NAMA 2010 Marketer of the Year

Cindy Zimmerman

Stephanie LiskaWith all the focus on new media and new ways of marketing, the winner of this year’s NAMA Marketer of the Year is one who uses the oldest method of marketing known to man, and the one that still works the best – word of mouth.

Stephanie Liska, co-founder of Beck Ag, grew up on a farm in Iowa and is married to an agronomist, so she knows agriculture. “Word of mouth is not knew to agriculture or to business,” she says. “Purdue University has validated that the most influential person that a grower or a veterinarian or someone in our industry looks to to make a decision on what they are going to use or recommend is their peers.”

Stephanie has been involved in NAMA since she was a student at Iowa State University and was chairman of the NAMA conference last year. She also credits her faith and her husband for supporting her with the business.

Listen to an interview with Stephanie in the player below.

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference
is sponsored by: Successful Farming. They know.

Audio, NAMA

ZimmComm Booth Drawing Winners

Chuck Zimmerman

Sara SimsAt this year’s NAMA Connection Point we gave away a Barnes & Noble Nook eReader and a Zoom H2 digital audio recorder.

Here’s Cindy with Sara Sims, Valmont Irrigation, who won the Nook. She said it’s another gadget her daughter can teach her how to use.

We also drew Kathryn Tokarz, Penn State University, for the digital audio recorder and will get it to her this morning.

We saw a lot of good friends and clients once again during the Connection Point and would still recommend companies consider participating next year. It has always been well worth it in our opinion.

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference
is sponsored by: Successful Farming. They know.

NAMA

Cindy Gives John The Bird

Chuck Zimmerman

John Walter Successful FarmingWe all know that John Walter is a social media superstar. Now he has his very own Twitter Bird. Cindy presented John with Ollie the Twitterbird at the end of the NAMA Connection Point trade show.

Cindy found the birds online several weeks ago and we brought some along to decorate our booth. After drawing for our main prizes we also drew names for the birds. So now we can say we’ve given John “the bird.”

John is editor of Successful Farming’s Agriculture.com and our sponsor for AgWired coverage of the NAMA Convention.

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference
is sponsored by: Successful Farming. They know.

NAMA

NAMA Agribusiness Leader of the Year

Chuck Zimmerman

David SeehusenNow that the NAMA Connection Point is over maybe I can find some time to get caught up on my posts. The attendance here is tremendous and the activity level has been at an all time high.

We honored an outstanding leader in agribusiness, David Seehusen, Land ‘O Lakes, with NAMA’s highest honor, the Agribusiness Leader of the Year Award. David has made significant contributions to the industry and made a really fantastic Earth Day speech which I will be adding to this post as soon as I get a copy of it. Dave included a lot of statistics about food production comparing today to years past. He made a great point of saying how new technology can continue to increase food production to feed a growing world population but only if farmers are allowed to use it.

You can now listen to David’s speech below.

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference
is sponsored by: Successful Farming. They know.

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Zimfo Bytes

Melissa Sandfort

    Zimfo Bytes

  • The Tulare Kiwanis Club will honor local dairy farmers and Tulare County Farm Bureau members Joey Airoso and father Joe with their annual “Farmer of the Year” Award on April 28.
  • AG CONNECT Expo 2011 has been named to the U.S. Commercial Service’s International Buyer Program (IBP).
  • The Florida FFA state officer team was treated to a taste of agricultural media, venison, pheasant and more with a visit to Southeast AgNet, one of the last legs of a four-day educational/leadership tour designed to expose them to all areas of Florida agriculture.
  • Wyffels Hybrids has selected Woodruff Sweitzer to be a partner in brand management and creative development. True Media has been chosen to handle media planning and buying.
    Zimfo Bytes

    MO Colleges Fund President: Novus Gives Students Look at Real World

    John Davis

    Some students in Missouri are getting a look at the real world of agriculture during Novus International‘s 2nd annual “Science: A Foundation for Dynamic Careers” days at the company’s St. Louis-suburb headquarters.

    During tonight’s welcoming mixer, Mike Backer, President of the Missouri Colleges Fund … a group that helps get money and resources for students at the state’s 16 private colleges … told those gathered that they would get to see how a real agri-business operates.

    “This gives a good opportunity to our students. They’ve been in the classroom, and they’re getting good book knowledge and working in labs, but that’s in a controlled environment. Here, they get to actually come out into the real world and see a live company, that has a lab, is doing research. So they get to see what the possibilities are for them after they get that diploma in their hand and they get out and look for a job.”

    Backer says the financial support of a company like Novus is vital to keeping science students funded.

    “Education doesn’t come cheap,” he says. Backer points out that 85 percent of the students attending Missouri’s 16 private schools covered under the Missouri Colleges Fund get some type of financial aid. “It’s a big help when companies like Novus and Monsanto help students pay for their education.”

    Backer says that assistance is more important than ever as tightening budgets cause cuts to higher education.

    Listen to more of my conversation with Mike below.

    2010 Novus International Science: A Foundation for Dynamic Careers Photo Album

    Audio, Novus International

    Novus Welcomes Students to 2nd Annual Science Day

    John Davis

    Hello, and welcome from St. Louis! I’m here to follow Novus International‘s 2nd annual “Science: A Foundation for Dynmamic Careers” days.

    This two-day event for Missouri Colleges Fund Scholars (more on that in a bit) who have received funding from Novus for their schooling will give the students a chance to see Novus’ operations in the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, as well as touring the animal health company’s Global Research farm.

    About half of the students (more to join us in the morning) were welcomed in and given a brief overview of the day to come by Novus’ team. Leading that welcome was Marco Quiroz, Novus International poultry veterinarian (or chicken doctor, as he explained to the students!). He told the group how important they are. “We need you guys in agriculture.”

    Just before he addressed the group, I pulled Marco aside, and he explained they’re trying to help the students.

    “We’re trying to educate them and give them some guidance on what is agriculture and where food comes from.”

    Marco says he hopes the students are able to learn a bit more about companies where they might be working once these students graduate.

    “My goal here is to give them an example of a scientist and [his or her] role in the industry. At Novus, we have more than 50 PhD’s and veterinarians. I just wanted to tell them the story of where I came from and why I chose agriculture.”

    He says, ever since growing up as a small boy in Mexico, animal agriculture has been his passion, and he’s always wanted to help people put food on their tables. Now, he’s able to feed these students with the wisdom a career in animal agriculture with Novus has brought.

    You can hear my conversation with Marco below.

    2010 Novus International Science: A Foundation for Dynamic Careers Photo Album

    Audio, Novus International

    We Hate Sheep

    Joanna Schroeder

    Sullivan Higdon & Sink hates sheep. Why? Because they are followers – not leaders. Well, you may love them or hate them but during NAMA you can abuse them as part of the interactive We Hate Sheep game. The game was created by t2, an interactive company based right here in Kansas City, the host town for this year’s NAMA.

    I was joking with a fellow colleague, Steve Knudsen, who works for the International Agri-Center (they host the World Expo Show each February in Tulare, CA) and he asked the designers, “So is this the Web1.0 version? When will Web 2.0 be launched with the foxes trying to eat the sheep?” I personally think that’s a super idea and maybe next year, SH&S will be back with even more ways to eliminate sheep. And if you haven’t already, be sure to stop by.


    2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference
    is sponsored by: Successful Farming. They know.

    NAMA, Video

    Best of NAMA Awards

    Chuck Zimmerman

    Best of NAMANAMA toasted the Best of the Best last night at the annual Best of NAMA Awards Ceremony. You can find a complete list of all the winners in AgriMarketing Magazine.

    The Best of Show – Advertising went to:

    Client: Midwest Dairy Association, St. Paul, MN – Gregg Fogleman
    Agency: Sullivan Higdon & Sink, Kansas City, MO – Parc Masterson accepting for agency
    Message: To remind consumers that everything is better with cheese on it.
    Audience: Mothers 25-54 with children 18-years-old and younger in the Ozark region.

    Best of NAMAOur other Best of Show winner is for Public Relations.

    Client: Dairy Management, Inc., Rosemont, IL – Jolene Griffin
    Agency: Weber Shandwick, Minneapolis, MN – Polly O’Grady
    Message: To use social media to tell the dairy industry’s story, reinforce and build its positive image and respectfully counter inaccurate or uninformed online commentary about modern farm practices.
    Audience: Consumers, age 17-29 and dairy consumers.

    Thank you to Denny Eilers for the photos.


    2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

    AgWired coverage of the 2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference
    is sponsored by: Successful Farming. They know.

    NAMA

    Student Marketing Competition Finalists Announced

    Joanna Schroeder

    As the 2010 National Agricultural Marketing Association’s (NAMA) trade show kicked off yesterday, there was a sea of students anxiously waiting to get through the doors. Why? Because they were waiting for the announcement of which teams would make it through the finals for the Student Marketing Competition. On Tuesday, 31 teams from around the country arrived for their chance to win. The team that traveled the farthest for the chance to call themselves marketing geniuses, came from Hawaii. On Wednesday, 31 new products were announced and students presented in 20 minutes or less, why their product was the next “big thing” and how they were going to market it to success.

    On Wednesday evening, Curt Blades, with Successful Farming, who has been a champion of the student’s marketing competition for many years, was awarded the Chairman’s award for his role as the Student Committee Chairman. His colleague, Janelle Buxton, was awarded a Horizon Award for her role as Chairwoman of the Membership Committee. Shortly thereafter, Curt took the stage in the trade show hall and began the announcement every student was waiting for. And the finalists are…

    • Iowa State
    • Illinois State
    • University of Minnesota
    • New Mexico State University
    • CalPoly
    • Michigan State

      Here is a photo of few of the team members from New Mexico State as they took a brief moment to celebrate before heading back to put the winning touches on their presentation. Congrats to all the finalists and good luck this afternoon. You can see photos from the Student Marketing Competition along with photos from all of NAMA in the 2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album.

      AgWired coverage of the 2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference
      is sponsored by: Successful Farming. They know.

      NAMA