You can be part of the Agri-Business Educational Foundation (ABEF) Century Club for less that 9 bucks a month. That’s right, just a $100 gift to ABEF puts your name on the list with other agribusiness professionals who understand the value of supporting today’s Student NAMA Chapter members, the National Student NAMA Marketing Plan competition, student mentoring and much more. Send a check. Use a credit card. Your $100 gift could be tax deductible and goes a long way to helping future agribusiness leaders. Click here to find out more.

NAMA is mourning the loss of a former member/student advisor and friend, Dr. Sabry Shehata.  Dr. Shehata was a professor with the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management at the University of Hawaii.  He was  the NAMA Student Advisor since 1992 and coached the University of Hawaii student NAMA teams. 

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Shehata family.

Student NAMA Chapter planning is underway with the Marketing Plan Competition at the forefront. The AgriBusiness Educational Foundation (ABEF) is one way NAMA supports that competition, as well as supporting student scholarships, mentoring, student chapter development, etc. Please join us in this effort by adding just $10 to your NAMA dues, joining the Century Club with a $100 donation (less than $9/month), or joining in with other contributors and companies who have made lasting impacts on the lives of students and young professionals. Click here to find out more.

NAMA students are wrapping up summer internships, jobs, and classes, and getting ready for the fall semester. Careers Committee planning will soon be underway with the Marketing Plan Competition at the forefront. The Agri-Business Educational Foundation (ABEF) is one way NAMA supports that competition, as well as supporting student scholarships, mentoring, student chapter development, etc. Please join us in this effort by adding just $10 to your NAMA dues, joining the Century Club with a $100 donation (less than $9/month), or joining in with other contributors and companies who have made lasting impacts on the lives of students and young professionals. Click here to find out more.

The packed house at the Best of NAMA Celebration prior to the first full day of conference activities was a clue. The 2012 Agri-Marketing Conference was going to be big … and it was.  Click here for a list of Best of NAMA winners.

Over 1200 attendees filled the Sheraton at Crown Center exhibit hall, keynote sessions and breakouts. NAMA has challenged itself to up the ante on conference each year.

“Our executive and planning committees work so hard to deliver the most amazing conference possible and it seems like they out do themselves every time,” shares Jenny Pickett, Executive Vice President/CEO of NAMA. “We try to bring in speakers who inject new perspectives and shake things up a little. The line up this year was just stellar.”

Peter Sheahan got things started with an energizing exploration of how ideas and execution join to create innovation. Using little known examples from leading-edge companies like Apple and Progressive, he had the crowd rapt with attention the whole morning.

The comedic, laid-back style of Ross Schafer was the perfect segue into the rest of the day. His insights and quick-witted observations were also full of useful suggestions for nurturing customer relationships and gaining an edge on your competition.

Awards for Agribusiness Leader of the Year and NAMA Marketer of the Year were also presented in the morning sessions. Honors went to John Becherer, United Soybean Board, and Greg Guse, Paulsen Marketing, respectively.

Attendees then chose from a wide-ranging group of breakout sessions to round out their afternoons. Topics spanned how different generations of farmers use media, to how to foster a creative environment in the workplace.

A walk through the Connection Point Trade Show  and closing reception with the exhibitors closed a full day of networking, learning and new ideas.  Attendees were encouraged to visit each of the 62 trade show booths to enter to win great prizes.  Congrats to Tom Apple, Pam Voelkel and Michele Egan who each took home a Kindle Fire.  Michelle Weinzetl won a XBOX Kinect and Heather Rossow won a Best Buy Gift Card.

At the Closing Session, Walter Bond shared his personal experiences of challenge and triumph during his long journey to becoming a player in the NBA. He urged the audience to be confident (but not arrogant), show enthusiasm and resist dwelling on the negative.

The winner of the 2012 Student Marketing Competition sponsored by Monsanto and FMC  is … Iowa State University!   

The Iowa State marketing team had over 20 students involved with this year’s project to market the only available source of fresh, local and high-quality shrimp.    

Marketing Competition Results:

2nd place – University of Minnesota
3rd place – Kansas State University
4th place – University of Wisconsin-Madison
5th place – Arizona State University
6th place – University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign

Students decide on a project and develop a plan to successfully bring the product or service to the marketplace. In developing their marketing plan, students follow the same practices and principles used by today’s marketing professionals. Teams submit a written plan summary prior to the competition and then make a formal presentation of their marketing plan to a panel of judges at the competition. The judges’ panel consists of marketing and agribusiness professionals.

Overall, 29 student NAMA chapters participated in the marketing competition. The competition is part of the annual Agri-Marketing Conference. Over 350 student members attended the conference.

For a list of the Student Marketing Competition Winners/Finalists and to view their Executive Summaries visit http://www.nama.org/student/marketing.html.

John Deere Signature Award
Iowa State University won the 2012 John Deere Signature Award, which recognizes the chapters that have accumulated the most points for outstanding student chapter, student marketing competition, ABEF scholarships, membership and participation, and projects and activities.

Other winners of the 2012 John Deere Signature Award included:

2nd place – Illinois State University
3rd place – University of Wisconsin-Madison
4th place – Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
5th place – University of Nebraska-Lincoln

NAMA’s Choice Awards
NAMA’s Choice Awards are voted on by the students during finals of the student marketing competition. This year’s winners were:

Favorite team — Iowa State University
Best-dressed team — Illinois State University
Best-dressed advisor — David Lehman, Kansas State University
Team I’d like to be friends with on Facebook — Mississippi State University
Students’ favorite product — Purdue University (Roadrunner Pale Ale)
Toughest judge — Dave Rhylander, Monsanto

2012 Chapter Performance Awards
Congratulations to the winners of the 2012 Chapter Performance Awards!

Chapter Management – University of Nebraska-Lincoln 
Chapter Programs – Iowa State University 
Membership Recruitment – New Mexico State University 
Fundraising/Financial Management – Delaware Valley College 
Chapter Communications – Univ. of Missouri-Columbia
Career Development – Iowa State University

The North Central NAMA Chapter hosted a Networking Event for professionals and students on Feb. 9, 2012.  More than 70 students attended this event that involved roundtable discussions and a Career Fair.

The evening kicked off with roundtable discussions that included topics helping students prepare to find a job, as well as issues facing communications professionals.  Students were able to attend four roundtable discussions during the hour.

Following the roundtables, a short career fair was held.  Nearly 15 agribusiness companies and agencies were part of the career fair that allowed students to ask more specific questions about opportunities available within the individual organizations.

With the success of the first event, organizers are looking ahead to the next event.  For more information on future events, contact Becca Yaklich, North Central NAMA Student Liaison Committee Chair, [email protected].