The Dairy Farmers of America has Lunch and Learn programs for their summer interns, who come from a variety of schools with varying majors.

During the June 8 Lunch and Learn, the interns were introduced to NAMA.  Kristen Marshall, AgCall U.S.A., Inc., Vice Chair of NAMA’s Careers Committee and Chair of the Marketing Competition and Debbie Brummel, NAMA, gave them an overview.  This included some of NAMA’s history, its mission, and an overview of both professional NAMA and also the student NAMA Careers Program.

Vicki Henrickson, National NAMA President, attended the chapter meeting of the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s Student NAMA chapter on Wednesday, March 23, 2011.

Early registration deadline is March 18, 2011

The early registration deadline for the Agri-Marketing Conference is Friday, March 18. Register today to avoid higher rates after March 18.

Download and fill out the registration form and mail, fax or phone it in to the NAMA Office. You may also register on-line at http://www.nama.org/ConferenceRegistration/Default.aspx?confid=28.

Please note: No “Bill Me’s” will be allowed after March 30, 2011. All “Bill Me’s” will need to be secured with a credit card.

Cancellation Policy: Cancellations until March 24 are entitled to a full refund. Cancellations from March 25 to April 4 will receive a 50% refund. No refunds will be given after April 4. All refunds will be subject to a $25 processing fee. No “Bill Me’s” will be accepted after March 30.

Hotel Cut-Off Date ~ March 18, 2011
The hotel cut-off date is March 18, 2011. Reservations made after March 18 are subject to higher rates and potential unavailability. Hurry and make your reservations today before the block fills up!

The Hyatt Regency Crown Center is the hotel for the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference. Make sure you mention “NAMA” when making reservations. All reservation requests will require a credit card guarantee or one night’s deposit. Deposits will be refunded by the hotel for rooms canceled more than three (3) days prior to arrival.

Hyatt Regency Crown Center
2345 McGee Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
(816) 421-1234

Online Reservations
There are two blocks at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center, one for students and one for professionals. You are now able to make your reservations on-line, just follow the links below:

Professional Block: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/Professional

Student Block: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/student1

Roger Reierson, President and Chairman, AdFarm, has been named the 2011 NAMA Marketer of the Year. The NAMA Marketer award will be presented during the Second General Session of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference, “Harvesting Ideas” on Thursday, April 14 at 11:00 a.m. in Kansas City, Missouri and is sponsored by Agri Marketing magazine.

NAMA recognizes its active members with senior management of marketing and/or sales responsibilities with the NAMA Marketer of the Year award. This award is NAMA’s most prestigious honor awarded to active members of the association and honors outstanding accomplishments in the field of agri-marketing.

In the early 1990s, the Parker Group based in Canada and Flint Communications in the United States realized they had synergies in the work for a common brand, each representing Flexi-Coil on opposite sides of the border. They began working together on Flexi-Coil for a common purpose and realized the opportunity for further growth in the North American ag marketplace. AdFarm was formed as a partnership of the two companies’ focus on agricultural communications. From its humble beginnings in the early 1990s and under the leadership of partners including Roger, AdFarm has grown to be one of North America’s largest marketing communications firms, unique in the fact that 100% of the company’s business is focused on agriculture.

Roger possesses the type of leadership and charisma that generates energy  for a cause to “get things done.” These abilities have benefited countless clients, organizations, peers and associates, as well as the companies with which he is directly involved.

Roger has played a key role in the growth of AdFarm throughout North America. From the original locations in Calgary, Alberta, and Fargo, North Dakota, AdFarm has grown to now include offices in Guelph, Ontario, Kansas City and St. Louis, Missouri, and in 2010, Sacramento, California. Additionally, numerous AdFarm employees are deployed remotely throughout North America.

Roger’s vision and leadership contribute to his innovative ability to “make things grow.” The beneficiaries include the many clients, associates, initiatives and organizations who have had the good fortune to work with him. Ask anyone who has served on a committee with Roger, participated in a leadership session facilitated by him or tackled a grass-roots project with him. Roger’s passion for the work is admirable, his commitment infectious and his energy is envious.

Roger’s history with NAMA runs deep. He was part of a core group of individuals who established the Northern Prairie Chapter back in 1986. He has served as Chapter President during the early years and reprised his role again from 2006 to 2009.

He has also served as a Regional Director and in 2005 was a national conference committee member. He has served as emcee for the Region III Best of NAMA awards show and participated on numerous chapter and national level committees related to NAMA.

Commitment to Student NAMA is something that Roger has held in very high regard throughout his NAMA involvement. He has served as a mentor for the North Dakota State University Student Chapter for years and has freely donated the time of his AdFarm employees to mentor and grow student involvement in NAMA. In 2007, he led the planning for a growth initiative within Northern Prairie NAMA designed to place greater focus on the development of Student NAMA Chapters within the Northern Prairie region. That plan is now in place and continues to be executed by fellow Northern Prairie Chapter leaders, members and students.

Join us for lunch on Wednesday, October 6, at The Marquette Hotel in Minneapolis for the 2010 Trends In Agriculture conference as we honor the 2010 Professional Development Awards of Excellence Recipients.

NAMA honors its members with hands-on responsibility in each of the Professional Development Areas (PDA). This year, awards will be given in the areas of Marketing Communications, Public Relations, Product/Species Management and Sales. The recipients will share their thoughts on the challenges and opportunities in agri-marketing at the luncheon.

The 2010 Awards of Excellence recipients are as follows:

Marketing Communications ~ Scott McClure, Brighton Agency
A 25-year veteran of publishing and marketing communications, Scott has used his expertise and talents to advance the field of agricultural marketing on multiple levels.

Since joining Brighton in 2002, Scott has led the design and implementation of strategic marketing plans for major agricultural companies such as BASF, Monsanto, Delta and Pine Land Company, Horizon Ag, Bo-Jac Seed Company and Iron Solutions.

In 2009, Scott fostered a unique partnership between Monsanto and The Weather Channel to develop an online destination for targeted messaging. Dubbed Farmers’ Forecast (www.weather.com/farming), the innovative microsite offers farmers climate conditions, degree growing units and other important agricultural information in one location.

Scott also oversaw the creation of the Cotton Community (www.cottoncommunity.com), the ag industry’s first social networking site for cotton farmers. Since it went live in December 2008, Monsanto’s innovative networking website has had more than 4,300 individual visitors, while more and more farmers are steadily creating profiles and joining discussions with their regional neighbors about new variety performance.

Scott has served as a National NAMA committee member of the Agri-Marketing Conference Committee. He has also been a Student NAMA judge, Best of NAMA judge, and moderator for numerous Agri-Marketing seminar panel discussions.

Public Relations ~ Sue Otten, AGCO Corporation
Sue Otten, Director of Corporate Marketing & Brand Communications Worldwide, launched AGCO’s comprehensive social media initiative less than a year ago while educating global marketing teams on benefits, policies, technologies, tips & process. Learning as she went, Sue took calculated risks to get the buzz going both internally & externally. AGCO soon was ranked along with Coca-Cola & Delta Airlines with a perfect engagement score and won NAMA’s “Best of” award (Broadcast PR).

As Social Media tools were becoming more popular, it was important to develop a cohesive communications strategy and process within the company. This was important to not only ensure effective use of resources, but to also present a consistent digital message to our market and key stakeholders. Sue developed AGCO’s Social Media strategy and developed a process to get the many global brand and product divisions involved while still maintaining a unified Social Media presence.

At the same time, there was a need to develop the expertise of the AGCO employees. Sue, along with training specialists with the AGCO University department, developed a training course for employees to learn about not only AGCO’s Social Media objective, policy and philosophy, but also shows employees via a guided tour of AGCO’s social media sites how to access the sites and engage with customers, fans and followers.

Since joining AGCO two years ago, Sue has been an active member of  NAMA, participating in the Southeastern chapter. Sue also participated in the NAMA mentor program, working with college students on their resumes and interview process, and helped to evaluate student groups before they went on to present at the National NAMA conferences.

Product/Species Management ~ Elena Lindemann, Land O’Lakes Purina Feed, LLC
Elena’s Marketing Manager position was created by Land O’Lakes in 2006 to develop and market value-added, R&D-based calf feeds for the dairy industry. Land O’Lakes is the US market leader in calf milk replacers, but had previously not focused on value added calf feeds.

Elena led a cross-functional new product development team to launch AMPLI-Calf dairy feeds in 2008 across the United States at more than 30 Land O’Lakes Purina Feed manufacturing locations. The new product’s performance on young calves caught producers’ attention. AMPLI-Calf starter feed was consumed by calves with 11% more intake in pounds, increased calves’ weight by 14%, and grew calves 3% taller than competitive feeds. Previously, dairy producers used commodity type feeds for this lifestage of calf (starter feeds).

Today, AMPLI-Calf dairy feed represents approximately a $5 million annual business and is projected to keep growing at more than 15% for each of the next 2 years. A product extension is planned for the “grower” lifestage.

Elena is an active member of NAMA, has attended local/regional meetings when not traveling in the field with customers.

Sales ~ Marvin Kokes, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Marvin Kokes knows the key to a successful sales career is in cultivating relationships—and that Marvin has mastered. He is a dedicated and well-respected ag professional who excels at his job and nurtures others to flourish as well.

Known as an ‘idea man,’ Kokes is responsible for contributing more than just time and energy, but ideas and connections to continue to build a stronger ag community.  He brings this strength to his daily leadership responsibilities in the areas of corporate relations, sponsorships, convention and meetings for NCBA.

At National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Marvin has responsibilities that include sales for NCBA’s Cattlemen to Cattlemen and sponsorship sales for the NCBA Convention and Trade Show.  What makes his task unique is living and selling the NCBA brand to a variety of corporate partners from animal health to largest of foodservice entities.  Each day, Marvin will sell the value of supporting NCBA’s work to protect the business climate for cattle producers and building beef demand.   Marvin provides partners a perspective of every segment of the business from the cow/calf operation through retail and foodservice.  In his role at NCBA, he works with each sector of the beef business, providing information, connecting people and resources, and most of all, bringing the passion and spirit that defines the American farmer and rancher.  Coming from a five generation Colorado ranch, he has significant accountability back home with his brothers and nephews, who depend on NCBA to represent their interests in Washington and the consumer marketplace.

Marvin’s commitment to professional development is evident in his work as the long-time leader of the Young Cattlemen’s Conference over the last 16 years. In 2010, he led the successful transformation of the Young Cattlemen’s Conference, which underwent a significant shift in sponsorship and itinerary. But Marvin never missed a beat, leading the largest YCC class across country, building young cattlemen into future industry leaders.

Each June, Marvin leads a group of approximately 60 young cattlemen on a cross-country tour, a literal farm to fork agricultural adventure. The trip is an experience that encompasses not just education, but also networking, friendship building and experiences that last a lifetime.  It has been through this type of effort, the YCC program celebrated its 31^st year with over 1000 proud alumni.

“Involved” would be the word to describe Kokes’ level of participation in the National Agri-Marketing Association. Starting as a NAMA student member at Colorado State, he’s been a part of the organization for more than ten years. He is currently a board member, is the President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of NAMA and also serves on the NAMA Executive Committee.

Executive Committee
The NAMA Executive Committee will be meeting this week in Lake Tahoe, California. Kevin Ochsner, Adayana, Inc., will be joining the Executive Committee to help committee members establish NAMA’s strategic plan. The meeting will take place August 4-5.

Executive Committee members include: Susie Decker, Farm Progress Companies (National NAMA President); Vicki Henrickson, Blasdel Cleaver Schwalbe Communications (President-Elect); Beth Burgy, Broadhead + Co. (Secretary/Treasurer); Paul Redhage, FMC Agricultural Products; Kenna Rathai, Kenna B. Rathai Communications; Robert Ratliff, ProfitableFarming.com; Ken Dean, SouthWestern Association/Western Farm Show; Marvin Kokes, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association; Becky Peterson, Farm Credit Services; and Jenny Pickett, National NAMA.

Careers Committee
The Careers Committee will meet August 27 at the Rhea + Kaiser Marketing Communications offices in Naperville, IL. The committee will be discussing the responsibilities of the committee as well as any Marketing Competition Guideline changes and planning for the Student Marketing Competition at the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference, April 13-15, 2011.

The Careers Committee includes: Wes Meador, Rhea + Kaiser Marketing Communications (Careers Chair); Kristen Marshall, Nicholson Kovac (Vice Chair); Stacey Noe, Iowa State University (Advisor); Jennifer Christie, John Deere, Ltd. & Student Advisor for University of Guelph; Deron Johnson, Rhea + Kaiser Marketing Communications; Michelle Tollefson, Pfizer Animal Health; Matt Bornhorst, Agriculture Future of America; Mike Butler, Archer>Malmo; Amy Barron, Novus International; Janelle Buxton, Successful Farming & Agriculture Online; Sara Thieding, Makhteshim Agan of North America; Jill Loehr, Wyffels Hybrids; Carrie Jorgensen, McCormick Company; Amy Jolliff, Bader Rutter & Associates; and Paul Redhage, FMC Agriculture Products (Executive Committee Liaison).

Several of the North Central Chapter’s leaders (Sheri Hansen, Padilla Speer Beardsley; Josh Krenz, Land O’Lakes, Inc.; Lori Maude, Broadhead + Co.; Teri Otte, Land O’Lakes, Inc.; Melissa Richard, Padilla Speer Beardsley; and JoDee George, Weber Shandwick) met at the Padilla Speer Beardsley offices on Thursday, July 22 to plan the upcoming chapter year.  By the end of the morning, topics had been chosen and responsibility of each assigned to specific leaders.

Chapter members can look forward to a variety of programs, including generational issues, crisis communication, legislative updates and another fun night at a Twins game.  In addition, the North Central Chapter will host a reception at the closing of NAMA’s Trends in Agriculture Conference, being held at The Marquette Hotel in Minneapolis on October 5 and 6.