ABEF Silent/Online Media Auctions

Donations are still needed for the ABEF Silent Auction and Online Auction at the 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference in Kansas City.

Find a home for that special edition wildlife print or even those sports tickets and surplus company logo jackets. Or give a media package or services and support the Agri-Business Educational Foundation (ABEF) at the same time. How? By contributing to the annual ABEF Silent Auction.

Any worthwhile product or service will be gratefully accepted. Some of the most popular items auctioned in past years include:

~ Framed and limited edition artwork

~ Media packages for broadcast, print & internet

~ Professional services

~ Premiums and wearables

~ Collectibles

~ Sports tickets and memorabilia

Please join your agri-marketing peers in supporting this worthwhile effort by donating to the auction. Click on the Pledge Form to indicate your donation and/or interest in the project.

Online Media Auction

The Online Auction begins April 3, 8:00 a.m. – April 9, 11:59 p.m.  Bid on web-related donations, media packages and other services as part of its annual Silent Auction.

If a bid is received on an item within the last 30 minutes of the auction, the auction will remain open on that item through the next business day until 5:00 p.m. (central time). This process will continue until no bids are received within 30 minutes of the bid closing. If the bidding continues, the bidding on that item will stop at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, April 15 (even if bids are received during the last 30 minutes) and will continue on-site at the 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference in the Silent Auction area. Any media items not bid during the online media auction will be available for bidding on-site in the Silent Auction area as well.

Look for an email first thing Wednesday morning with information on how to participate.

The primary goal or mission of the Agri-Business Educational Foundation (ABEF) is to provide today’s agri-business students the tools they will need to succeed tomorrow.  Visit http://www.nama.org/amc/auctions.html.

The Agri-Business Educational Foundation (ABEF) will be hosting its annual conference golf outing, Tuesday, April 16. Gather your foursome and enjoy a relaxing day of golf, networking and libations before the 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference begins.  The signup deadline is April 5th.

Tiffany Greens Golf Course is the location for the Outing.  A chartered bus will leave the hotel at 11:30 a.m. to take everyone to the golf course and a boxed lunch will be provided. Tee time begins at 1:00 p.m. An awards ceremony and reception will cap your day on the greens.

Cost for the outing is $150 per golfer.  If you would like to register for the golf outing and for the conference at the same time, please visit https://www4983.ssldomain.com/nama/ConferenceRegistration/Default.aspx?confid=51. If you’ve already registered for conference but want to add the ABEF Golf Outing, please visit, www.nama.org/amc/golfregister.htm.

Show your support and sponsor a hole.  To sign up for a sponsorship on-line, visit http://www.nama.org/amc/golfsponsor.htm or contact Jenny Pickett at 913-491-6500 or via email at [email protected].

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NAMA Mobile Updates will keep you in-the-know during the Agri-Marketing Conference AND update you periodically throughout the year (maximum of 2 messages/month).  Messaging and data rates may apply.  NAMA Mobile Updates is powered by CommodityUPDATE.

Join the ABEF Century Club and Get Entered to Win a Wall of Wine

The ABEF Century Club provides us, as individuals, the opportunity to contribute to this worthwhile cause.  Membership in the Century Club is on an annual basis and members will be recognized on the Century Club sign in the Silent Auction area and in other conference materials. The annual membership contribution is $100.

Special offer! Renew your century club membership before or during conference and be entered in a drawing to win a “Wall of Wine.”  This special collection of wine was donated by members of the NAMA Executive Committee and the ABEF Operating Committee.  Up to 20 bottles!

Please go to the following URL to renew your membership in the ABEF Century Club.  Visit http://www.nama.org/abef/centuryclub/signup.htm.

Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the family of  Glenn R. Mayo, who passed away on March 14, 2013.  Glenn was an active member of  NAMA from 1967-87, including serving in several regional and national positions.  He founded Fletcher/Mayo/Associates and helped build the business into the largest agricultural marketing agency in the country during the 1970s and 1980s – with branch offices in Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and Kansas City.   F/M/A played an integral role in bringing the Agriculture Hall of Fame to Bonner Springs, KS.

The North Central NAMA Chapter celebrated National Ag Day on Tuesday, March 19, with an event focused on food and agriculture. The event hosted more than 35 guests at Heartland Restaurant, St. Paul. Executive Chef Lenny Russo welcomed the group and shared the unique story behind the restaurant and farm direct market. Everything in the market is sourced from local and regional farmers, including the bar beverages.

A majority of the event was focused on round-table discussions about where consumers seek information about food, those who produce it and how it is produced. The round table discussion leaders included:

• Emily Zweber (@agchatfound), executive director, AgChat Foundation
• Paul Hugunin (@MNagriculture), domestic marketing team supervisor, Minnesota Grown
• Emily Mohn-Nalevanko (@MNfarmmomma) and Shawn Augustine (@whoeatslikethis), working moms active on social media
• Jane Shey (@CityMinneapolis), coordinator, Homegrown Minneapolis

Comments heard during and following the event included:

• “The money you spend on food is not a cost – it’s an investment.”
• “Our (restaurant) believes in sustainability because we believe in sustaining the people on that land.”
• “Today we’re not competing with grocery stores, we’re competing with movie theaters.”
• “After hearing everything tonight, I want to visit a farm and really see where my food comes from.”

The North Central NAMA Chapter thanks Heartland Restaurant, the discussion leaders and those in attendance for the opportunity to have such a lively and relative discussion on food and its origins.