This year’s conference will celebrate change, flexibility, and growth…realities that define our industry.

The 2006 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show, April 19-21 in Kansas City, will bring together agricultural leaders from across the nation to share lessons learned and visions for the future.

Kicking off the conference sessions will be Opening General Session speaker, James Canton, PhD and chairman of The Institute for Global Futures, with The Extreme Future: Top Trends that will Reshape Business and Society. Canton will share key trends shaping the 21st Century – and offer insights on how to manage this evolution. This powerful presentation provides a strategic overview of the top changes that will shape tomorrow’s leaders, business and the economy.

Dr. Canton has served as a commentator on CNN, Financial News, where his insightful coverage has earned him the nickname, “The Digital Guru.” Dr. Canton ‘s innovative vision of the future has appeared in Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Report, The New York Times, US News and World Report, and numerous magazines targeted to CEOs, CFOs and CIOs. He is the author of Technofutures, a book acclaimed as a blueprint for how innovation will shape the future of business in the 21st Century. His new book, Extreme Future, will be available in early 2006. This session will take place, Thursday, April 20 at 9:00 a.m.

Laura Ries, president of Ries & Ries, will explore communications in this time of extreme change in the Second General Session, The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR. According to Ries, advertising doesn’t build brands, publicity does. She fervently believes it’s only the credibility of public relations that truly builds a brand in the minds of consumers. This session will provide valuable ideas for all marketers to consider: advertising’s credibility crisis and the role of PR in building credibility; PR’s slow build-up approach vs. advertising’s “Big Bang”; and advertising’s role in maintaining the brand once it has been established through publicity.

Laura has appeared on the Fox News Channel, CNBC, ABC World News Tonight and makes regular appearances as a branding expert on CNN. She is a frequently quoted marketing expert in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Associated Press, Advertising Age and other publications. In 2002, Business 2.0 named Laura a “management guru” and issued trading cards with her picture and information. This session will take place on Thursday, April 20 at 11:00 a.m.

For information regarding the 2006 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show visit, www.nama.org/amc.

To register for the 2006 Agri-Marketing Conference visit, https://nama.org/amc/register.html.