NAMA Honors NCGA CEO

Cindy Zimmerman

Rick Tolman NAMA AwardCongratulations from AgWired to the CEO of the National Corn Growers Association, who received the Agribusiness Leader of the Year award at the National Agri-Marketing Association conference in Kansas City on Thursday.

Rick Tolman has been in charge of NCGA for almost eight years, during a time of dramatic changes, new challenges and the highest prices in history for corn growers. He told me that he was fortunate to be able to lead the industry as it began to benefit from some of the decisions that were made more than a decade ago.

Listen to a short interview with Rick here.
nama-08-tolman-edit.mp3

Agencies, NAMA, NCGA

NAMA Best of Show Winners

Chuck Zimmerman

Best of NAMA AdvertisingI want to thank Denny Eilers for helping me out with Best of NAMA photos.

To start with we have the Best of Show for the Advertising category. The winner is:

Client: New Holland North America, Agency: Colle+McVoy

The message: New Holland is the innovative brand of the future.

Best of NAMA Public RelationsNext is Best of Show – Public Relations. The winner is:

Client: Dow AgroSciences, Agency: Fleishman-Hillard

The message: To build the market for Dow AgroSciences’ Omega-9 Oils, made from their specially-bred Nexera canola and sunflower, in light of the data that trans fats have been related to coronary events and the cause of several health issues every year.

Best of NAMA SpecialtyNext is Best of Show – Specialty. The winner is:

Client: Merial Limited, Agency: Bader Rutter

The message: RECOMBITEK Equine Influenza Vaccine is proven to protect horses against influenza while significantly reducing viral shedding.

There you have it – The Best of the Best!

2008 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

NAMA

Student Mentor Lunch

Chuck Zimmerman

Student Mentor LunchHello AgWired fans. It’s Day 3 of the NAMA Convention and I know I’m a little behind on posting but we’ll get caught up. Let’s just say things have been busy.

Right now the Thursday lunch is just getting started. Our booth is next to the Student Mentor Lunch area so we’ve got a mix going through line here. Can you guess which is which (student vs. professional)?

This afternoon we’ve got breakout sessions and a number of interviews and stories that will be getting published. Hang in there.

2008 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

NAMA

ZimmComm iPod Touch Contest is a Hit

Laura McNamara

ZimmComm’s contest to win an iPod Touch seems to be attracting a steady crowd of contest winner hopefuls. But, that’s just ONE of the perks of stopping by the ZimmComm New Media display here at the 2008 NAMA “Leading the Charge” Agri-marketing conference. Visitors can also get online and search AgWired.com to see if they have been blogged by the ZimmComm crew. If you find your name, you get an AgWired.com “I’ve Been Blogged” T-shirt. Now, who wouldn’t want one of those?

2008 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

Agribusiness, NAMA

Colle + McVoy Agri-Rock Fest

Chuck Zimmerman

Agri-Rock FestSpeaking of rock. We were speaking of rock weren’t we?

Colle + McVoy held the 6th Annual Agri-Rock Fest this evening. Here’s some of the band. There were a lot of body piercings and tattoos and specialty rock legend beverages.

It’s now getting too late even for an agriblogger so you’ll have to check the photo album for some new ones and wait for more NAMA excitement in the morning.


2008 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

Agencies, NAMA

ZimmComm Booth Rocks

Chuck Zimmerman

ZimmComm BoothWell the ZimmComm Booth is ready for action here at the NAMA Connection Point. Laura took a picture of Cindy and me.

You need to come on by to get your “I’ve Been Blogged” t-shirt and enter our iPod touch contest.

While there we can answer all your new media questions.

Right now the Best of NAMA Awards ceremony is finishing up and I’ll have more on the results from that by tomorrow. We’ll be heading out to dinner after the show this evening.

2008 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

NAMA

NAMA Students Market Blue Ridge Apple Chips

Laura McNamara

NAMA student competitorsA big part of the NAMA Agrimarketing Conference is the student chapter marketing competitions. For this year’s “Leading the Charge” event, students from Virginia Tech have chosen to promote Blue Ridge Apple Chips for a company based out of Western Virginia. Team member Josh Stephens (pictured shaking hands far right) touts the apple chips as a healthy, on-the-go snack for busy-bodies living in the fast track… like us bloggers.

NAMA student competitors

You can listen to my interview with Josh here, where he explains why his team chose Blue Ridge Apple Chips. He also comments on what he’s learning through the NAMA experience… and he’ll tell you, marketing isn’t easy.

But then, that’s why we are all here at the NAMA Agrimarketing Conference isn’t it…nama08-stu-josh-stephens.mp3

2008 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

Audio, Education, Media, NAMA

Breakout!

Laura McNamara

NAMA PanelistsThe first breakout session at the 2008 NAMA “Leading the Charge” Agrimarketing Conference focused on advertising. A group of panelists opened discussion on “Ag Advertising: How the Best was Won.” Tim Naylor, the chief creative officer for Yamamoto Moss Mackenzie, moderated the panel discussion. Other panel members included representatives from Colle + McVoy, Rhea & Kaiser, Bader Rutter and Martin Williams.

I couldn’t help but notice they are all MAC users…

2008 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

Agribusiness, NAMA

Getting Down to Business

Laura McNamara

NAMA Chapter LeadersThe NAMA Board of Directors’ Meeting is underway and members are tackling the important issues and topics on today’s agenda. I stuck my head into the Chicago meeting room at the Hyatt Regency at Crown Center in Kansas City to pop a few photos of NAMA Chapter Leaders getting down to business. NAMA’s Leading the Charge Agrimarketing Conference will be hosting events here through Friday.

2008 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

Advertising, Agribusiness, NAMA

NAMA Chapter Leaders Learn and Lunch

Chuck Zimmerman

NAMA Chapter LeadersThis morning NAMA Chapter Leaders like these got together to talk about the challenges they face today in running a local chapter.

One of the presenters was Greg Ehm, Two Rivers Marketing, pictured in the blue shirt. I spoke to him at the lunch that followed their workshop.

Greg says that one of the biggest issues that came up was “time.” It seems like there are so many things competing for our time today that sometimes chapters are suffering from not enough member involvement. Greg says that the NAMA office has hired someone to help chapters with their challenges. I’m going to find her for an interview and introduce you to her soon.

You can listen to my interview with Greg here: nama-08-ehm.mp3

2008 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

Audio, NAMA