The next NAMA Webinar is set for Thursday, November 20, 2014. Watch your email for more details to come!

Stanley E. Bird, 84, formerly of Oakfield, passed away on Saturday, October 4, 2014, surrounded by his family. He was born on February 19, 1930, in Fond du Lac County, the son of the late Bennett and Ethel (Kintzler) Bird, and on May 26, 1951, he was united in marriage to Kathleen Kolterman at the Oakfield United Methodist Church. Stanley began his adult life operating a dairy farm and remained true to his roots throughout his life. After receiving his Journalism degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he went on to become executive publisher of Holstein World overseeing a family of dairy magazines. He was a key long term member of the organizing committees for the World Dairy Expo and World Ag Expo. Stanley was a gregarious person who made friends whereever he went. He will be missed by all. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Kathleen; four children, William (Linda) Bird of Germantown, David (Janet) Bird of Edgerton, Thomas (Karen) Bird of Uxbridge, Massachusetts and Barbara (Bruce) Schmidt of Buffalo, Minnesota; eight grandchildren; two great-granddaughters; a brother, Robert Bird of Fond du Lac; two sisters, Jeanne (Arthur) Culver of La Palma, California and Ruth (Stephen) Scholly of Glenview, Illinois. Memorials will be donated to one of Stan’s favorite charities. Additional information and guest book may be found at the Kietzer-Miller Funeral Home website.

Planning is underway for Ag Day 2015! The National Ag Day Board met in the Better Homes & Gardens Test Kitchens at the Meredith offices in Des Moines. Picture here from left to right: Curt Blades, Meredith Agrimedia; Lynn Henderson, Agri-Marketing magazine; Tracy Zeorian, US Custom Harvesters; Tres Bailey, Wal-Mart; Kent Schescke, FFA; Lesly McNitt, Farm Journal Foundation; Colin Woodall, NCBA; Jennifer Pickett, ACA; Barry Nelson, John Deere; Nancy Barcus, AFA & Don Tourte, Penton Farm Progress.

The National Ag Day Poster Art Contest deadline is in two weeks! All entries need to be received by midnight on Friday, October 31.

This contest is designed to showcase the talents of young artists who share a passion for modern agriculture.  A winning original piece of art will be chosen as the official National Ag Day poster.  The contest is open to all amateur artists enrolled in high school or college.

Entries will be screened by a nine-member jury.  Finalists will then be judged through online voting to determine one winner.

The 2015 contest theme is “Agriculture: Sustaining Future Generations.” The winning entry will be published as the official National Ag Day Poster and the winning artist will receive a $1,000 scholarship sponsored by Meredith Agrimedia. Artwork and profile of the artist will be prominently featured in Successful Farming magazine and Ag Day correspondence.  Media releases will also be sent to all Ag Day sponsors and supporters. The original artwork will be on display in a public location.

For more information on the contest, rules and to submit a poster, go to http://www.agday.org/media/pr4.php.

Join MoKan NAMA on Tuesday, October 21 at 12:00 p.m. for a lunch and panel discussion on “Traditional Media Strategy.” Panelists Scott Mortimer, Mindy Oberly and Pat Rosner, and moderator, Kyle Bauer will discuss and answer your questions on traditional media strategy and opportunities to help you engage your audiences.

Date:               Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Time:               Check in at 11:45 a.m.

Lunch served at 12:00 p.m.

Panel: 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Location:         Lidia’s Kansas City

101 W. 22nd St., Kansas City, MO

Cost:                $15/person (members and guests)

Click here to RSVP for the event.  For questions, contact Justina Frost at [email protected].

About the Panel

Scott Mortimer, Vice President/Group Publisher, Meredith Corporation

Scott Mortimer is a vice president/group publisher at Meredith Corporation, where he is responsible for the overall strategic direction and corporate financial contributions of Meredith Agrimedia, the Better Homes and Gardens Crafts Group and WOOD magazine. The core products he works with include print, digital, market research, custom publishing, e-marketing, television, mobile, database, radio and events.  He graduated from Iowa State University with an Agricultural Business degree.

Mindy Oberly, Marketing and Communications Manager, National Association of Farm Broadcasting (NAFB)

Mindy has a strong background in agricultural marketing, account management and client services. Prior to joining NAFB, she was with McCormick Company for 12 years directing account activities for large ag clients. She started her agency career at Valentine-Radford in 1998. Mindy graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Agriculture and Natural Resources Communications.

Pat Rosner, Director, Insights/Planning, Paradowski

Pat brings more than 25 years of strategic media planning, insight and negotiation to Paradowski.  Her background offers a mix of categories, enabling her to positively impact a client’s business. She is well versed in addressing challenges such as traffic generation, new product introductions, re-branding and audience analysis. Pat is a graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism.

Kyle Bauer, General Manager, KFRM Radio

Kyle Bauer is the general manager at KFRM radio, the largest farm station in Kansas and northern Oklahoma as well as one of a few fulltime farm stations in the nation.  KFRM covers 120,000 square miles in Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska representing more than 64 million acres of agricultural land.  He graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Ag Economics.  He has an extensive background in agribusiness and production agriculture.

October Midsouth NAMA Chapter Meeting

When: Thursday, October 23, 2014
Time: 4:00 and/or 5:00 p.m.
Where: Fogelman Executive Conference Center at University of Memphis, Amphitheater 219
Cost: $15

REGISTER HERE!

Have you seen the documentary FARMLAND? Chances are, if you work in agriculture, it was on your radar, even with its limited release in theaters this spring. As the second part of the fall series dedicated to advocating for agriculture, Midsouth NAMA is offering a unique chance to learn what led to the creation of the film followed by a viewing.

This is an opportunity to get together with other Midsouth agribusiness professionals to participate in an important discussion, so the Midsouth chapter is opening up this event to other ag associations and anyone who works in agriculture.

Here’s what they are asking you to do: invite other people! Forward this email, pick up the phone, send a text message, hire carrier pigeons, brush-up on your smoke signal skills…whatever it takes. As ag professionals, it is vital we understand current issues and know how to serve as ambassadors for our industry. The more people at the event, the better.

There will be time for networking with drinks and hors d’oeuvres between the 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. events. It will be a cash bar, no credit cards so stop by the ATM on the way!

Join the Midsouth Chapter at 4pm to hear from Randy Krotz, CEO of US Farmers & Ranchers Alliance, the organization whose generous support made the film FARMLAND possible. Randy will discuss the research and events that led to the creation of the film. He will share details related to the cinematic success, consumer reaction and the launch of the I Am FARMLAND campaign.

Join them at 5:00pm to view the FARMLAND film – a must see film for ag professionals! The run-time for the film is 77 minutes. Check out the film’s trailer here: www.farmlandfilm.com

What’s the best way to relax after multiple days of exhibiting at World Dairy Expo? Enjoying some Wisconsin cheese and beverages while catching up with your fellow NAMA friends, of course! The Badger NAMA chapter hosted a reception on Thursday, October 2, 2014 for NAMA professionals from across the US and Canada exhibiting at the show.

In conjunction with the reception, the Badger Chapter career co-chairs Maria McGinnis and Kelly Smith organized an event that provided the student chapters of UW-Madison and UW-Platteville an opportunity to network with potential future employers and build their networking skills.

This year’s activity was a mini-panel discussion focused on the topic “Advice from future colleagues in the Ag Industry.” Three professional NAMA members were selected from the reception attendees with varying backgrounds and experiences. The panelists included Andrea Bloom, Vita Plus; Mike Opperman, Charleston|Orwig and Marvin Kokes, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) and NAMA President-elect.

The panelists were open and honest about questions including:  things I wish I would’ve done in college before I graduated; what impresses you most about a potential job candidate; tips for starting out at your first job; I’ve been working for X number of years and I still struggle with this; and what is one office pet peeve that you have?

The tips and advice from the enthusiastic panelists resonated with the students. Just a few of the many favorites included:

— “Be passionate about what you do. It will make the bad days fewer, and great days more often.”

— “Get ready to be kicked around a little bit your first year. Contrary to what you think, you don’t know everything when you graduate.”

— “Don’t be afraid to ask your boss or even someone else successful in your company out to lunch. Find out how they became successful within your organization.”

— “Get as much experience as you can through internships and networking through professional organizations such as NAMA.”

The Badger NAMA Chapter would like to thank all of the individuals who were able to attend, and are already looking forward to seeing everyone next year at the World Dairy Expo event!