As a “Gator” myself (TEL 1980) I had to get a picture of the Gator NAMA student competition team. Here they are at lunch. Sharp looking! Good luck.
Lobbying NAMA Style
One of the greatest benefits to attending a NAMA convention is networking with your peers. In between meetings, the trade show, meals or just about anytime, you’ll see agrimarketing professionals talking. This benefit alone makes attending the convention a must for anyone who’s serious about their profession.
Here you can see Katana Ewbank, AdFarm, chatting with Al Pell, Farm Journal Media. This is where the real work gets done!
The Students Are Hungry For A Win
The NAMA Convention student lunch was crowded. At the conclusion of the luncheon the quarterfinalists were announced for their marketing competition. Those are already underway this afternoon.
Southwest Water Issues Discussed At ARC Spring Fling
Another ARC Spring Fling note from Carroll Merry.
Herb Guenther, Director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, speaks with members of the Ag Relations Council at the organization’s Spring Fling meeting held April 19 at the Phoenix Hyatt Regency Civic Plaza. Guenther told the group about the challenges of balancing the water needs for consumer and industrial use with those of Arizona’s agricultural producers. He noted that through cooperation between state and local governments and farm water districts, accomodations are being made such that the needs of all are being met.
Ag Relations Council Spring Fling
Prior to the start of the NAMA Convention, the Agricultural Relations Council held a day long meeting here at the Hyatt.
Carroll Merry, Countryside Marketing, sent me a couple of pictures to share with you.
Jeri Omernik, president, Rocky Mountain Communications and president of the Agricultural Relations Council, welcomes members to the organization’s Spring Fling meeting which was held April 19 at Phoenix’ Hyatt Regency City Center. The focus of the meeting was on issues facing agriculture in the arid Southwest.
Name Badge Required To Get In Here
The Trade Show will be well guarded but I still didn’t leave my notebook computer at my booth.
I’ll be back over there in a couple hours. Gotta eat lunch!
Since the only internet access I’ve got is relatively slow from my Sprint PCS card I’m planning on using NAMA’s Cyber Cafe they set up which has a few extra connections for a notebook computer. The only challenge is that it’s wayyyy down the hall across the convention center and not at the trade show entrance area.
I guess I need my exercise anyway.
Ready For NAMA Trade Show Action
It didn’t take long but ZimmComm is set up and ready for trade show action here at the 2005 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show.
We’re set up right across from the NAFB booth and at the center of the action. The floor in front of us will contain a display this afternoon of the Best of NAMA award entries. The winners will be announced this evening and we’ll post results when we can.
Immediately following the Best of NAMA ceremony the trade show reception begins so it may be later in the evening before I can get much posted. One of the reasons is not having high speed access at my booth. I just couldn’t justify paying $600 to have it for 2 days. Can you believe that fee?
We’ve got these cute little Weepul guys to give away at our booth, along with some soy crayons that we actually had left over from last year. In addition, anyone I write about or who provides me with information to write about will receive a custom ZimmComm “I’ve been blogged by AgriMarketing Pros” t-shirt.
Let us know what you think of our coverage of the NAMA convention!
Search For Agrimarketing
Have you ever done a Google search for agrimarketing? You ought to. I just did. I got 36,000 results! Guess who’s number 3?
AgriMarketing Pros!
There’s a lot of others of course.
If you’re a Googler then you know about sponsored results. There’s only one for “agrimarketing” and that’s Broadhead+Co. How about that! Agrimarketing is going to make it into the internet age sooner or later.
It’s the early adopters and innovators who will be there.
2005 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show Underway
Let the games begin! Actually, the games began earlier today for the golfers. I wanted to but that extra day and $’s just didn’t work out this year. Maybe next year.
The first stop is always registration.
On the way down to registration from my room and back up to feed the blog monster I saw students everywhere. They looked sharp in their matching team shirts. Wish I had that youthful enthusiasm.
The students are here for the annual student chapter marketing competition. I’ll bring you more information about how they’re doing when I find it out, including who wins and who loses.
Tomorrow is set-up day for the trade show. I should have more to share by then.
More On USDA’s MyPyramid Plan
I’m sure a lot of people are trying to obtain information from USDA’S website right now. It’s going very s-l-o-w!
Here’s some information from their news release:
WASHINGTON, April 19, 2005 — Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today unveiled MyPyramid, a new symbol and interactive food guidance system. “Steps to a Healthier You,” MyPyramid’s central message, supports President Bush’s HealthierUS initiative which is designed to help Americans live longer, better and healthier lives. MyPyramid, which replaces the Food Guide Pyramid introduced in 1992, is part of an overall food guidance system that emphasizes the need for a more individualized approach to improving diet and lifestyle.
For more information contact Ed Loyd (202) 720-4623.
The release goes into extreme detail about this plan. I think it’s pretty complicated and I wonder how the average consumer out there will figure it out. For example, when you look at the MyPyramid image you’ll see bands of color that are supposed to signify different amounts of food types in your diet. Will you “get it” by looking at the image? Will consumers take the time to study this? Why should they?
What do you think of this idea? It’s a huge difference from the guidelines of the past and I think it’s an example of government trying to do too much. Why do we need the government using our tax dollars to tell us what we should or shouldn’t eat anyway?