eXtension honored the Direct Marketing Food Specialty Products Online team with a 2012 Working Differently in Extension Award. The team members are from the University of Nebraska and North Dakota State University.
From the University of Nebraska-Lincoln:
Connie Hancock, Jay Jenkins, and Jennifer Nixon
From North Dakota State University:
Glenn Muske
According to nominators: “The Direct Marketing Food Specialty Products Online is designed to provide business owners with online strategies and tools to help sell directly to consumers. This online curriculum can be used by business owners 24/7 allowing them to evaluate the role of technology in the business, examine how to weigh the costs and benefits of technology, understand online marketing tools, learn how to build an online presence and understand how online marketing fits into an overall marketing plan.
“The curriculum this team built, created as an electronic magazine, is interactive and uses short, bulleted material, videos, pop-ups, PDF resource material and links to help provide learning about online marketing. The program is supplemented with an online weekly newsletter to keep its customers up on trends and tools and to build community.
This team, in keeping with the use of online tools, used an Entrepreneurs and Their Communities COP webinar, postings on the COP Facebook site, Twitter and Facebook posts in program marketing.
“The program has been included on the National e-Commerce Extension Initiative housed at Southern Region Development Center and was a highlighted program at the recent SRDC pre-conference session at the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals meeting.
“Finally based on the initial response to the program, two similar programs, one ‘Marketing AgriTourism Online’ and a second on ‘eTailing’, have been funded.
”The Working Differently in Extension Award recognizes an individual or a team for their engagement with clients, co-workers and others in new and different ways. It lauds the demonstrable impacts made, both quantitatively and qualitatively as they do their work. And, finally this award provides an opportunity to show how these individuals or groups are working online and within a learning network…something to be truly held up in Cooperative Extension.
Congratulations to the Team!