Photo Gallery: Going behind the scenes of Bayer CropScience news conference

Sep. 25, 2012

The media conference was held at Bayer CropScience’s world headquarters in Monheim, Germany. The facilities are located on a sprawling campus in beautiful surroundings.
This way to the press conference! You’d think that signage wouldn’t be all that important, but with journalists from around the world, and not everyone speaking the same language, every step of our visit was clearly mapped out. You don’t want a lost journalist.
No, we did not have to pick our own breakfast fruit. The bananas were growing inside Bayer’s Tropicarium.
Yes, it’s truly a jungle in the ag media world. The Tropicarium, at the center of the building where our press conference is being held, is – simply stated – an oversized greenhouse that is home to 400 varieties of plants from around the world. You could truly lose yourself in the flora.
Everyone got this nice bag filled with news and information. It’s a staple to any media conference.
No, it wasn’t the latest Hollywood red carpet appearance. When you have the top management in one place, it’s truly a photo opportunity. Unfortunately, I wasn’t aggressive enough so had to settle for this view.
Sandra Peterson, chief executive officer of Bayer CropScience, addresses the journalists.
C. David Nicholson, head of research and development for Bayer CropScience, gives an overview of the company’s research and development program, as well as a glimpse of what’s in the pipeline.
The company officials address the journalists. It was quite interesting as to the range of questions being asked, mostly very specific to the region – or regions – of the world and the crops involved.
A coup for any journalist is the ability to get time with executives. Here, Lykele van der Broek, member of the Bayer CropScience executive committee and chief operating officer, addresses a small group of U.S. journalists.
It’s more than just a sit-down with executives. Journalists were also treated to a tour of the facilities, including the Bee Care Center. It was truly a unique opportunity to learn more about Bayer’s efforts in promoting bee health.

Press conferences are a staple to the life of an agricultural journalist. They are a necessary function that allows us to gather news and information of critical importance to our readers.

But they are also critical to companies as well. These meetings allow the company to disseminate relevant information to its audience. And depending on the company, the media attending a press conference can be from the surrounding states, or worldwide. The news generated from these events can help tell a story of a new product, provide updated market information to shareholders, and even provide a glimpse of the company’s overall marketing strategy. It’s truly a goldmine of information for journalists.

Often, however, we only report what goes on behind the microphone. To be fair, it’s often what is said at these events that is the news story. But these events also sometimes give us a glimpse of the company that goes beyond the media packet or press release. And through these photos, we’d like to share a glimpse of a media event.

I had the opportunity to attend the worldwide annual press conference for Bayer CropScience in Monheim, Germany. Journalists from around the world assembled in Monheim to listen to company updates from top management, and to ask questions.