clean Cities Congress where as of this point I’ve posted 64 articles, most with pictures and audio and even some video clips. You can’t believe the positive response the organization who held the event has received so far. I’ve got a feeling it won’t be the last event blogging for AFVI.

Then it was on to Indianapolis to blog the visit by U.S. Secretary of Energy, Samuel Bodman. It was his first visit and he even got to cruise the track in an Indy Car.

So, if you’d like to let your customers or members know what’s going on when you hold an event or conference remember the professional event bloggers at ZimmComm New Media.

Breakout Sessions 10:15 – 11:00 a.m.

How To: The Latest in Internet Applications
Chuck Zimmerman, ZimmComm New Media

I’ll be heading out early in the morning to conduct a short workshop which will consist of an online explanation and demonstration of blogging and podcasting using real world examples. If you would like to have a workshop for your staff or members please feel free to give me a call.

But you can keep up on it with:

IABC 2006 Convention Blog: In Session

IABC 2006 Convention Podcast: ConferenceCast

I think this should become a “standard” for organizations in the future. It’s a great use of new media tools. You don’t have to do it yourself. That’s why we’re here. Call on the blogging and podcasting experts to help you out.

Here’s some upcoming projects we’re involved in:

This week it’s NAMA. Besides AgWired, I’ll be blogging the annual conference on the NAMA Blog.

In May, it’ll be the Clean Cities Congress where I’ll be blogging it on Domestic Fuel.

In June it looks like I’ll be blogging the Nashville Fan Fair on AgWired.

In July it will be the Cattle Indusry Summer Conference on AgWired and Beef Board Meeting.

August will find me in Norway at the IFAJ Congress and posting on AgWired.