Germination presents a series of stories on the 20 most influential people in the seed sector in 2018. Want to nominate someone for 2019? Email mzienkiewicz@issuesink.com with the subject line “Top 20 nomination”!
These days, Brenda Trask is known by many as the communications manager for SeCan. The owner of communications company Brenda Trask and Associates has become known as not only an effective communicator and brand-builder, but as the seed sector’s memory-maker.
Her influence extends to many places, whether it’s helping build SeCan into what it is today (the largest distributor of certified seed to Canadian farmers) or serving as a co-chair of the Midge-Tolerant Wheat Stewardship Team.
She’s brought her skills to 20-plus seed brands in Canada over the course of her career. Through it all, she’s tackled the task at hand with one question in mind — how to make an impression.
“People don’t have much time anymore. Whatever I work on, I have to think, ‘How do I make every event I work on memorable or unique?’ My mantra has always been that people won’t remember what you did or what you said, but how you made them feel.”
(Hear Brenda Trask talk about where her love for communications began.)
For any seed brand, the biggest challenge is to keep ahead of the change that’s coming, recognizing the best way to promote varieties to your audience, she says. “Trying to keep ahead of the curve and figure out how to carry out that communications strategy most effectively is No. 1 if you want to be successful in selling seed.”
She’s been to the East and West, seen every crop you can name, and has an appreciation for how things have changed from a private company perspective, from a non-profit, and from a committee perspective.
She organized the 2010 International Seed Federation World Seed Congress in Calgary, which which took four years to plan and for which she received the Canadian Seed Trade Association’s Seed Achievement Award in 2011.
After years of experience in the ag sphere, she has no intention of retiring anytime soon.
“As long as I love what I do, I will keep working. I love to come to work every single day, and I feel very fortunate to feel that way.”
(Trask talks about her biggest successes in the seed sector.)
