Brownfield Party Rocks NAMA

Chuck Zimmerman

Brownfield ParyWhat’s the best party at the Agri-Marketing Conference? The Brownfield Party! I know, I’m biased. I was the host for a number of years once upon a time and Brownfield Ag News is my sponsor this week here at the event.

Well, last night we had a big time at PBR Big Sky. There are a lot of photos in the photo album and I think you’ll enjoy them. This is the Brownfield team. They worked hard last night but that was just helping make sure everyone was having fun. We had a great band and there was some bull riding too.

Here’s what people were saying about why they go to the Brownfield Party: Why I Go To Brownfield Party

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
Audio, NAMA

ZimmComm iPod touch Winners

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmComm BoothAnd ZimmComm Google Juice was enjoyed by all. It was one of the best NAMA Connection Point shows ever. At least in my opinion. Thanks to all of you who stopped by to say hi and visit a while. We’ll be doing it again next year.

We held a drawing for two 32GB iPod touches and the winners are:

Professional: Linda Bartling, Creative Director, Innova Ideas & Services

Student: Frank Baird, Richards, TX, Sam Houston State University

Their iPods will be sent to them pre-loaded with the AgWired App!

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
NAMA

Cal Poly Wins NAMA Student Marketing Competition

Chuck Zimmerman

Student NAMAIt was a loud and exciting time during the NAMA student awards at the Agri-Marketing Conference. There are just too many to keep track and list them all here.

So I’ll just make note of the fact that the Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo chapter won the Student Marketing Competition.

To get an idea of how they felt about it check out the video reaction:

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
NAMA

Best of NAMA

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMA Best of AdvertisingThe 2011 Best of NAMA Awards were awarded during the Agri-Marketing Conference. You can find a full listing by AgriMarketing Magazine.

Winning Best of Show were:

Advertising: Winfield Solutions; agency: Colle+McVoy (pictured at the top)

The Best of session was standing room only.

NAMA Best of Public RelationsPublic Relations: RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment); agency: Fleishman-Hillard

I want to thank Denny Eilers, Iowa Photo Farm, for once again helping us out with photos. He not only took these but also supplied others you’ll find in our photo album.

Here are some summary notes compiled by AgriMarketing Magazine:

A total of 62 awards were presented.

Those with the most first place awards were:

Monsanto: 5
John Deere: 4
Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica: 3
Syngenta Seed: 3
Wisconsin Cheese: 3
Pioneer Hi-Bred: 2
DuPont: 2
RISE: 2
Winfield Solutions: 2
National Cottonseed: 2

Agencies receiving the most first place awards were:

Osborn&Barr Communications: 6
Colle+McVoy: 5
Charleston | Orwig: 4
McCormick Company: 4
Campbell Mithun: 3
Broadhead + Co: 3
Fleishmann Hillard: 3
Harvest PR: 3
Shine Advertising: 3
AdFarm: 2
Woodruff Sweitzer: 2
PSG Marketing Solutions: 2

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
NAMA

Reierson Honored as NAMA Marketer of the Year

Chuck Zimmerman

Roger ReiersonThe 2011 NAMA Marketer of the Year was awarded to Roger Reierson, AdFarm. Roger was very surprised to receive the award and says it does not mean it’s “the end.” There’s lots more to come from this man.

I spoke with Roger afterward. He says he feels humbled and honored. He’s says the ag industry is a big family and he owes the award to a lot of people. He says NAMA has connected him to a lot of good people. Listen to our conversation: Roger Reierson Interview

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
Agencies, Audio, NAMA

Novus Sponsors Student Science Day

Cindy Zimmerman

Scott CarterStudents from private colleges around Missouri are having a chance to check out what kinds of career opportunities await someone with a background in science and a passion for agriculture at the third “Science in Action: A Foundation for Dynamic Careers” sponsored by Novus International and the Missouri Colleges Fund.

About 20 students, teachers and advisors gathered for a little social last night near Novus headquarters in St. Charles and got to know a little more about each other and Novus. Dr. Scott Carter, Novus’ global poultry market manager, told them about his background and journey through academia into the world of global animal nutrition. “I have a PhD in nutrition and biotechnology and a BS degree in biochemistry,” Scott told them. “In agriculture we’re doing something very important. We’re feeding a hungry world and that’s going to be even more important in the future.”

You can listen to my interview with Scott here: Interview With Scott Carter

Audio, Education, Novus International, Poultry

Agribusiness Leader Provides Plenty to Think About

Cindy Zimmerman

Elanco President Jeff Simmons wants people in agriculture to speak up and make it personal when it comes to safe, abundant, affordable food.

The NAMA Agribusiness Leader of the Year says it all boils down to those four words. “I do think that we need to get our of our bubbles, get off of our farms and speak up because we are center stage right now,” he said. “It is our time and it’s a hot issue.”

Jeff told the opening general session of the National Agri-Marketing Conference that Elanco has just unveiled a website focusing on food production, world hunger and sustainability called “Plenty To Think About”. The site includes a white paper that focuses on three rights – food, a human right; choice, a consumer right; and sustainability, environmentally right.

Listen to or download an enlightening conversation with Jeff here:
Jeff Simmons Interview

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
Audio, NAMA

NAMA President Thrilled With State of Industry

Cindy Zimmerman

The president of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) is thrilled with this year’s conference attendance and the current state of the organization.

“It’s always good to be the queen when things are good,” said Vicki Henrickson of BCS Communications. “We have 1700 members this year, we haven’t had that many since the year 2000. We’ve got 1200 registrations for conference this year, we’ve not had that many since 2001. We had 155 plus first timers at the conference this year – amazing. Everything is good!”

Listen to my interview with Vicki here:
Vicki Henrickson Interview

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
Agencies, Audio, NAMA

Become An 800-Pound Gorilla

Chuck Zimmerman

The first educational session at this year’s Agri-Marketing Conference focused on “Becoming and 800-pound Gorilla: How To Dominate Your Market.” Our presenter was Bill Guertin, Chief Enthusiasm Officer, The 800-Pound Gorilla. Well I guess he should know how to do it then!

I talked with Bill before his presentation. He says that the 800-pound gorilla is “the dominate player in any marketplace whose tactics and techniques result in an unfair share of the available business.” So he was here to help us discover how to achieve this. He uses an anecdote from the sports industry to make a point of how you can do this. Listen in: Bill Guertin Interview

2011 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2011 Agri-Marketing Conference is sponsored by
Audio, NAMA

Giving Reversible a New Meaning

Melissa Sandfort

I’ve owned reversible jackets, pants and hats, but I’ve never owned a pair of cotton flannel double-thumbed gloves. They might look a bit of an oddity, but they were quite popular back in the day for husking corn. Corn picking was done by hand, and then you’d have to take the husks off before putting it in the sheller or grinder. What a chore for your hands!

Double-thumbed gloves to the rescue. Once you wore through the palm on one side, you’d just flip it over and get back to work.

And well aware that money only stretched so far back then, they would sometimes smear tar on the gloves to make them last longer.

I’m thinking a pair of these would be nice for avid gardeners.

And by the way, isn’t that what a combine is for these days?

Until we walk again …

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