Herdmark Media Team

The Story of Agriculture Podcast Episode 025

Get the edge on our Capture Agriculture Photo and Video contest with B.J. Eick and Drew Boatner.
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Do you really need to use hashtags?

Hashtags help facilitate and organize conversations and communities online, and have even started worldwide movements, yet they remain one of the most divisive tools on social media. Social media holdouts use them as an excuse to avoid joining because they “just can’t understand how they work.” On the other extreme, some people include a dozen or more hashtags in their Facebook posts, where such a practice just isn’t appropriate or useful. So do you really need to utilize hashtags for successful digital marketing?
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The Video Production Process

While it may seem like a large amount of work, there is a process that is standard throughout the industry that can help you break your production into manageable chunks and also allow you create the best video possible.  The production process is split into pre-production, production, and post-production with each one having an equal level of importance.
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What's your other story?

Farm blogs are great. The number of farmers sharing their everyday story online, whether it is on a blog or on social media, is extremely important. As critical as these efforts have been in raising agricultural awareness, there’s a good chance the people we need to reach the most are probably not seeking out blogs about farming. In fact, they probably don’t even know they could learn about their food that way.
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Capture Agriculture: How Will My Entry be Judged?

The Capture Agriculture Photo and Video Contest is officially open, but before you send those entries in, you might be wondering how your contest videos and images are going to be evaluated.
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Fake News, Cuba and Reaching Millennial Farmers with Susan Crowell

After growing up on a small farm in Ohio, Susan Crowell wanted to leave rural life for the bright lights and big city. Shortly after college, her career led her right back to agriculture. Susan has been the editor of Farm and Dairy since 1989, where she has been telling agriculture’s story by providing news and information to farmers of the region.
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Agricultural Communicators Make Great Entrepreneurs with Lyndsey Murphy

Growing up as the fifth generation on her family’s farm instilled the morals, ambition and passion that led Lyndsey Murphy to become an entrepreneur. Starting her business, The Hive, as a place to bring people together around food and agriculture has been a journey from Mechanicsburg, Ohio to Washington, D.C., and back.
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‘Why I Farm’ Road Trip Blogger Natalina Sents

Natalina Sents has been to more than 70 farms and seen at least 30 different types of agriculture! The Why I Farm Road Trip blogger has spent the last six months getting to know farmers across the country, learning and sharing their stories, and laughing and crying with them as they tell her those stories. She has six months left to go, but shares what her journey has been like so far.
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Free Post Friday #61

Grab some fresh herbs and spices, and make lamb the star of your next dinner party!
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Connecting People to Food with Michele Payn

A photo of dirty barn boots next to a nice pair of heels is a small image on her website about page, but is a powerful visual representation of Michele Payn’s career.  She is an entrepreneur, author, farmer, mother, innovator and science enthusiast, just to name a few of the shoes she fills. As the founder of Cause Matters Corp., a company that aims to connect people to their food from gate to plate, she works hard to address food myths and connect people to their food. Michele also started the #AgChat and #FoodChat Twitter chats that have developed into international programs, a foundation and thriving online communities.
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Special meet the team episode with Marlene Eick

In this episode of The Story of Agriculture Podcast, guest host Lexi Marek, Iowa State student in public service and administration in agriculture and journalism, interviews Co-Founder of Herdmark Media, Inc., Marlene Eick.
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Free Post Friday #59

Take a moment this to enjoy some turkey and pumpkin pie, and give thanks for all of this year's blessings. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Using social media to share daily farm experiences with Ivory Harlow

Ivory Harlow and her husband knew that the next step in their life, after serving in the U.S. Air Force, was to farm. They searched for the best places in the country to start a farm, and when they drove into the hills of southern Ohio they knew they were home. After finding the perfect farm, with a beautiful 100-year-old red barn built from American chestnut, they began laying the groundwork for Dickie Bird Farms. Initially a direct marketing vegetable and egg and poultry operation, new opportunities led the farm towards transition to the meat goat and forage operation they are today.
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A balancing act with Dr. Emily Buck

How do you balance being a mom, full time ag communication professor, part time freelance photographer, farmer and active advocate for agriculture? For Dr. Emily Buck, it is all about priorities. After her family and students, she finds time to prioritize her advocacy work because the health of the industry impacts her career as a professor, her family's farm and her community. Listen in on a conversation with Dr. Buck as she talks us through what it’s like to balance so many roles that are all important to her.
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Special meet the team episode with B.J. Eick

In this episode of The Story of Agriculture Podcast, guest host Lea Kimley, Ohio State student in agricultural communication, interviews Co-Founder and Creative Lead of Herdmark Media, Inc., B.J. Eick.
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Being a creative scientist with Dr. Annie Specht

How do you become a professor? For Dr. Annie Specht it started when she was a little girl. Her family raised registered cattle, and at that time you didn't just send in a photograph of their markings, you drew them out on the registration application. This became one of Annie's jobs on the farm and led to a love for drawing, design and eventually other aspects of communication. A degree in agricultural communication fed her love of design and agriculture but also exposed her to research and science side of the field.
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Making better image compositions with the rule of thirds

When shooting video or photography, composition is key. Being able to arrange the element of a shot into an aesthetically pleasing sequence can make all the difference in determining what is interesting and what is boring.
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Interactive, engaging content for the win with Hannah Vorsilak

Think back to the last time you wandered around a museum, surrounded by hundreds of years of culture and history, and feeling good about your decision to do something cultured and educational. Do you recall anything you read on the exhibits? If you are as frustrated as we were to realize how little you retained from those exhibits, you might be interested in the agricultural literacy work at The Glass Barn. As Hannah Vorsilak and other staff in Indiana working with The Glass Barn have learned, interactive and engaging content, both in-person and online, makes all the difference in how much people learn and retain.
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Finding the story in all of us with Matt Reese

As a kid growing up on a Christmas tree farm in northwest, Ohio, Matt Reese could often be found writing in his notebook or telling stories to anyone who would listen. One fateful day on the farm, Ed Johnson, a famously trusted farm broadcaster whose voice could be heard on the radio in any milk house, farm truck or school bus stop in the state, stopped by for a visit. Matt’s experience that day may have jump started his interest in agricultural journalism, because after meeting Mr. Johnson, Matt could think of no more interesting career than to visit with farmers, learn their stories and share them with the world.
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Every farmer has a remarkable story with Stacie Seger

It might not be a surprise to you that when the phone rings at Ohio Corn and Wheat, a pleasant voice on the other end of the line answers “Hello, Ohio Corn and Wheat.” What might surprise you, however, is that this office actually serves three separate organizations, all leveraging the expertise of one staff. On this week’s episode of The Story of Agriculture Podcast, we sit down with Stacie Seger, Communications Manager, Ohio Corn and Wheat, and talk about the challenges she’s faced with branding these three groups under one umbrella.
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Building brand evangelists: A tasty subject with Janet Cassidy

We have all done it, and all felt guilty about it. We pull up to the drive thru at a local fast food establishment and order dinner for the family, because there just wasn’t enough time. There's not enough time to find a recipe that everyone will like, buy all the ingredients and cook it in addition to everything else that demands time in our day. There may even be the added time of learning how to prepare some of the ingredients or even learning the cooking technique. Most of us have dwindling food preparation skills even though we watch more television shows about food than ever before.
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