What'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....
November 11, 2016How will the future of agriculture affect NZ?
Agriculture is an industry shaped by tradition, technique and unpredictable tendencies. It is mirrored off the basic human need - people need to eat. A fact which is a reliable reality for many suppliers who provide the external sources of which we all survive. Meaning that in a world which is constantly evolving and changing at a rapid pace, agriculture is still a booming industry. However, modern times has stretched original agribusinesses onto a much wider scale, using much smarter techniques...
November 9, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Twenty Six
Track Maven recently analysed 17.5 million social posts by 17,737 brands to come up with a clear guideline for posting times over various forms of social media.It turns out the best time to post on Facebook is 8pm on Thursday, while for Twitter it's 5pm on the same day.It's bright and early for LinkedIn types! Judging by the prime time of 9am (Particularly on Wednesdays), I'd say that while checking emails first thing and seeing some notifications, it's leading to some early morning LinkedI...
November 3, 2016National Novel Writing Month
Welcome to National Novel Writing Month!!I'm going to be straight up....everything I write or say is a novel. Those who know me, know that I use a lot of words to describe my stories. I even repeat the detail when trying to get a desired reaction from the listener. Thanks Mum, that's your trick!However, when it comes to writing, my novels are more like short stories. A 500 word limit with pictures, graphs & quotes.The digital novel is now a blog and has been since around 2006.Notice how e-reader...
November 2, 2016Women in Agriculture
Women have been involved in agriculture and farming life for generations. Not only have they been strong support systems and hard working employees but many have acted as trailblazers in an industry which is often dominated by men. The stereotype of what makes a ‘farmer’ or who should be the one to run a farm is rapidly changing - as many females choose to dedicate their lives to study, work and the success of current agricultural movements. The ability to combine a life on the farm with ca...
November 1, 2016Whats New in Social Media | Week Twenty Five
On Monday, Facebook released an update making it load faster and has given it a more intelligent order for your news feed based on combination of pre-cached stories saved on the device, as well as new stories from Facebook’s servers. The update is one of many things that Facebook has been doing to make its app work better on poor connections, or when you’re offline. Last December, it began allowing users to comment on posts when offline. Before that, it allowed for offline sharing and Likes...
October 27, 2016Women of Influence
Often I look at others careers in awe of what they've achieved. This is no more true than when I looked through the list of finalists at the recent Women of Influence Awards event. There are so many inspirational women in New Zealand, doing amazing things for other New Zealanders and for humanity globally. Many names listed in the finalists booklet were known to me but what an insight into their lives you glean from their bios. I will be sure to watch with interest as they continue to achieve gr...
October 26, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Twenty Four
In the past week, Facebook has launched a separate events app.."Looking for something to do with friends this weekend? Want to know what's happening tonight? Find events that match your interests and stay up-to-date no matter where you are." It's currently available on Apple and coming soon to Android so I will fill you in once I get a chance to check it out for myself....
October 20, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Twenty Three
"Moments are curated stories showcasing the very best of what’s happening on Twitter. Our Moments guide is customized to show you current topics that are popular or relevant, so you can discover what is unfolding on Twitter in an instant."...
October 6, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Twenty Two
New Zealand is a beautiful country of 4.4 million, but it punches way above its weight with it's social media presence!Here's an idea of where we pack the most punch:...
September 30, 2016The Art of Celebrating Success
It’s a funny thing. When I was in my twenties I thought success was all about achieving large goals. I worked incredibly hard, would reach a gargantuan goal and then move on to the next one. The point is that I never took the time to celebrate that goal or look back on the many successful incremental steps that took me to that point. I was in a hurry. Life was not going to wait and I needed to utilise every second, every minute wisely. There was no downtime, no patting on the back and no self...
September 28, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Twenty-One
Ripl is a new app that allows anyone to create animated social media posts in a short video format!It's a great way to create videos without needing any expensive technology or super awesome cinematography skills....
September 22, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Twenty
Have you stumbled across Instagram Stories yet?Those circles at the top of your Instagram home screen show the people you follow who have a story available. Click on any one of them to view or on the first one to begin the show! ...
September 6, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Nineteen
Are you looking to extend your social media coverage?What type of social media would suit you?We often work with people and companies to help decide what types of social media would match their brand, business or personality. These statistics are from 2014 but it's a fantastic generalisation so show what type of social media would be suitable for you. ...
September 2, 2016Disruption - an agritech entrepreneurs view
If you’re anything like me, you would have noticed that there seems to be more and more talk about “disruptive technologies”, “disruptive brands”, “disruptive companies” and “disruption” in general. If you had to name some companies that have caused such “disruption” in a marketplace, you might think of companies like Uber, Airbnb, Facebook and Netflix. Retrospectively it is fairly easy to analyse these companies and state why they are disruptive – Uber short circuits the...
August 29, 2016What's New in Social Media | Week Eighteen
Back in 2012 Facebook was awash with ‘Bitstrips’ - now, the new and improved version is here with 2016 being the year of the Bitmoji!Bitmoji are cartoon versions of yourself. You can personalise them, starting all the way from face shape, eye position, hairstyle, skin colour, outfits and more.The company won’t release exact figures, but many millions of people are using the app every single day, and the numbers are steadily growing. They release six new Bitmoji every week, with a...
August 12, 2016Automated Farming Systems
‘Working smarter rather than harder’, is a saying that many of us use to describe the action of thinking a task through before we undertake it. Additionally the saying of ‘if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got’. So let’s rip up the box for a second and talk about livestock agriculture not as it sits today, but as it will be in the future. Let’s consider that the digital age has created new opportunities to change livestock farming as...
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