You’re invited to the “Big Deal,” a celebration of the best in agricultural communications. It’s a night of good food, fun and games at the Region II Best of NAMA Ceremony, January 23, at the VooDoo Lounge at Harrah’s Casino in North Kansas City, MO.

The hotel room rate at Harrah’s North Kansas City Casino & Hotel is $99 and the hotel room cut-off date is January 8, 2007. Please call 1-800-427-7247 for reservations.

The Region II ceremony will kick-off with cocktails at 6:00 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. The awards presentation will follow dinner at 7:00 p.m. Cost for the event is $65 per person.

Register on-line at http://www.nama.org/amc/bon/register.htm or by calling 913-491-6500.

In addition to the regional Best of NAMA events, two chapters will also be having events to celebrate those who won first or merit within their chapters. Everyone is invited to attend the chapter ceremonies.

Carolinas/Virginia
The Carolinas/Virginia chapter will be hosting a Best of NAMA ceremony on January 16 in the Martin Building at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, NC.

The ceremony will begin with registration and networking at 5:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m.The awards program will follow dinner at 7:00 p.m. A cash bar will be provided. Cost for the event is $50 for members and guests and $20 for students.

Register on-line for the Carolinas/Virginia Best of NAMA ceremony at http://cvnama.org/web/register.aspx?event= (please include the name and date of the event you are attending in the comments box).

Special thanks to the sponsors of the Carolinas/Virginia Best of NAMA ceremony:

Exhibit Resources
Gibbs & Soell, Inc.
Brand Fuel Promotions
John Deere
Syngenta
Prism Business Media

Midsouth
The Midsouth chapter will be hosting their ceremony on January 18 at The Tower Room American Grille in Memphis, TN. The ceremony will begin with cocktails at 7:00 p.m. Cost for the event is $40 per person and will include heavy hors d’oeurves, beer, and wine.

For more information on the Midsouth Best of NAMA ceremony visit, http://www.nama.org/amc/bon/midsouth.html.

NAMA would like to welcome Joy Watson, Communications Manager for BASF Corporation, to the Executive Committee. Watson was voted on the committee at the Board of Directors’ meeting that took place at the 2006 Agribusiness Forum. Watson replaces Sarah Vacek, Monsanto Company, on the committee.

Other members of the Executive Committee include:

President
Stephanie Gable, Ft. Dodge Animal Health

President Elect
Patty Travis, 5MetaCom

Secretary/Treasurer
Monte Reese, Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board

Members
Ken Anderson, David & Associates
Carol Anderson, Anderson Kisner Fallon LLC
Vicki Henrickson, Progressive Agriculture Foundation
Kyle Bauer, KFRM Radio
Beth Burgy, Broadhead+Company

Approximately 35 individuals attended the Heartland NAMA chapter reception with Cultivating Master Farmers, November 20, featuring Wendy Pinkerton, Demeter Communications.

Held in conjunction with Cultivating Master Farmers, a group of seasoned producers and young farmers who meet regularly for roundtable discussions on topics of interest and to share information, the reception was designed to bring the two groups together to give individuals in each group the opportunity to connect.

Wendy Pinkerton, Demeter Communications, highlighted the importance of being a Heartland NAMA member with her “NAMAgic” presentation. NAMAgic involved several magic tricks which were used as illustrations of key benefits of joining Heartland NAMA.

The Heartland NAMA Chapter held a reception/mixer with the Illinois State University Student Chapter on December 6. The highlight of the reception was the menu, which was created and prepared by one of the student members, who is a culinary expert. The menu included chicken satay, stuffed mushrooms, fried mac and cheese, sweet and spicy meatballs and assorted mini tarts, cheesecakes, pies and brownies.

Due to weather issues, the number of student members attending far exceeded the professionals. This lead to a discussion of potential professional and student events that would garner higher professional attendance.

Mark your calendars now for the regional and chapter Best of NAMA ceremonies. These ceremonies are celebrations of those entries that won first or merit in the regional competition that took place in November.

Entries that win first or merit at the regional competition and score above the minimum point standard are eligible to advance to the national competition in February. Winners of the national competition will be announced at the national Best of NAMA ceremony which kicks off the 2007 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show, Think Big, April 11, in Dallas, Texas.

Information for the regional/chapter ceremonies is below:

January 11 – Region III Best of NAMA Ceremony
This ceremony will take place in the Grand Ballroom at the Courtyard by Marriott in Moorhead, MN. The event begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. Cost is $65. For more information on the event and how to register visit, www.nama.org/amc/bon/region3.htm.

January 11 – Midsouth Best of NAMA Ceremony
The Midsouth NAMA chapter ceremony will take place at the Tower Room American Grille in Memphis, TN. Cocktails will kickoff the event at 6:30 p.m.
For more information and how to register visit, www.nama.org/amc/bon/midsouth.html.

January 16 – Carolinas/Virginia Best of NAMA Ceremony
The Carolinas/Virginia NAMA chapter ceremony will take place at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in the new Martin Building. For more information annd how to register for the event visit, www.nama.org/amc/bon/carvir.html.

January 18 – Region IV Best of NAMA Ceremony
This ceremony will take place at the Sofitel Chicago O’Hare in Rosemont, IL. The event will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m. Cost for the event is $75 per person, however, registrations received on or before December 21, 2006 will receive a $5 discount ($70). For more information and how to register for the event visit, www.nama.org/amc/bon/region4.htm.

January 23 – Region II Best of NAMA Ceremony
This event will take place at the VooDoo Lounge at Harrah’s Casino & Hotel in North Kansas City, MO. The event will begin with cocktails at 6:00 p.m. Cost is $65 for the event. For more information and how to register visit, www.nama.org/amc/bon/region2.htm.

The deadline for submitting nominations for the Agribusiness Leader and NAMA Marketer of the Year awards is Jan. 19. Both awards will be presented at the 2007 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show, April 11-13 in Dallas.

Agribusiness Leader of the Year
The Agribusiness Leader of the Year award recognizes leadership achievement in agriculture and the food and fiber industry. This award honors an outstanding leader in agribusiness, education, government service or other agribusiness related areas. Solicited from senior level position holders in private, public or academic service, nominees should exemplify excellence in agribusiness by their significant contributions to the industry. Nominees do not need to be NAMA members.

Fill out the nomination form on-line now at http://www.nama.org/awards/agribusinessform.htm. Or download the Agribusiness Leader Nomination form in an Adobe .PDF format by visiting, http://www.nama.org/awards/agbusapplication.pdf.

NAMA Marketer of the Year
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 the most prestigious honor awarded to an active member of the association and honors outstanding accomplishments in the field of agri-marketing directly to ag producers. Nominees are solicited from agribusiness and related companies with overall marketing and/or sales responsibilities. Nominees MUST be NAMA members.

Fill out the nomination form on-line now at http://www.nama.org/awards/namamarketerform.htm or download the NAMA Marketer of the Year nomination form in an Adobe .PDF format by visiting, http://www.nama.org/awards/mktrapplication.pdf.

For more information on the awards and to see past winners, visit, http://www.nama.org/awards/awards-index.html.