Sessions have been announced for NAMA’s Fall Conference, September 16-17 at The Hotel Chicago. The Fall Conference will kick-off with an optional Ag Tour on Monday, September 15. Check out the schedule and sessions for the Fall Conference below.

Monday, September 15

12:00 p.m. – Chicago Ag Tour
Transparency, transparency, transparency. It is more than a buzzword at Fair Oaks Farms where they are redefining farm-to-plate and providing visitors with an experience in agriculture like no other.

Located in northwestern Indiana, just a short bus ride from Chicago, Fair Oaks hosts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, giving them a look, and now a taste, as to what modern agriculture is all about.  As part of the fall tour, the Chicago NAMA chapter has coordinated a visit to Fair Oaks Farms. Upon arrival at the farm, the first stop is at the visitor center where interactive displays provide an education experience like no other in the dairy industry. From there you will board a bus and head out to the 30,000 cow dairy to learn how the cows on the farm are cared for and visit the rotary milking parlor to learn about this unique milking technology. Methane digesters on the farm handle all associated waste from the farm, so you will learn more about that technology and how the energy generated is used to power the buses you’ll be riding as well as all the farm equipment.

Next stop is the new Pig Adventure at Fair Oaks Farms. Our group will be given a private tour of the interactive displays and allowed to view from the observation deck the gestation and farrowing operations of this 2,500 commercial operation. Then it is off to the new FarmHouse Restaurant, Bakery and Farmers Market at Fair Oaks Farms, where during social hour, you’ll have the opportunity to tour the kitchen and interact with the team of chefs. Located on site, this impressive new facility is truly redefining local food production, serving food produced on site that is prepared in its completely viewable kitchen.

Following dinner will be a short panel discussion on ground-breaking research out of Purdue University discussing how and if experiences like those at Fair Oaks Farms are reshaping consumer perceptions of “big ag.” You’ll also hear about the new crop center that is coming to Fair Oaks and plans for poultry, beef, aquaculture and more, as well as a hotel and farm-themed waterpark.

Tour cost is $75/person and includes bus transportation, dinner and all tour-related fees. The bus will return to the hotel by 9 p.m.

Tuesday, September 16

10-11 a.m.
NAMA Board of Directors’ Meeting

10-11:00 a.m.
Pre-Conference Workshop ~ Presenting With Excellence
Steve Hughes

Thirty million PowerPoint presentations are given every day and most of them are painfully boring and grossly ineffective. Remote teams,  shrinking timelines and technological advances are making webinars an increasingly popular way to communicate. However, if you approach a webinar the same way you approach a live presentation, your chances of success are limited. This cutting-edge program will give you the tools you need to make things happen when you’re presenting—through PowerPoint or over the Internet.

• Present your slides while staying connected to your audience.
• Incorporate the latest research on attention span and adult learning styles.
• Leverage the strength of PowerPoint without being dominated by it.
• Incorporate real-world strategies to keep your webinar attendees engaged.
• Avoid the five common mistakes that can derail a webinar.
• Increase the effectiveness of your webinars by making them more interactive.
• Get better results from your webinar efforts and remote teams.

This energetic and interactive program will help you create and deliver influential presentations that hit the mark.

Steve Hughes is the founder and President of Hit Your Stride, LLC and his mission is to help people look and sound smart when they talk. He is the author of Dazzle Me: Captivate and Win Over Any Audience and he has appeared on NPR, BBC Radio and BusinessWeek. Prior to launching his own business, he spent 12 years in advertising and PR and was a managing partner at a 50-person ad agency.

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
NAMA Leader Workshop

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
ABEF Board Meeting

11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Pre-Conference Luncheon:  The Impact of Mid-Year Elections on Agriculture
sponsored by NAFB
Jay H. Truitt – Policy Solutions, Washington D.C.

Midterm elections will prove to be very exciting this fall as several key seats are up for re-election nationwide. Get a high-level look from a Washington, D.C. insider at issues and implications of the midterm elections as the results could impact livestock and food industry policy.

1-2:15 p.m.
Welcome and Keynote Session: Dazzle Me: Captivate and Win Over Any Audience
Steve Hughes
sponsored by John Deere

Great speakers are made, not born. By understanding what audiences truly want and the ways adults process information, anyone can learn to confidently engage and motivate others. This interactive program combines the time-tested wisdom of the Greek philosophers with the latest insights from today’s leading storytellers: Madison Avenue and Hollywood. You’ll also benefit from the latest psychological research on attention span and human decision-making. When all of these factors are taken into account and applied correctly, your team can connect with audiences so that they will listen more, retain more and act on the speaker’s recommendations.

• Establish credibility, appear dynamic and motivate listeners with persuasive physical delivery skills.
• Make a powerful first impression and then build on it throughout your presentation.
• Reduce the number of hours it takes to create and craft a compelling speech.
• Improve your skills in real time through interactive videotape coaching.

2:15-2:45 p.m. – Break

2:45-3:45 p.m. – Breakout Sessions (choose one of three)
~ Email Marketing Still Works: Beefing Up the Basics
What if each $1 you spent on email marketing earned you $28? Email marketing still rocks the highest return on investment of any marketing medium. That is, if you do it right. Are you getting your $28 ROI? Jessica Best will speak to email’s place in a fast-moving, social media-ruled world, including making email work when and where your customers need it. She’ll talk about what works in 2014 and what the next new trends will likely be.
~ Your Next Crisis is a Click Away-What is Your Social Plan?
Get a behind the scenes view of how good planning across all channels can help you anticipate and manage PR problems. Using a real-life animal health PR case study, the agency lead, client lead and media contact involved will explain their roles in handling crisis communications in both internal and external PR as well as social media.
~ What Do You Know About Drones? How This Technology is Impacting Real-Time Communications Expectations
Chad Colby, host of AgTechTalk.com, shares the latest on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) applications in ag. You’ll hear how ag communicators can share information about drones—as well as the crop-based information they collect—with growers and other industry professionals.

3:45-4 p.m. – Break

4-5 p.m. – Breakout Sessions (choose one of three)
~ Your Next Crisis is a Click Away-What is Your Social Plan?
Get a behind the scenes view of how good planning across all channels can help you anticipate and manage PR problems. Using a real-life animal health PR case study, the agency lead, client lead and media contact involved will explain their roles in handling crisis communications in both internal and external PR as well as social media.
~ Creating Lasting, Productive Partnerships Between Agency & Marketers
Mark will tap into his 25 years of experience working with agencies and marketers—and working in agencies and as a marketer-to discuss why marketer-agency relationships fail. He’ll share survey data gathered by his firm to explain what marketers (and agencies) can do to best insure that relationships succeed.
~ Utilizing Big Data to Deliver a Rock Solid Plan
Does it really matter how big your data is? Whatever you have is a good start. Big, little, enhanced or purchased data can help you make better decisions and understand your current or prospective customers. This breakout will reveal how to use data to drive revenue and increase consumer interaction. Most data an organization has tends to be transactional in nature, by itself telling only part of a story. Synthesizing that information, putting business objectives to it and supplementing where and when needed makes data actionable. When you leave, you will have a “start here” square for your rock solid plan.

5:30-7:00 p.m. – Networking Reception

Wednesday, September 17

8-8:30 a.m. – Continental Breakfast

8:30-10:00 a.m.
General Session: It’s Showtime…Life Isn’t a Dress Rehearsal
Professional Development Awards of Excellence
Jon Petz

STOP meeting expectations! It’s time to create impact in your life, at work and in the lives of others. These moments (SHOWTIME moments) can present re least expecting it. provoking keynote speech will help you identify how to make the most of every meeting, phone call and daily activity. to deliver an experience instead of merely ll be empowered to be the best you. Rekindle the passion in who you are and what you do! Jon will show you how.

Mobile, Mart, ABC, Deloitte, Aflac and JP Morgan Chase, Honda, FOX and Goodyear. He is the author of several books, including Boring Meetings Suck: Get More Out of Your Meetings, or Get Out of More Meetings and The Best of the Best.

Professional Development Awards of Excellence Presentation
PDA Awards Sponsored by Penton Farm Progress

Each year, NAMA honors members with hands-on responsibility in marketing communications, public relations, product/species management and sales. Awards will be given in each of these areas and the recipients will share their thoughts on the challenges and opportunities in agri-marketing.

10:00-10:30 a.m. – Break

10:30-11:30 a.m. – Breakout Sessions (choose one of three)
~ Understand the Role Content Should Play in Your Marketing Plan- A Campaign Case Study
Content marketing drives impressions, engagement and ultimately brings your customer to you. Learn how HLK worked with Cobb to develop an effective brand content marketing strategy that targets not only customers, but also internal employees. This content is curated, developed, distributed, promoted and tracked. Development happens in many formats and distributed across hundreds of platforms. Get an inside view of the process and results.
~ Millennials in Agriculture: A Deep Dive into Insights and Opportunities for Marketers
For the last decade, in every sector and industry, marketers have expressed great hope about what the Millennial generation means for their businesses. While this is a popular segment for research, there is little insight on millennials as participants in production agriculture. In this session, you’ll hear findings from primary research with millennials in agriculture exploring “tensions”—seemingly opposing, yet simultaneously experienced forces—that represent key opportunities for marketers.
~ Email Marketing Still Works: Beefing Up the Basics
What if each $1 you spent on email marketing earned you $28? Email marketing still rocks the highest return on investment of any marketing medium. That is, if you do it right. Are you getting your $28 ROI? Jessica Best will speak to email’s place in a fast-moving, social media-ruled world, including making email work when and where your customers need it. She’ll talk about what works in 2014 and what the next new trends will likely be.

11:45 a.m.-1 p.m.
Closing Session Luncheon – Through The Lens of a Leader
Bob Langert, McDonald’s Corp.

End your Fall Conference experience with a view of the major challenges facing ag today and a forecast for what lies ahead from an experienced industry veteran.

To register for the Fall Conference visit http://www.nama.org/ConferenceRegistration/Default.aspx?confid=63.