It’s time to shake off the long, cold winter and jump into spring and summer with a chapter event! Below is a list of chapters who have upcoming events. Take a look and mark your calendars. Remember, if you happen to be traveling and want to take in a chapter event hosted by a chapter other than your own, they’d love to see you - don’t be shy, stop by and say “Hi”!

May 20
Navigating the Issues in Agriculture - A Road Map for Success
Join the MoKan NAMA chapter Tuesday, May 20th at the Classic Cup on the Plaza in Kansas City, MO. Featured guests will be Carol Anderson and Becky Johnson of Anderson Fallon, a public relations firm based in Kansas City which specializes in agricultural issues. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. Cost is $15 for members and $25 for non-members. For more information visit, http://www.nama.org/chapters/mok5-20-08.htm.

RSVP to Michael Berry at berrym@osborn-barr.com or (816) 471-2021.

May 22
CAMA Ontario presents, The Future of the Automotive Industry & the Agricultural Opportunities
CAMA is pleased to announce the presenter for this seminar is Ross MacKenzie, Managing Director for WatCAR, the University of Waterloo’s Centre for Automotive Research. Please join us on Thursday, May 22nd at 9:30 a.m. at the Cutten Club in Guelph as we learn more about WatCAR and the BioCar initiative and the opportunities this is creating for the agriculture industry. Cost is $60 for CAMA Members and $80 for non-members. For more information visit, http://www.nama.org/chapters/cama5-22-08.htm.

To register contact 519-389-3701 or email camaont@bmts.com. You can also register online here.

Midsouth NAMA…Shaking Things Up
Gary Patterson, director of education and outreach for the Center for Earthquake Research, will be our guest speaker this month. His talk will be about the New Madrid, how a large event will affect the MidSouth and specifically how it will affect our farm community and industry. Our May meeting will feature a catered lunch from Off the Grill. We’ll have on-site grillin’ of sirloin steak and chicken along with all the compliments and desserts. For more information visit, http://www.nama.org/chapters/mis5-22-08.htm.

Please RSVP and join us!

May 29
Badger/Chicago NAMA Annual Golf Outing
Join us for the Badger/Chicago NAMA’s annual golf outing on May 29! It is a great opportunity to network with NAMA members from both the Badger and Chicago chapters in a fun and relaxing setting. This year, we are again returning to Hawk’s View Golf Club in Lake Geneva. The golf outing will kick-off with a shotgun start at 11:00 a.m. with dinner and awards to follow at 3:30 – 4:00 p.m. For more information visit, http://www.nama.org/chapters/badcna.htm.

Contact John Rozum at jrozum@wdexpo.com or 608.224.6455 for more information about how you can sign-up or become an event sponsor!

Gateway NAMA Happy Hour
Connect with members of the Gateway Chapter with networking and drinks Thursday, May 29. Board members will talk briefly about the new direction the Gateway Chapter is taking to add value to your membership. Join Gateway NAMA from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. at Corwin’s Bar and Grill in St. Louis, Mo. There will be free food and free drinks for the first hour. Members may bring a guest.

For more information visit, http://gatewaynama.com.

June 3
Eastern NAMA Annual Meeting/Networking Event
The 2008 Eastern Chapter’s Annual Meeting will be on Tuesday evening, June 3rd. It’s a great opportunity to meet and network with your fellow NAMA chapter members over drinks and appetizers. We have great news to share with you, including the fact that the chapter has added a record ten new members this year alone! New members are especially encouraged to attend.

Later in the evening, there will be an optional trip to present the 2nd annual NAMA Scholarship Award. The NAMA award recognizes young, high-achieving and aspiring ag professionals in the Northeast. This year NAMA is presenting a $1,000 award to a student from the FFA program at John Bowne High School! Cost for the event is $35 (includes drinks and appetizers). For more information visit, http://www.nama.org/chapters/eas6-3-08.htm.

Early RSVP rate is $25 if you register by Friday, May 23. Please RSVP to cwang@gibbs-soell.com.

June 5
MoKan NAMA Golf Classic
The MoKan NAMA Golf Classic is scheduled for Thursday, June 5. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. at Falcon Lakes Golf Course in Basehor, KS. Registration for the golf outing is $85 per person or if you don’t want to golf, join MoKan NAMA for dinner and an awards ceremony after the golf outing for just $10! For more information visit, http://www.nama.org/chapters/mokgolf.htm.

To register online for the MoKan Golf Outing visit, http://payment.nama.org/mokan.html.

June 12
Links Before Lunch with Iowa NAMA
The Iowa NAMA Golf Outing will take place June 12 at Copper Creek Golf Club in Pleasant Hill, IA. Registration for the golf outing begins at 7:00 a.m. Cost for the event is $70 per person. For more information visit, http://www.nama.org/chapters/ioagolf.htm.

To register online for the Iowa NAMA Golf Outing visit, http://payment.nama.org/iowa.htm.

June 19
Swing Into Summer with the North Central NAMA
The North Central Golf Outing will take place Thursday, June 19 at Crystal Lake Golf Club in Lakeville, MN. Registration is $100 per player or you can join North Central after the outing for dinner only for just $30. For more information visit, http://www.nama.org/chapters/nocgolf.htm.

For more information or to register a team, contact: Troy Schroeder, Broadhead + Co., at tschroeder@broadheadco.com or at 612.617.7930.

Mark your calendars to attend the 5th Annual NAMA Boot Camp, August 12-14, in Kansas City!

This year’s Boot Camp will kick-off on Tuesday, August 12, at 7:30 a.m. with an optional day-long farm tour. Following the tour, registration for the Boot Camp will open along with a chance to network at the welcome reception. After the reception, enjoy dinner followed by a session on Speed Networking.

Wednesday, August 13, begins with breakfast and a general session with a Producer Panel. After the general session, line up for one of two breakout sessions. These breakouts will focus on Serving Niche Markets and New Media. Join us for Economics In Agriculture at a luncheon session after the breakouts. The afternoon will begin with breakouts on A Year in the Life and Little Red Writing Hood and The Big Scary Communications Plan, followed by the final session of the day on International Marketing. Following the last session, join us for more networking at the evening reception.

Thursday, August 14, will kick-off with breakfast followed by a general session on Creative in Agriculture, followed by the Boot Camp Closing Session with a Client/Agency Panel discussion.

To register for the 2008 NAMA Boot Camp visit, http://payment.nama.org/bootcamp08.htm.

If you are interested in sponsoring a session or event at the NAMA Boot Camp, please fill out the sponsorship confirmation form at www.nama.org/programs/bootcamp-spo.htm or contact Jenny Pickett at 913-491-6500 or via e-mail at jennyp@nama.org.

For the latest information on the NAMA Boot Camp visit, http://www.nama.org/programs/bootcamp.htm.

Make the most of your membership by taking a committee role at the chapter level or national level. Gain hands-on leadership experience that will benefit you in your professional and personal life.

Chapter and national leaders are currently recruiting committee members. If you are interested in becoming a member of a chapter or national committee fill out the online form at http://www.nama.org/leader/leaderform.htm or contact your chapter president. A list of chapter president’s can be found at http://www.nama.org/chapters/chapterlist.htm.

Note: Chapter Presidents, if you have your leaders already selected for the upcoming 2008-2009 program year, please submit them to Linda Schaefer at the NAMA office at lindas@nama.org.

Calendar Reminder: Chapter leaders, regional leader workshops are currently being planned. Stay tuned for the dates of the Regional Leader Workshops.

It’s time to begin thinking about who to nominate for the 2008 Professional Development Awards of Excellence. The deadline for submitting nominations is September 1, 2008. These awards will be presented at the 2008 Agribusiness Forum, November 11-12, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City.

These awards honor NAMA members based on outstanding achievement in each of the Professional Development Areas (PDA): (1) Marketing Communications; (2) Product/Species Management; (3) Public Relations; and (4) Sales. Nominees must be NAMA members. Nominators should target individuals with direct planning and execution responsibilities in the respective Professional Development Area from agribusiness and related companies.

The deadline for submitting nominations is September 1. If you have any questions regarding these awards, please contact Jenny Pickett at jennyp@nama.org.

To download the nomination form in an Adobe .PDF format, visit http://www.nama.org/awards/PDAapplication.pdf.

You can also fill out the form on-line at http://www.nama.org/awards/pdaonlineform.htm.

ABEF GOLF OUTING
The ABEF hosted its annual Golf Outing during the 2008 Agri-Marketing Conference to help raise money for the Student NAMA Careers Program.

The ABEF Golf Outing took place on Tuesday, April 15 at Falcon Lakes Golf Course in Basehor, KS. This year’s golf outing was the most successful golf outing yet!

Golfers were blown away by a beautiful (and windy) day of golf, but also raised nearly $5,000 for the ABEF. Several contests were held during the golf outing, the results of those are as follows:

Longest Drive: Mick Sibbel, Ayres Kahler
Straightest Drive: Dennis Bryant, D.F. Bryant & Company
Closest to the Pin: Jason Weil, Kansas Agriculture Network
Longest Putt-Female: Heidi Nelson, Harvest PR & Marketing
Longest Putt-Male: Jeff Jackson, Farm Progress Companies

Taking third place in the golf outing was Jeff Jackson and Sandy Creighton, Farm Progress Companies; along with Doug Newman, VML; and Chet Slump, iNet Solutions Group. Second place went to Lyle Orwig and Mike Opperman, Charleston/Orwig; along with Gary Vorpahl, Hoard’s Dairyman; and Bill Pool, Farm Market iD. First place winners were Jessica Lamker and David Lundquist, CHS - Land O’Lakes; along with Roger Reierson, AdFarm; and Bob Brunker, J.L. Farmakis.

Special thanks also to the sponsors of the ABEF Golf Outing: Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Blasdel Cleaver Schwalbe Communications, Ayres Kahler, Charleston/Orwig, Iowa Farmer Today, John Deere, LEE Agri-MEDIA, J.L. Farmakis, Bock & Associates, Two Rivers Marketing, High Plains/Midwest Ag Journal and DTN/The Progressive Farmer. We look forward to another successful Golf Outing next year in Atlanta!

ABEF CENTURY CLUB
The ABEF Century Club, which was launched at the 2004 Agri-Marketing Conference in Kansas City, raised $3,800 at the 2008 Agri-Marketing Conference. Investing in the club provides the opportunity to step forward and help advance the future of agribusiness. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders and the Century Club support is totally dedicated for investing in scholarships for tomorrow’s leaders.

The Century Club’s goal is to have today’s agribusiness leaders contribute $100 for today’s youth. You can be a part of this select group of individuals committed to enhancing the opportunity for tomorrow’s leaders. The list below contains professionals who joined the Century Club by the end of the 2008 conference. Don’t be left out, sign yourself up now! Visit http://www.payment.nama.org/centuryclub.htm.

Carol Anderson
Allen Barkve
Kyle Bauer
Vernon Benes
Stanley Bird
Mark Bjorgo
Dennis Bryant
Beth Burgy
Leigh Ann Cleaver
Kathy Cornett
Jean DeLong Custer
Jim Emanuel
Jan Ford
Mike Gustafson
H&P Company, Inc.
Vicki Henrickson
Larry Hertz
Bill Howard
Phil Johnson
Bret Kealy
Dave Knau
Stan Koenigsfeld
Joe McWilliams
Steve Mercer
Lyle Orwig
Darrah Parker
Russ Parker
Roger Reierson
Steve Rhea
John Riley
Duane Ross
Tom Smull
Tom Taylor
Rick Tolman
Don Tourte
John Volk
Gary Vorpahl
Marjory Walker
Richard Wright
Chuck Zimmerman

ABEF AUCTIONS
The ABEF Silent Auction and Online Media Auction raised over $27,000 for the Student Careers Program. Items in the auctions ranged from wine to media packages to iPods.

ABEF STUDENT RAFFLE
Attendees had a chance to win a Dell 50″ High Def Plasma TV courtesy of Penton Media at the 2008 Agri-Marketing Conference. NAMA Student chapters sold tickets in advance as well as at the conference for a chance to win the TV. The winning raffle ticket was sold by Kenny Druckenmiller, Penn State, who sold the ticket to his grandmother, Mary Druckenmiller. Congratulations on the new TV!

Over $7,300 was raised from the Student Raffle and schools received $5.00 for each ticket sold, meaning $3,680 of that money will be returned to the student chapters to help cover expenses to next year’s conference. The school that sold the most raffle tickets received $100 and the second place school received $50. In addition, the student who sold the most tickets received an additional cash prize of $100. This year’s top selling school was the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and second place honors go to Virginia Tech. The student selling the most raffle tickets was Jessica Jarrell, University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

Nearly 40 Badger NAMA and UW-Platteville student NAMA members converged on Johnson Creek for Badger NAMA’s “Cultivating Your Market: What’s Working in New Marketing Technology” seminar on March 19th.

Speaker Dana VanDen Heuvel of Internet marketing firm VanDen Heuvel Executives gave attendees an exciting, fast-paced look at emerging marketing technology, including viral video, podcasting, micro blogging and more. Q&A throughout the presentation gave attendees a chance to get answers to their most pressing questions about new technologies and how best to incorporate them into current marketing plans.

Information from the seminar is now available to download at http://www.danavan.net/nama. What you’ll find:

• Marketech 08: Using Emerging Media in Marketing eBook
• Audio segments of Dana VanDen Heuvel’s presentation
• Slides from Dana’s New Marketing Technology presentation

Take a look at some of the things you might have missed at the 2008 Agri-Marketing Conference. View the conference photo gallery at http://nama.org/amc/gallery/index.htm. Special thanks to Denny Eilers, Iowa Photo Farm, for the photo’s!

We would like to thank all of our conference sponsors that helped to make this conference a success. We couldn’t have done it without you! For a complete listing of this year’s sponsors visit, http://www.nama.org/amc/sponsor/sponsors.htm.

In addition, special thanks to all of the Exhibitors who participated in this year’s Connection Point. For a tour of the trade show visit the Virtual Trade Show at http://nama.org/amc/ts/virtual.htm.

If you’re interested in signing up for a sponsorship for the 2009 Agri-Marketing Conference in Atlanta, e-mail Jenny Pickett at the NAMA office at jennyp@nama.org to convey your interest.

If you missed taking the Millennium Research survey at the conference, we still want your opinion to help with future programming. Take the survey at http://www.survey.millenniumresearchinc.com/NAMA_onsite_2008.htm.

If you still need to complete the Agri-Marketing Conference survey, you can do so at http://www.nama.org/amc/survey.htm.

In addition, presentations from most of the conference sessions have been posted on the web site, visit http://payment.nama.org/08amc.html to download the presentations.