“I feel like I’ve made 300 of the best friends I’ve ever had,” said Paul Mobley, author of the new photographic book, “American Farmer” when describing how photographing farmers around America has changed his life. Paul never set out to put together a collection of photos taken of farmers around the world – he happened upon the opportunity when he went up to his cabin to get away from his career as a portrait photographer.

As the story goes…he walks into a cafe one morning for breakfast and sees four farmers gathered around a table having breakfast. One of the men hadn’t shaved for a week and suddenly, he felt compelled to take their photo. Three plus years and 37 states later, the result is a stunning collection of photography and stories that tell the story of the American Farmer.

I had the opportunity to speak with Paul after the closing luncheon during the 2010 NAMA conference. I asked him how this book has changed his life. “I feel like its changed me on so many levels….I walk the earth with so much kindness grace and humility and I got it all from you guys,” he said.

However, what he has enjoyed the most are the people outside of agriculture who have come to embrace the industry since reading his book.

I asked Paul about any future projects and he said that he has been approached by several people who would like to turn “American Farmer” into a documentary and he is also exploring the opportunity for a traveling exhibition. You can order a signed copy of his book at www.paulmobleystudio.com and you can listen to Paul’s interview here: download (mp3 file)

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album.

Hallmark Cards has the whole branding thing down to a science. To share some insight into their history and issues they face today John Courtney, Consumer Understanding & Insight Manager, Hallmark Cards, Inc. spoke at the National Agri-Marketing Conference. John is pictured left of Matt Coniglio, Fastline, who introduced him.

John says Hallmark is celebrating 100 years of the brand. Some milestones include the move to the name Hallmark in the late 1920′s, the Crown Logo was created about 70 years ago and the tagline, “When you care enough to send the very best” was created about 60 years ago. John says that he started with the company when they were getting started with digital and they have created a number of ways for consumers to utilize their products that most recently includes Hallmark Mobile Cards. They also have an interactive social calendar application on their Facebook page too.

You can listen to my interview with John here (mp3).

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

If you use email in your marketing plan do you sometimes wonder if it’s still relevant today? How do you tie it in to new forms of digital communications channels. At the National Agri-Marketing Conference Joel Book, ExactTarget, conducted a presentation titled, “E-Mail Marketing: Strategies, Tactics, Results.” I spoke with him prior to his session.

Joel sees email as the “backbone” of the ongoing strategy for keeping customers connected to the brand. He says email performs best when married to other forms of digital communication (mobile, social). It is vital in helping create “brand fans” who will help spread the message.

Joel provides a number of resources marketers can look to for more information about how to best use email as a key component of their strategies.

You can listen to my interview with Joel here (mp3).

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

In a world of high technology one of our presenters went low tech. He’s Paul Adams, President, Paul Adams & Associates. His session was titled, “Put the “High Touch” Back in Your “High-Tech” World.”

At first I thought he was going to talk about technology but that’s not the focus. He says, “I’m really low tech.” He says we need to get back to more face to face communication in a world of high technology. Hmm. Do we really still do that? He laughed at that question and said, “I don’t know.” His presentation was geared to sales people and looked like it was really well attended.

You can listen to my interview with Paul here (mp3).

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

With all the focus on new media and new ways of marketing, the winner of this year’s NAMA Marketer of the Year is one who uses the oldest method of marketing known to man, and the one that still works the best – word of mouth.

Stephanie Liska, co-founder of Beck Ag, grew up on a farm in Iowa and is married to an agronomist, so she knows agriculture.  “Word of mouth is not knew to agriculture or to business,” she says.  “Purdue University has validated that the most influential person that a grower or a veterinarian or someone in our industry looks to to make a decision on what they are going to use or recommend is their peers.”

Stephanie has been involved in NAMA since she was a student at Iowa State University and was chairman of the NAMA conference last year.  She also credits her faith and her husband for supporting her with the business.

Listen to an interview with Stephanie in the player below.

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

Are you afraid of social media? Is the leadership in your company afraid of it? Then you need to visit with David Meerman Scott. He’s a recovering VP of Marketing and author of the book World Wide Rave. He is conducting the NAMA Pre-Conference Workshop, “Conquering the Fear of Social Media.” David will also be the keynote speaker at tomorrow’s opening general session. You can find him on Twitter: @dmscott

I spoke with David before his session and he says that he wants attendees to leave the session realizing that “the companies that aren’t engaged are losing out.” He says this is because people are going on line to search engines and social networks to look for products and recommendations. He also recommends that companies create a social media policy which will help management, legal and employees know what they can and can’t do and that helps create more of a comfort zone.

You can download and listen to my interview with David here (mp3).

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

The first panel discussion on day two of Trends focused on How Marketers are Building New Community Ties.

3G-enabled smart phones, the “Tweeting Farmer,” and unusual partnerships are all part of the new ag community. This general session will feature practical case studies from marketers inside and outside of agriculture that have forged new links with their customers using new media and non-traditional collaboration. Joe Grigsby, VML, Leslie Bradshaw, a farm kid and University of Chicago educated Communications Manager with New Media Strategies in Washington, D.C., and Joel Jaeger, Commodity Update shared their experiences.

I interviewed each of them for you:

Joe Grigsby Interview (mp3)
Leslie Bradshaw Interview (mp3)
Joel Jaeger Interview (mp3)

NAMA Trends In Ag Photo Album