We already told you about the University of Florida Gator NAMA team winning the student NAMA Marketing Competition, but we’re so proud of them that here’s a little more about it.

The team was so happy to win after three consecutive years of making it to the finals and not winning, especially team captain Alicia Taylor of Myakka City, who is a senior. She was thrilled to be able to finally get that win before she graduates this year and starts law school at UF. Their product was a vegetable-based milk marketed to children with a Disney partnership.

You can listen to Cindy’s somewhat over-modulated but brief interview with Alicia here:
Interview with Alicia Taylor

Watch the kids celebrate here:

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.

The first general session at the National Agri-Marketing Association conference featured Dan Heath, the co-author of “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.”

Heath told attendees some of his theories on ideas that “stick” and methods for making ideas stickier, such as violating schemas, using the Velcro Theory of Memory, and creating “curiosity gaps.” He also explained the “Curse of Knowledge” that many of us in agriculture sometimes fall victim to when trying to get our message across to the general public.

Check out the “Made to Stick” website and listen to Cindy’s short interview with Dan here.

Interview with Dan Heath

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.

One of the primary goals of the NAMA Agri-marketing conferences is to listen to NAMA members and find out what’s working well, as well as determine where there is room for improvement. One of the newest members of the NAMA staff will be doing just that. Debbie Brummell (pictured left) says she has listened to feedback from various NAMA chapters and has identified some of the challenges they seem to be facing. Her goal will be to meet those challenges.

You can listen to my interview with Debbie here:

Interview with Debbie Brummel

Also pictured are Kathi Conrad, Jenny Pickett and Penny Graham.

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.

In the words of NAMA Executive Director Jenny Pickett (pictured right), organizers of this year’s “Leading the Charge” Agri-marketing Conference “knocked it out of the park.” This was Jenny’s first conference as the Executive Director, though she has been a part of NAMA for a long time. Jenny stepped up as executive director last year when the previous director, Eldon White, left.

I interviewed Jenny just as the event was winding down. You can listen to my interview with Jenny here:

Interview with Jenny Pickett

NAMA President Patty Travis (pictured left) says this year’s attendance was the highest attendance the NAMA Agri-marketing Conference has had in almost a decade. She says this year’s conference also picked up 80 first-timers. Patty, with 5MetaCom, says the ag business is strong right now and there is probably no better time than now to be in the industry. She says NAMA is planning to throw new things into the mix for the spring conference and the fall agri-business forum.

I also interviewed Patty just before the close of the event. You can listen to my interview with Patty here:

Interview with Patty Travis

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.

Here’s the next installment in Carol Anderson’s NAMA Convention update.

Greetings from Kansas City!

Today, we congratulate the student marketing team from University of Florida for taking top honors in the annual student marketing competition. Each year, we are impressed with the professionalism, poise and promise of the students who participate in the marketing competition – and this year certainly is no exception.

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.
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I learned from Dave Anderson that Tom Davis, Meredith/Successful Farming, has been attending the Agri-Marketing Conference consecutively since 1978. 30 uninterrupted years is a real feat. So a question I thought I’d pose is “Is there anyone out there who has attended NAMA Conventions longer?”

If so, let me know.

Carol Anderson is helping keep NAMA members who can’t attend the conference up to date on what’s happening with a daily email called, “Postcards from Kansas City.”

Here’s the copy from yesterday’s:

Greetings from Kansas City!

KFRM’s Kyle Bauer and Northern Ag Network’s Taylor Brown emceed Wednesday evening’s Best of NAMA awards ceremony. Out of 1,271 entries that advanced through regional and national competition, three entries emerged as Best of Show winners at last night’s ceremony. Best of Show winners were:

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.

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