Update #2 Yugma is not the platform for us, since it is not possible to share voice through the Internet -- they wanted us to call through a regular phone line to voice chat. Strange. I'll look around for another software package and we'll try again next week. Send a message if you would like updates about future web conferences.

Updated, Wednesday 3/18 12:30pm EST: Click the following link to access the conference after you have downloaded the software: https://www.yugma.com/app/loading.php?user=&role=0&collsession=307729831

After last week's post, I heard back from a number of people that thought a weekly open forum for farm web topics would be a useful.

So, let's do the first one this week.

When?
1pm EST, Wednesday March 18th 2009

Cost?
Free

Where?
Physically, anywhere. Digitally, the Yugma conference network

Download the Software

If you are waiting for Obama's rural broadband stimulus, you may want to sit these meetings out for now. I think it will require a higher speed connection. We can explore the possibility of "calling in" via a normal phone next week.

We will be using Yugma, which requires a download. Visit https://www.yugma.com/download/allproducts-jvm.php and choose the product that suits your operating system. This was about a 34 MB download, so it does take some time to download and install. You may want to do this ahead of time.

Email if Interested

If you are interested in this web meeting, please email me a quick note with your interest and email address. I will send you an invite about half an hour before the meeting starts with an invite link and we'll go from there.

Bring questions, your ideas, and a critical eye for other farm websites and marketing plans. Let's see how this develops!

Hearing some of the great questions during the Web Session that I helped give at the Organicology conference gave me the idea of setting up a weekly web meeting/conference on web marketing issues for farmers.

There is a lot of interest in how the web can be used for farm marketing and communication between farms, but there are so many tools and the web is a confusing place.

There is low-cost software that we can use to stream video and voice to many participants right through your friendly web browser. We can talk about anything you like at the intersection of the web and farms:

• Outlets to sell goods online
• Mailing list software
• Interesting farming resource blogs
• Creating a farm website
• Web marketing strategies that work
• Small Farm Central tutorial
• Take a look at web analytics tools
• Discuss farm blogging ideas
• Etc, etc, etc

Talk among yourselves, ask me questions, or we'll look at your website and give you suggestions. This should not necessarily focus on Small Farm Central (there a lot of tools out there) nor does it have to be directed by me. I would just like to provide a forum for discussion where web marketing concerns agriculture.

So I am thinking about scheduling an hour a week to talk on a regular basis - stop by once to chat about a specific issue or put it on your weekly calendar. No cost, just communication.

Is this something you would be interested in? Please leave your thoughts in comments. Hopefully there is enough interest to make it worth starting up something like this!

Small Farm Central starts the traveling web services roadshow this weekend at the Carolina Farm Stewardardship Association's Annual Conference in Anderson, SC.



The conferences are a great way to get energized about sustainable agriculture for me and the attendees - farmers are such a passionate group and the energy is always infectious. We've done a lot of work to improve the booth this year, so if you saw the table last year, I hope you will come back and check us out again!

Here is the tentative conference schedule for Fall 2008 - Spring 2009:

Oct. 31st - Nov. 2nd: Carolina Farm Stewardardship Association's Annual Conference in Anderson, SC
November 6th - 8th: Southeast Strawberry Expo in Charlotte, NC
December 4th - 6th: Acres USA Annual Conference in Saint Louis, MO
December 9th - 11th: Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market Expo in Grand Rapids, MI
January 8th - 11th: Southeast Regional Fruit & Vegetable Conference in Savannah, GA
January 14th - 16th: Mid-Atlantic Direct Marketing Conference in Atlantic City, NJ
January 21st - 24th: Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group's Annual Conference in Chattanooga, TN
February 5th - 7th: Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture's Annual Conference in State College, PA
February 11th - 12th: Empire State Fruit and Vegetable Expo in Syracuse, NY
February 21st - 22nd: Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association in Granville, OH
February 27th - 28th: Oregon Tilth's Annual Conference in Portland, OR

If you will be at any of these conferences, come say hello!

Small Farm Central is off to PASA to present in the tradeshow this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday so be sure to stop by if you will be at the conference.

This is a trip back to my Alma Mater (Penn State University), so it will be nice to have a look around despite the fact that I don't know anyone from my college days who lives there anymore.

I will be back next week with more web marketing discussions. Any specific questions I can help you with? I got a lot of great questions at Eco-farm which definitely helped direct the talk in a way that was more useful for the average farmer. So help guide this blog -- send an email or leave a comment.

Thanks to the folks at Eco Farm for inviting me to speak at the conference over the weekend. The talk generated a lot of lively discussion and it seemed like everyone left with at least a few new tips and confidence in their ability to drive their web marketing forward.

The powerpoint file and resource sheet are available for download below if you would like them:

• Powerpoint slides (Powerpoint, 2.4 MB)
• Resource list (Microsoft Word, 28 K)

One of the great pleasures of the trip was seeing Thomas Cameron and Billi Davis from Rancho Durazno. That is the farm I worked on for two years to help start their CSA program. I learned so much from both of them about farming and life, so it was great catching up and sharing the weekend with them.

Billi Davis, Simon Huntley, and Thomas Cameron

It was a pleasant surprise to meet the folks from Butte Mountain Organic Farm who have been members of Small Farm Central for a while. I got the following picture with a new member, Glen from Mother Flight Farm in Washington state.

Farmers united by Small Farm Central.

The rain cleared on Saturday for the drive back to San Francisco, so I took the coastal road. Maybe slower, but what a gorgeous drive past artichoke farms, fields hugging the ocean, and ragged beaches.

A coastal view between Monterey and San Francisco.