Greetings from the childhood home of Laura Ingells Wilder! I hope spring planting has been going well for your producers.
Your NAFB staff has had a busy few months since we last visited. In April, NAFB staff, along with other NAFB broadcasters attended the annual NAMA Convention in Kansas City. Staff was very busy talking with agricultural marketers about the NAFB Research, and there is excitement among agri-marketers about the research and what it means for upcoming media buys. If you have any questions about the research or how to go about using it at your shop, please call Mindy at the NAFB Office.
While at NAMA, we had the opportunity to connect with many agri-marketers from across the industry. Many of these marketers work on more than just agriculture clients; many have additional clients whose products or services are utilized by rural America. Many times connecting with the ag industry also connects us with other companies needing to target the same demographic. NAFB already has great relationships with companies targeting both agriculture and rural markets, including Yamaha Motor Corporation, Exede Internet, John Deere, Kubota and more. I encourage you to review your current contacts and look for additional opportunities to connect with like-minded marketers. Marketing and Promotion will be reviewing as well.
Washington Watch was a great success. This year, 19 NAFB members the had chance to meet with FCC Commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O'Riely at the FCC Offices. Lance Knudson presented the NAFB Research, both Commissioners were very impressed with the results and indicated they would share the results with the other FCC Commissioners. Members also had the chance to voice concerns from station owners and general managers directly to the Commissioners. NAFB is very lucky to have this relationship with the FCC! Your organization received coverage of our meeting at the FCC in Radio World, Radio Ink, Inside Radio and the Radio and Television Business Report. NAFB members also met with USDA Representatives, Agricultural Organization leaders, and members of Congress. A special thank you to Janet Adkison, Gale Cunningham, and Michelle Rook for organizing Washington Watch.
I recently had a very nice conversation with a Broadcast Council member who was looking for more coverage of Washington Watch and other national events provided to the NAFB News Service by fellow Broadcast Council members. Due to budget constraints, some members are unable to cover all the events throughout the year and would like more stories and timely coverage provided to the News Service by members, or other ways they could receive coverage from events. We both came up with an idea that just might help. Broadcast Council members would be able to post to the NAFB website their availability to do custom reports from a particular event, like Washington Watch, or post requests for custom reports from someone attending specific events. Be watching future eChats for an update in the coming months.
If you have not already done so, please join the NAFB Facebook Pages! It’s a great way to keep up with members and find out what they are doing at their shops. We have a page for each NAFB region; East, West, and South. Simply, search Facebook for the NAFB Region, and ask to be a member.
Our monthly video with Matt Middendorp from Sales Math returns and this month’s topic is “I have an upset client; how can we repair the relationship?” If you have a question or topic you would like Matt to address, just send me an email! Here is the link to the video.
If you ever want to review NAFB financial statements, statements are available at NAFB.com. Financial information is available under the About Tab. If you have any questions about the financial statements, don't hesitate to call or drop me an email.
Finally, I encourage each and every one of you to contact me if you have an idea on how to make your organization better and again thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you. It is truly an honor!
All the best,
Brian Winnekins
