Nominate someone you know for the Professional Development Awards of Excellence. These awards will be presented at the 2008 Trends in Agriculture fall meeting, November 11-12, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City.

The awards honor NAMA members based on outstanding achievement in each of the Professional Development Areas (PDA): (1) Marketing Communications; (2) Product/Species Management; (3) Public Relations; and (4) Sales. Nominees must be NAMA members. Nominators should target individuals with direct planning and execution responsibilities in the respective Professional Development Area from agribusiness and related companies.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Select a nominee. This nominee should excel in one of the four professional development areas. Consult the eligibility requirements closely.
2. Fill out the application and then address the three Areas of Excellence. Include your contact information, if NAMA has questions regarding the application, the nominator will be contacted.
3. Send the application and narrative to NAMA by September 1, 2008.

Nominees will be judged solely on their write-ups. Please do not send any other appendices, video-tapes, or samples. There are no entry fees.

Judging Criteria for the awards is as follows:

Achievement (40 points): Describe the nominee’s accomplishments on the basis of innovation, Professional Development Area knowledge/expertise and overall industry impact. How has the nominee distinguished themselves among industry peers in the same PDA? Primary emphasis should be placed on achievement within the past 18 months.

Professional Development Area (PDA) Responsibility (40 points): Describe the nominee’s responsibility for the respective PDA. Reveal how the nominee has capitalized on opportunities for success in the respective PDA. How has the nominee’s excellence in the respective PDA enhanced their skills and increased networks and relationships for their organization?

NAMA Involvement (20 points): Describe how the nominee’s service has had a significant, positive impact on NAMA. Provide details regarding the nominee’s consistent participation and commitment to NAMA. How have the nominee’s activities served to enhance the image or to foster improvements of NAMA?

The deadline for submitting nominations is September 1. If you have any questions regarding these awards, please contact Jenny Pickett at [email protected].

To download the nomination form in an Adobe .PDF format, visit http://www.nama.org/awards/PDAapplication.pdf.

You can also fill out the form on-line at http://www.nama.org/awards/pdaonlineform.htm.

For more information on the awards, visit http://www.nama.org/awards/pdaawards.htm.

The Agribusiness Forum name has changed to Trends in Agriculture. The meeting will held, November 11-12 at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City.

Why the name change? “We wanted to re-energize our fall meeting and felt that by focusing on trends in our industry, we could keep the information fresh, interesting and exciting each year,” according to Kenna Rathai, KBR Communications and chair of the Trends in Agriculture committee.

This year, Trends in Agriculture will focus on rural lifestylers, which is a significant growth market for many NAMA members. Sessions will cover some of the new research on this target audience, digging into their purchase drivers and motivations, and a panel will discuss their successes and pitfalls in marketing to rural lifestylers. There will also be speakers outside of agriculture who have faced similar challenges in shifting some of their focus to capturing a new audience in a changing marketplace. Stay tuned to the NAMA e-News for the latest information on the fall Trends in Agriculture meeting.

Sponsorships are now available. As a sponsor of Trends in Agriculture, your organization will be noted as a front runner in supporting up-to-the-moment industry information.

Additional benefits include:

• Recognition in the program booklet and from the podium during the session;
• Recognition by signage at the sponsored event (if applicable);
• Recognition in post-Trends articles in the AgriMarketing magazine;
• Recognition on the NAMA Trends in Agriculture Web site page;
• and, first right of refusal for sponsorship of the same item for the 2009 Trends in Agriculture

If you are interested in sponsoring a session or event at this year’s meeting, contact Jenny Pickett in the NAMA office at (913) 491-6500 or via e-mail at [email protected].

The Trends In Agriculture takes place prior to the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB) convention. The Forum will take place at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center which is near the NAFB hotel.

Special thanks to Broadhead + Company for the Trends In Agriculture logo design!

The deadline for submitting nominations for the Professional Development Awards of Excellence is September 1. These awards will be presented at the 2008 Agribusiness Forum, November 11-12, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City.The Professional Development Awards of Excellence were created in 2001 to demonstrate NAMA’s commitment to the four professional development areas. Below is a list of the past Awards of Excellence recipients:

Marketing Communications
2007 – Pete Kovac
2006 – Steve Engle
2005 – Bev Larson
2004 – Neil DeStefano
2003 – Sarah Vacek
2002 – Ken Anderson
2001 – Doug Headley

Product/Species Management
2007 – Klaas Okkinga
2006 – No Award was given in this area
2005 – Dennis Gehler
2004 – Wendy Elliott
2003 – Brian Markwardt
2002 – Tony Klemm
2001 – Tony Solon

Public Relations
2007 – Greg Smith
2006 – Barry Nelson
2005 – Janice Person
2004 – Kendal Frazier
2003 – Mike Ricciuto
2002 – David Buchholz
2001 – Ken Gordon

Sales
2007 – Bill Heffron
2006 – Anita Vanderwert
2005 – Margaret Wallace Oldham
2004 – Allen Barkve
2003 – Cliff Becker
2002 – Bob Deiss
2001 – Tom Taylor

Nominees for the Awards of Excellence must be NAMA members. Nominators should target individuals with direct planning and execution responsibilities in the respective Professional Development Area from agribusiness and related companies. If you have any questions regarding these awards, please contact Jenny Pickett at [email protected].

To download the nomination form in an Adobe .PDF format, visit http://www.nama.org/awards/PDAapplication.pdf.

You can also fill out the form on-line at http://www.nama.org/awards/pdaonlineform.htm.

Nominate someone you know for the Professional Development Awards of Excellence. These awards will be presented at the 2008 Agribusiness Forum, November 11-12, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City.

The awards honor NAMA members based on outstanding achievement in each of the Professional Development Areas (PDA): (1) Marketing Communications; (2) Product/Species Management; (3) Public Relations; and (4) Sales. Nominees must be NAMA members. Nominators should target individuals with direct planning and execution responsibilities in the respective Professional Development Area from agribusiness and related companies.

The deadline for submitting nominations is September 1. If you have any questions regarding these awards, please contact Jenny Pickett at [email protected].

To download the nomination form in an Adobe .PDF format, visit http://www.nama.org/awards/PDAapplication.pdf.

You can also fill out the form on-line at http://www.nama.org/awards/pdaonlineform.htm.

Just a reminder to mark your calendars for the following upcoming events and deadlines:

NAMA Boot Camp: August 12-14, 2008

Professional Development Awards of Excellence Deadline: September 1, 2008

Best of NAMA Entry Deadline: October 10, 2008

Agribusiness Forum: November 11-12, 2008

Keep watching the National NAMA e-News for more information on the Boot Camp, Awards of Excellence, Best of NAMA Call for Entries and the Agribusiness Forum.

It’s time to begin thinking about who to nominate for the 2008 Professional Development Awards of Excellence. The deadline for submitting nominations is September 1, 2008. These awards will be presented at the 2008 Agribusiness Forum, November 11-12, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City.

These awards honor NAMA members based on outstanding achievement in each of the Professional Development Areas (PDA): (1) Marketing Communications; (2) Product/Species Management; (3) Public Relations; and (4) Sales. Nominees must be NAMA members. Nominators should target individuals with direct planning and execution responsibilities in the respective Professional Development Area from agribusiness and related companies.

The deadline for submitting nominations is September 1. If you have any questions regarding these awards, please contact Jenny Pickett at [email protected].

To download the nomination form in an Adobe .PDF format, visit http://www.nama.org/awards/PDAapplication.pdf.

You can also fill out the form on-line at http://www.nama.org/awards/pdaonlineform.htm.

Now that the 2008 Agri-Marketing Conference is over, it’s time to start planning your summer and fall meetings and events.

Many chapters will be hosting golf outings this summer along with other events, visit the NAMA Calendar at https://www.namablog.org/?page_id=16 for a list of chapter events.

In addition, mark your calendars now for the NAMA Boot Camp, August 12-14 in Kansas City and for the 2008 Agribusiness Forum, November 11-12, also in Kansas City. The 2009 Agri-Marketing Conference will take place April 15-17, 2009, at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Georgia.