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

It’s one thing to say there’s a new ag community. It’s another thing to live in it as a farmer. At the NAMA Trends in Agriculture conference a panel of producers addressed this subject. The panel included a row crop farmer from Texas, a dairy producer from Wisconsin and the California Association of Winegrape Growers.

Their task was to share specific examples of how success and growth today require more than good agronomic practices. A lot of the discussion focused on the growing anti agricultural forces that are reaching consumers with messages that are not based on good science and often meant to obtain a political agenda. They all agreed that new technology offers communications channels that can help farmers tell their story.

I spoke with one of the panelists, Daphne Holterman, Rosy-Lane Holsteins, after the session. She says that they all realize that they can’t just be “a farm in our little neighborhood or rural communities anymore but we have to be a big player in a bigger pond.” She says it’s important to talk out about being the true environmentalists. The digital age is making this more necessary than ever.

You can listen to my interview with Daphne here: Daphne Holterman Interview (mp3)

Combined NAMA Trends In Ag/NAFB Convention Photo Album

Our opening keynote speaker is David Kohl, Professor Emeritus, Agricultural Finanace and Small Business Management, Virginia Tech and President, AgriVisions, LLC. His topic is “Defining the New Ag Community.”

David set up his session with a number of facts and figures including the fact that 70% of North American farm ground will change hands by 2025 and that women and minorities will become major decision makers. Then since we’re all agrimarketers he started talking about the move to the digital world. He asked participants how many were involved in social networking and podcasting. Only a couple of hands were raised for podcasting. I think he was surprised by that.

He offered the 10 C’s of going digital which include: Commitment, Collaboration, Consumers, Customers, Community, Connecting, Competition, Control, Communication and Cost & Capital Return. He offered a parting thought that “success in social media/digital is balance of high tech and high touch.”

You can listen to my interview with David here: David Kohl Interview (mp3)

NAMA Trends In Ag Photo Album

The Trends In Agriculture Conference is underway and I’ll be your NAMA Blogger once again this year. We’d like to thank Paulsen Marketing for being the sponsor of the NAMA Blog.

Here you can see the staff getting members checked in at registration which is located on the upper level in the lobby side hallway. The Board has concluded its meeting and I interviewed member Beth Burgy, Broadhead+Co, about what they decided. It sounds like an initiative to survey members and find out what other professional organizations they belong to and what their preferred methods of communication are will be conducted. Hopefully that will help NAMA better engage with members.

You can listen to my interview with Beth using this link: Beth Burgy Interview (mp3)

I’ve also got a photo album started that I’ll be adding to periodically which you can find here: NAMA Trends In Ag Photo Album

Audio presentations from the 2009 Agri-Marketing Conference will be available by May 11. Attendees of the conference will receive a code, when the presentations are ready, to download sessions at no cost.

We’re received many great comments about the speakers including Scott McKain, Andy Cohen, and David Okerlund. The Agricultural Speakers Network is taking their commitment to NAMA one step further….for every speaker they provide for NAMA member companies, they’ll issue a credit to NAMA usable on future speakers for NAMA events. And to top that…if the person booking the speaker mentions “NAMA” they’ll be given a $20 gift certificate for Starbucks Coffee on their first booking.

If you attended the conference and have not yet filled out the Agri-Marketing Conference Survey, please take part in the survey at www.nama.org/amc/survey.htm.

It’s always nice to hear why a company gets involved with NAMA and in this case we can hear it from a past NAMA president. Stephanie Gable, pictured here with Jeremy Lutgen, both with Novus International, is no stranger to NAMA, having served as 2007 national president. She joined the Novus International team in September and was excited to tell us all about the company and what else they do. “Novus is new working with NAMA but they already have a great commitment level to other associations and activities,” Steph says. That includes a commitment to sustainability and supporting future leaders in the industry.

Listen to Cindy’s interview with Stephanie here: Stephanie Gable Interview (mp3)

NAMA Photo Album