Then National Agri-Marketing Association held it’s first ever producer panel here at the Cattle Industry Convention today. Pictured are (l-r) Jason McCann, MO, Laurie Lickely, ID, Gary Cooper, Southeast Agnet/Moderator and Kevin Kester, CA. The focus was on new communications technology.
I visited with them briefly before the session to get each of their thoughts on this subject and I think you’ll be interested to hear what they think about the importance of social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Agribusinesses will be interested to note the importance of using these channels to communicate with their farmer customers today!
Get more perspective on producer use of new communications technology in my interview with the panel here: Interview with NAMA Producer Panel
Cindy and I are nearing the end of vacation (working) time in Florida but are too far away from Orlando to attend today’s Florida NAMA chapter meeting. But thanks to Gary Cooper’s, Southeast AgNet, iPhone we did get a picture to share.
Guest speaking to the Florida NAMA chapter was Hugh Whaley, USFRA. As I understad it there were nearly 50 in attendance. That’s a fantastic turnout. It’s great to see this chapter that I was once a founding member of doing well!
Last week I met Florida Chapter President Lyn Cacella, Farm Credit. We spoke about the Agri-Marketing Conference coming to Jacksonville, FL in 2014 and the chapter is already working on some ideas for us during our time in the sunshine state. Listen in on my conversation with Lyn and learn more about how Florida NAMA is doing: Lyn Cacella Interview
If your chapter has an event please send along a photo to share here on AgWired and let us know how it’s going. We’d like to feature you.
The NAMA Executive Committee has been meeting in Jacksonville, FL at the Hyatt Riverfront, location for the 2014 Agri-Marketing Conference. This morning we got a tour of the facilities to see where everything from registration to the student competition rooms will be located. The hotel sits on the St. John River and is a beautiful location for the event.
After the committee meeting today I visited with NAMA President, Beth Burgy, Broadhead. We talked about the conference being in Florida in 2014 and the work that the executive committee is doing. This was my first meeting as a member of the committee and we cranked out a lot of work the last two days.
Listen in to my interview with Beth and learn more about what’s going on with NAMA: Interview With Beth Burgy
The National Agri-Marketing Association Executive Committee is hard at in Jacksonville, FL this week. This regularly scheduled meeting is at the Hyatt Riverfront which will be the site of the 2014 Agri-Marketing Conference. It’s a beautiful location and we hope to see a big crowd.
The committee will be meeting again tomorrow before finishing up and heading home. I’m really glad to have the opportunity to assist the organization that has meant so much to my career and looking forward to this year’s conference in April. Hope you’ve got it on your calendar!
At the recent NAMA Trends in Agriculture conference one of our panel discussions focused on “Trends In Energy/Alternative Fuels.” On the panel were Nathan Schock, POET & Matt Roberts, PhD.
What are the main influences escalating the demand for ethanol and other plant-based energy? This session examines the trends in the alternative fuel market and the initiatives needed to drive the production to meet the demand. You’ll also discover the messages and opportunities on which ag communicators and marketers need to focus.
Thanks to Paulsen Marketing for supplying this video clip with Nathan who talks about government’s role in ethanol’s future.
Heather says that purchasing decisions are becoming more and more important for farmers trying to meet the food needs of a growing population. So Paulsen conducted this study to find out how farmers are making those decisions. The study verifies some of the logical assumptions you might make like how important the input is from older farm family members. They conducted fourteen interviews with farm families throughout the midwest.
Sara says one of the most fascinating thing that came out of their study is that there is a lot of brand assimilation in farm families and there are several reasons for that including, familiarity, consistency, integration and relationships. Basically, it’s influence that comes down through the generations. For agrimarketers, this offers some challenges to break through that influence. She says that decisions are being made throughout the year now without the traditional seasonality that we used to have.
You can listen to my interview with Sara and Heather to learn more about the study here: Paulsen Thought Paper
At the recent NAMA Trends in Agriculture conference our keynote closing speaker in a shared Session with NAFB was Jeff Simmons, Elanco. He spoke about “Productivity to Feed a Growing Population.” Thanks to Paulsen Marketing for supplying this video clip with Jeff.
A growing wave of food insecurity threatens more than 1 billion people around the world. Solutions exist today to help meet food needs. Jeff Simmons, President, Elanco, talked about the real issue we have today is feeding ourselves and how technology can play a major role in accomplishing that.
If you don’t know our new National Agri-Marketing Association President then give this week’s program a listen. I visited with Beth Burgy, Broadhead, who took over the helm at NAMA during the Trends in Agriculture conference.
Beth says the big project for NAMA is going to be implementing the new strategic plan. That plan includes three strategy areas that are: Increase our strategic partnerships on both the local and national level; Communicate with members and partners more effectively and Grow NAMA membership in non-traditional segments. Beth says NAMA is a growing organization and in great condition.
During the National Agri-Marketing Association’s Trends in Agriculture Conference we had a session that focused on “Trends In Energy/Alternative Fuels” which featured Nathan Schock, POET & Matt Roberts, PhD. Pictured is Matt who is an Associate Professor of Ag Economics at Ohio State University.
Matt does a lot of work in biofuels. One of his take aways from the session is that even though we’re going to see a lot of ethanol policy changes in the market soon with the end of the VEETC/Tariff, “There’s not going to actually be that large of an impact right now when that goes away.” He says long term there may be some impact. The RFS is a different animal though. He believes it needs to be re-opened on the cellulosic side but seems to be working on the corn ethanol side. Changes, however, could have a real impact on the corn side.
He says that when you look at the big picture of ethanol and the biofuels industry there aren’t simple answers. He encourages the industry to take a step back and “think about the fundamental reasons that are out there and what’s driving it and start with the questions.” He says everyone seems to start with an answer looking for a problem to solve with it instead of asking a question first and then seeking the answer to that question.
The new President of the National Agri-Marketing Association is Beth Burgy, Broadhead+Co, pictured on the right with now past President Vicki Henrickson, BCS Communications. Vicki is holding her award for serving as the NAMA commander in chief for the last year.
Thank you Vicki for your service and congratulations to Beth for her election. I look forward to working with her on the NAMA Executive Committee in 2012!
I have an interview with Beth that will be featured in next week’s ZimmCast.
Today NAMA presented their Professional Development Awards of Excellence during the Trends in Agriculture conference. Here are three of the winners (l-r) Stephanie Gable, Novus International – Product/Species Management; yours truly – Public Relations and Margaret Fogarty, Farm Credit – Marketing Communications. Not pictured because she had to attend another conference is Sue Lee, Farm Journal Media – Sales. However, Sue joined via recorded video remarks. I can’t tell you how much this award means to me and want to thank NAMA and my nominator!
I spoke with Margaret and asked her what her award meant to her and what she sees as opportunities in agriculture today. You can listen to my interview with Margaret here: Interview with Margaret Fogarty
Stephanie turned the tables on me and interviewed me about my award. Now how cool is that? I think she makes a good farm podcaster. You can listen to Stephanie interview me here: Stephanie Interviews Me
The kick-off session for NAMA Trends in Agriculture is “Focus Pocus: 24 Tricks for Regaining Command of Your Day.” Our presenter is Paul Burton, QuietSpacing. I visited with Paul about his topic because, like a lot of busy people today, I am always looking at ways to become more productive.
Paul says one of the ideas he wants people to use to regain command of their day is removing the clutter from their workspace. He says it’s amazing how distracting things you see even in your peripheral vision can become. He’s got lots of good ideas and each attendee got a copy of his book by the same name as the session.
The National Agri-Marketing Association is rolling out a new Strategic Plan. It was previewed at the NAMA Leader Workshop by the NAMA Executive Committee. Here’s Marvin Kokes, NCBA, presenting one of the three key strategies from the plan.
Marvin says those three strategies are; Increase our strategic partnerships on both the local and national levels; Communicate with members and partners more effectively and Grow NAMA membership in non-traditional segments. More information about the plan will be forthcoming from the organization as this plan unfolds.
Prior to the NAMA Trends in Agriculture session a Leadership Workshop was held for chapter leaders and others. The Chair for the workshop is Amber Harrison, Bratney Companies.
I spoke with Amber about what the workshop offers to member leaders. She says the theme of the workshop is “Progress Through Programming and Productivity.” The focus is how chapters can improve member attendance at events. One of the ideas she was offering was mixing up the time of day to hold a chapter meeting (lunch, evening social, etc.).
In addition to developing program development and member recruitment ideas Amber says the NAMA Executive Committee is participating to roll out the new NAMA Strategic Plan.
Outgoing NAMA President Vicki Henrickson, BCS Communications, has presided over her last board meeting. That is if she passes the gavel tomorrow at lunch. Vicki is one of the most energetic cheerleaders for NAMA that I know.
I spoke with her after the meeting to find out some of the informational highlights from today’s meeting. Membership is up, meeting attendance is up and entries in the Best of NAMA competition are up. It’s all good. Vicki says the organization is in strong financial shape and the future looks bright.
The business of the National Agri-Marketing Association continues in Kansas City this morning in advance of the Trends in Agriculture conference.
Here’s the board of directors meeting. Presiding is outgoing President, Vicki Henrickson. One of the first items of interest I’ve learned is that NAMA membership is at its highest level since 2001. Now that’s a positive message. I’ll get a board update from Vicki later this morning to share with you.
The National Agri-Marketing Association Trends in Agriculture conference provides an opportunity for the organization’s board to meet. Prior to the board meeting, the NAMA Executive Committee meets. Hey, it takes a lot of work to run this organization! Here’s the group getting things done today.
The program for Trends in Agriculture kicks off at 2pm tomorrow afternoon. The NAMA board will be meeting prior to that in the morning.
Heading over to the NAMA Exec. Committee meeting I have already run in to members of the U.S Farmers & Ranchers Alliance which is meeting today and tomorrow. I hope to get an update on their activities to share later today.
This is going to be a fun week of agricultural marketing and communications.
Let’s look ahead to the 2011 National Agri-Marketing Association’s Trends in Agriculture conference. It precedes the NAFB Convention and AgWired will be there covering all the action. Our sponsor for coverage of both meetings this year is BASF!
To get a preview I spoke with Trends committee chair, Gardner Hatch, Bader Rutter. Gardner gives us a review of program highlights and talks about the differences between this fall conference and the spring conference. It’s not too late to register. You can go to the NAMA website or register onsite at the Hyatt Regency at Crown Center in Kansas City, MO. See you from there. And don’t forget to use the official Twitter hashtag for the NAMA conference, #NAMATrends. The one for the NAFB convention is #NAFB.
Badger NAMA, the local chapter of the Nation Agri-Marketing Association, held its annual reception/meeting during the 2011 World Dairy Expo. Here’s chapter president, Travis Maier, Morgan & Myers. I spoke with him about how the chapter is doing. He says chapter membership steady at over 120 and has actually been growing. This meeting is one of their main ones during the year. I think attendance at the meeting was really good. I don’t know how many were there but it was a large meeting. Students were a big part of the meeting too with a program just for them.
It’s time to get your Best of NAMA entries ready. Don’t wait until the day of the deadline! That would be like doing your homework at the last second when you were in school. Of course you probably never did that right?
You’ve done a lot of hard work and now it’s time for it to pay off. Submit your best work in the Best of NAMA competition and see if your the best of the best.
The deadline for submitting your entries is Friday, October 7.
The Best of NAMA awards program honors the best work in agricultural communications. Actually, the best of the best, since companies/agencies must first qualify through regional competition in order to advance to the national level.
Remember, your local chapter receives $25 per regional entry. So, enter your work in Best of NAMA and support your local chapter at the same time.
In this week's program Chuck talks with Mike Adams, AgriTalk.
Chuck and Mike often wind up at the same events all over the country so it seemed like a good idea to do a little AgriTalking about the changes they've seen in the ag media landscape.
Then National Agri-Marketing Association held it’s first ever producer panel here at the Cattle Industry Convention today. Pictured are (l-r) Jason McCann, MO, Laurie Lickely, ID, Gary Cooper, Southeast Agnet/Moderator and Kevin Kester, CA. The focus was on new communications technology.
If you don’t know our new National Agri-Marketing Association President then give this week’s program a listen. I visited with Beth Burgy, 
In this week's program Chuck talks with Mike Adams, AgriTalk.
