A celebration of  life reception and service honoring Judy Henderson is planned for May 23rd and 24th.  The reception will be held at http://www.thewildwoodhotel.com on May 23rd from 5pm – 8pm.  A Celebration of Life Service will be held at the Crossing Community Church the next morning beginning at 10:30am – http://www.wcrossing.org, followed by a lunch buffet.   

Our thoughts and prayers are with Lynn and his family.

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.

ABEF GOLF OUTING
The ABEF annual Golf Outing officially kicked off the 2012 Agri-Marketing Conference on Tuesday, April 17th at The National Golf Course in Kansas City. 

Golfers enjoyed a beautiful day for the golf outing.  Taking third place was Doug Catt, Jim Arnold, Shawn Brook, and Larry Childs. Second place team was Leigh Ann Cleaver, Doug Marnell, Chet Slump, and Jeff Jackson.  And taking first was Les Kahl, Roger Reierson, Sheridyn Greenwalt and Rick Phillips.

Thanks to all for coming out and supporting the Student NAMA Careers Program and a special thanks  to the sponsors of the ABEF Golf Outing: Penton Media, Fastline, Successful Farming, and Bock & Associates.

ABEF AUCTION
The ABEF Silent and On-line Media Auction raised a total of  $50,700 for the Student Careers Program.  A special thanks to all who donated and bid on items.

WALL OF WINE GIVEAWAY
New this year – the NAMA Executive Committee and the ABEF Operating committee  donated over two cases of wine to be given away to one lucky indivual who  renewed their century club membership before or during conference.  Over 70 members signed up or renewed and the lucky winner was Leah Brakke!  

ABEF STUDENT RAFFLE
Over $3,300 was raised from the student raffle with Bill Smith of  Helena Chemical winning  the Vizio 55″ Flat Screen TV courtesy of  Penton Media.  A portion of the money raised will help cover student expenses for next year’s conference.  The top school selling the most raffle tickets was Delaware Valley College.

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

Big thanks to Rhea + Kaiser for sponsoring the “After The After-Party” again this year.   The breakfast was extremely popular and Chef Ray was a hit serving up approximately 350 of his famous Flap Jacks!

Hope you enjoyed the speakers in Kansas City!

If you’d like information on them for one of your meetings, call Rich Tiller at The Agricultural Speakers Network [email protected] or 800-222-1556.

Special arrangements are made for NAMA members – and don’t forget to ask for your Starbucks gift card