What's New in Social Media | Week
Let me introduce you to the beautiful tool that is the Adobe Colour Wheel. Here at Grass Roots Media we work with colours every day. Whether is be in designing a companies website or logo, or creating images for content, we are continually looking for colours that stand out and compliment each other. How can this be helpful to you? Do you have a colour in mind that you'd love to use in your branding but you aren't sure what other colours to put with it? This would be perfect. How else would you ...
March 9, 2017Bottoms Up?
Drinking sheep milk can be a real challenge for many people – particularly those ‘off a farm’. I spoke at a food futures event in Palmerston North recently and afterwards offered small servings of sheep and cow milk to those that attended. My claim is that we really don’t know an agricultural industry’s until we let it products slide over the hundreds of alert taste buds in our mouths. ...
March 6, 2017What's New in Social Media | Week Thirty Nine
Facebook recently explained that Live video will soon be able to host two-person remote broadcasts, allow you to schedule streams, and create virtual waiting rooms where viewers can hang out ahead of live streams. You can also add MSQRD masks and face filters to your profile during a live stream!...
March 1, 2017A vision for Horticulture in New Zealand
The Horticulture NZ vision is;...
February 28, 2017New Zealand's Asparagus Industry
We all know those soggy asparagus spears, wrapped in stale white bread, that appear alongside club sandwiches at certain family or community events. Then there’s the dubious smell some time after you’ve eaten it – we won’t go there! Asparagus can get a bad rep. But despite this, in New Zealand it is a strong & successful, though relatively niche, industry. The New Zealand asparagus industry incorporates approximately 60 growers with a total planted area of around 820ha – compare this w...
February 21, 2017What's New in Social Media | Week Thirty Eight
Go on, Guess... How old is the internet this year? No cheating! One of my fondest memories of a computer as a kid was playing 'Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego' in the library of Sunnynook Primary School. Another one was SkiFree - My first stressful memory of the PC - trying to avoid trees and abominable snowmen! What are the games that you remember from the 90s? Even until a couple of years ago I couldn't imagine myself working mostly from behind a computer and being so reliant o...
February 16, 2017The state of the avocado industry in New Zealand
Who likes eating avocados? If recent history is anything to go by, pretty much everyone! Ten years ago when I started my current role, a few mates of mine gave me a bit of a ribbing for taking up a job in the avocado sector. ‘What's an avocado?’ They asked, and ‘Who wants to buy them?’ Well, fast forward to now and I look at the growth the industry has seen and the popularity of avocados. Apparently it is now the most ‘instagrammed’ fruit on the plant, and is the ‘Oprah Winfrey’ ...
February 13, 2017What's New in Social Media | Week Thirty Seven
As I write this I am listening to Little Big Town on Spotify. Did you know, to date, Spotify's music playlists have unlocked US$220 million in ad revenue for brands! I can't help but think, is this the next big marketing opportunity? It will be interesting to see what else Spotify will diversify into while they are on a roll!...
February 9, 2017Orchard to Market: Encouraging Growers to Understand their Supply Chain
As an orchardist/producer we often hear of or see our products in the retail space and think “Gee, I don’t get that sort of return…”, “How can they charge that much…”, “Someone must be clipping the ticket….” Automatically there is a tendency to think that the middle man or the supermarket is making more money or margin than the grower. But have we stopped, thought and looked at our supply chain and questioned; what is the process our produce goes through t...
February 7, 2017What's New in Social Media | Week Thirty Six
For anyone with an interest in social media marketing, graphic or interior design or purely just loves colours and stunning images, this is for you! Design Seeds is an eye-catching website with matching beautiful Instagram and Facebook pages to take you on a colour journey. Pulling colours out of images to create pallets to work with in your own spaces....
February 2, 2017What's New in Social Media | Week Thirty Five
Sometimes I wonder, what's actually new this week? What have I found? This week - no wondering is needed. I have found the holy grail of apps to help me survive 2017!! I don't know about you but I have to-do lists everywhere. In my diary, on unsynchronised sticky notes on my phone and laptop, hand written on scraps of paper and if I'm really losing the plot - on the top of my hands! Well I have just solved this ongoing dilemma and I am suddenly confident that I won't completely ...
January 26, 20172017 - Keeping in front of the pack
Well that all went quite quickly! How have we come near to the end of January already? I thought I would struggle to slow down and enjoy some time off - and I did for a few days there, once I got in the groove and realised I didn't have to write, chase emails and create content. It was a strange but welcome feeling after an especially hectic 2016! In global news, by some miracle (and 28,000 security personnel) Trump survived his inauguration and because of it, feminists are protesting and marchi...
January 23, 2017Looking back while dreaming forward
ForewordUpon review, 2016 was a tough year down on Te Mara Farms. Not only did we have low milk prices to contend with, but we have an unprecedented slow start to the velvet selling season and we’re forced to enter into a mud fight, which many referred to as winter and spring. Yet, it’s not all doom and gloom. “Hard times are the best times” – Michael Hill Jeweller. It’s forced us to look at the farm and the budget together. It has made us look for opportunities to trim the fat and h...
January 19, 2017What's New in Social Media | Week Thirty Four
Happy New Year! How's 2017 going for you?? Those new years resolutions faded off the radar yet? Mine faltered a bit today (Day 19 of the Whole30) but I'm hanging in there! Was one of your resolutions around social media and mobile or laptop use? Perhaps in cutting down on aimless news feed scrolling? Mine was - though NOT going well so far. I thought I would do some research to share with you around how you can get the most out of your social media usage....
January 19, 2017Reaching for the stars....or that undiscovered planet.
What.a.year. If you asked me 18 months ago how I thought my first year self-employed was going to be I definitely wouldn't have been able to predict what 2016 has delivered. You always start off asking yourself 'Am I going to survive? How?' You then work feverishly to make sure you get some type of business plan in place, work out your business processes and ofcourse understand how to invoice (trust me this is harder than it seems at first!) Most importantly for me though....you surround yoursel...
December 29, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Thirty Three
Five months later than first expected - we have lift off! Emotiki was released on Wednesday and the range is fantastic!The general consensus based on Facebook feedback so far is that people are disappointed they can't yet be incorporated into the general emoji keyboard.The page has been good at responding and this is what they have to say on the matter -...
December 22, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Thirty Two
Well this is new!Admittedly this is something I had never thought of, or even seen until now! Sure the Virtual Reality glasses we talked about a couple of weeks ago have some points in common but this is something quite different entirely. ...
December 15, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Thirty One
On Wednesday morning NZ time, Instagram announced some further changes to the app and how it is used. Instead of it affecting the 'Story' function, this time it's related to commenting, blocking, and reporting. The change is aimed at making the app ‘a welcoming place for everyone’The changes include the ability to stop comments from showing. It also lets people put hearts ('likes') next to any specific comment. Previously, the ability to stop comments was a limited to a small number of high-...
December 8, 2016A Global View on Agriculture and Horticulture
Recent political upheaval in Europe and the US has made the world a much more complicated place to do business. The decision by the UK to leave Europe and the election of Donald Trump as incoming President of the US has striking similarities, with consequences that will impact on New Zealand for many years to come. No one should doubt this movement for nationalism against the retention of the status quo. The ‘Brexit’ referendum and the US election defied the pollsters and pundits, and delive...
December 1, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Thirty
Chances are you have used Facebook for competitions and giveaways in the past - but have you run one on Instagram that ISN'T linked to the same Facebook competition? Do you want to grow your Instagram followers? This could be a good way to do it. Instagram, as you know, works a little differently to Facebook and that can be a good thing but it does mean you have to approach them from a different angle. ...
December 1, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Twenty Nine
Have you put much thought into virtual reality?Does it still sound a bit 'Jetsons' to you?Well, it's time to change your perception. The potential for virtual reality technology has been ramped up by Google’s recent acquisition of Eyefluence.Judging by the recent launch of the Daydream VR headset, Google seems determined to make virtual reality mainstream by fusing Eyefluence’s eye-tracking tech with their augmented virtual reality displays. ...
November 25, 2016Opportunities for agri-technology in a weightless economy
The company I am privileged to lead, AbacusBio, plays a role in using science and technology to improve agriculture internationally. We work in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Canada, Australia, Brazil and China and close to 30% of our revenue comes from off-shore.Often I am asked by New Zealand farmers whether we should be exporting our know-how: Does that undercut our competitive advantage? It’s a good question and one I have considered a lot. In some cases, ...
November 23, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Twenty Eight
With our November theme of Global Agriculture, CHANGE becomes a key word. The extreme rate of change in our world right now is unlike any other. Just as I typed this I got an Instagram Story notification of yet another update for Live Video ability. I had only updated it a week ago for the Story-Boomerang function!This is just a tiny example of the speed companies are working at staying relevant, ahead of their competitors and on top of their consumer demands - like alternative proteins in ...
November 18, 2016Are you ready for alternative proteins?
While looking through my pantry the other day I had a bit of a giggle to myself about some of the ‘staples’ I had in there now and the vast contrast to what I used to have in my pantry about 3+ years ago. Seven years ago I attended the Harvard Agribusiness programme in Shanghai. It was amazing and my first real global perspective for Agri-Food. Although I had spent most of my career working in the agri sector, it has always had more of a farmer or financial markets focus. This programme re...
November 16, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Twenty Seven
I don't know about you but most nights I'm flicking between three screens at any one time....
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