Just a reminder that the nominations for the Professional Development Awards of Excellence is September 1.

Nominate someone you know for the Professional Development Awards of Excellence. These awards will be presented at the 2008 Trends in Agriculture fall meeting, November 11-12, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City.

Nominees will be judged solely on their write-ups. Please do not send any other appendices, video-tapes, or samples. There are no entry fees.

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.

For more information on the awards, visit http://www.nama.org/awards/pdaawards.htm.

Mark your calendars for the next NAMA Webinar, The Confluence of Social Networking and Mobile Marketing: The Value Proposition for Agribusiness, which will be held Thursday, October 9 at 1:00 p.m. Central Time.

Social networking refers to a broad class of web sites and services that allow people to connect in innovative and meaningful ways with friends, family, and business colleagues, as well as collaborate with people who have similar interests.

Over the last few years we’ve observed both the commercial maturation of and business interest in social networking, but marketing has not followed so quickly due to the lack of standards recognized across the many different social networking sites. Marketers are now better understanding how to monetize such sites.

With online ad spending exploding into a $50 billion+ market in 2008, there is plenty of opportunity. Marketers are excited by the prospect of reaching millions of consumers who are spending more time on their online profiles than in front of television and movie screens. They are particularly intrigued by the prospect of customizing ads to people’s specific interests.

Mobile marketing has experienced similar growth in the US over the past few years, and is now providing the means for brands to monetize the mobile channel, to make it engaging and compelling for consumers, while enabling those brands leverage another channel to create and solidify their position with consumers. The release of smart phones like Apple’s iPhone is allowing mobile marketing to gain traction in the US while at the same time providing owners with feature-rich interfaces. The mobile web now allows for highly personalized, location-specific marketing communications, and recent technology improvements have made it easier for marketers to deliver targeted and relevant content.

Social networking has become a global phenomenon, and going mobile with it is the next big thing. We’re now seeing millions of users of LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook and other social networks interacting with their virtual spaces while they’re on the move.

We’ll spend an hour with John Gilbert, Bader Rutter, examining the place where social networking meets mobile marketing, and understand the possibilities for marketers in the agribusiness space.

Register now for the webinar at http://payment.nama.org/webinar.htm. You will receive a confirmation email with the log-in information for the webinar.

Get ready for the Trends In Agriculture fall meeting, November 11-12, in Kansas City. Everyone who registers by the early cut off date (October 27) will be entered in a drawing for a complimentary registration to the 2009 Agri-Marketing Conference in Atlanta, April 15-17, 2009!

Take a look at the outstanding sessions the Trends In Agriculture committee has in store for you:

Testing Your Current Strategy
Franck Schuurmans, Decision Strategies International

Most organizations already have strategies and tactics in place. But is your current strategy ‘future-proof’? In this type of engagement, Schuurmans focuses on different external future scenarios that might unfold and then test how your current strategy would fare under these different scenarios. He then helps you identify which areas of your strategy might require adjustment and monitoring as the future unfolds. Most companies pursue fragile strategies that will not easily survive a shift in how the wind is blowing. Many organizations have optimized their strategy for the present, not the future!

Inadvertently, they have sacrificed long-term prosperity for short-term gain. He will assess how vulnerable your strategy is to external change, competitive forces and shifts in consumer demand.

Rural Lifestylers: Where Are They Now? Where Are They Headed?
Dan Duffy, United Country Real Estate

Dan Duffy will discuss current trends in rural lifestyle marketing. Using case studies, he’ll give concrete examples of what’s working when it comes to resonating with this growing market. Find out why people are living in/moving to the country, who are they, what drives them, what motivates them.

Connecting With The Rural Lifestyler
Susan Spaulding, Market Directions
Courtney Yuskis, Country Living Association

Gain a deeper understanding of customer touchpoints including the impact of new media. Information will be based on an attitudinal survey and Rural Lifestylers’ collection and perception of communications about products, services, and interests related to the Rural Lifestyle.

Utilizing Your Brand to Build Loyal Customers
Craig Elbert, Hallmark Cards

When your markets change from traditional ag customers to a new type of customer, it impacts your marketing decisions. Craig Elbert, Marketing Strategy Manager, Hallmark Cards, will present an approach to building long-term loyalty through three key elements: knowing your history, building from your product’s usage cycle and holistically defining your go-to-market plan.

Learn about the key tools you need, including a consumer care cycle (a model which shows a consumer’s mindset and how it relates to your product/brand) and a brand value star which includes key points such as equity, experience, energy, money, product and communications.

Making the Sale: Marketers and Retailers Share Their Experiences in the Changing New Rural Community
This is a joint meeting with NAFB. Attendees registered for either meeting may attend.

Moderator: Bruce Thomas, Rural Lifestyle Communications Consultant

Panelists:
Jon Chase, John Deere
Preston Shaw, Cabela’s
Tim Nix, Morton Buildings
Brad Mallow, Carthage Farm Supply & Agricenter
Maggie Mell, Thehaughtyhorse.com

The rural lifestyle market has been pegged at a composite value of $32 billion—yet this growing segment overlaps established markets in more than just geography. Established marketers and retailers are positioning to attract and influence the new buyers while still serving their traditional producer customers, with growing inroads by entrepreneurial merchants. This panel will offer a fast-paced “roundtable” discussion of what it is taking to cater to rural lifestyle needs and expectations.

Following this session, stick around and enjoy a meet and greet with other session attendees and the speakers!

Registration for Trends In Agriculture is now open! Register at http://payment.nama.org/trends.htm.

For more information on Trends In Agriculture speakers and sessions visit http://www.nama.org/trends/index.htm.

Attention all members! Iowa NAMA would like to invite you for ice cream and a guest speaker during the Farm Progress Show.

The event will take place Wednesday, August 27 at 2:30 p.m. in the Exhibitor Tent. This is a great opportunity to network with other NAMA members from throughout the U.S.

Take a look at other upcoming meetings and events at http://www.namablog.org/?page_id=16.

You’re invited to join the NAMA Group on LinkedIn. Joining will allow you to find and contact other NAMA members on LinkedIn. The goal of this group is to help members:

• Reach other members of NAMA
• Accelerate careers/business through referrals from NAMA Group members
• Know more than a name – view rich professional profiles from fellow NAMA Group members

It’s a great way to connect with NAMA members. All current NAMA members have been “pre-approved” to be part of this group. You must be a member to be part of the group! Join LinkedIn today, just visit http://www.linkedin.com/.

Over 50 people attended the MoKan Ag Tour which was held prior to the NAMA Boot Camp on Tuesday, August 12.

The first stop on the Ag Tour was Heritage Tractor in Harrisonville, MO, which is one of the largest John Deere dealerships in the region. Heritage Tractor supplies top-of-the-line and high-quality crop production equipment to both traditional farmers/ranchers and the rural lifestyle audiences.

Next on the tour was a stop for lunch at Pendleton Farms. Pendleton Farms is a large scale, diversified specialty crop operation including flower and vegetable sales. Visitors can see all types of production, including greenhouse, hot house and field crops. John and Karen Pendleton grow three varieties of asparagus that are propagated for crowns and are sold each February. The farm also grows corn, wheat and soybeans, and the cattle feedlot has been converted into a parking lot for customers at Pendleton’s Country Market. The list of produce has grown to include all kinds of vegetables and flowers, as well as honey and jams made by neighboring growers.

The last stop on the tour was Landers Dairy. Landers Dairy is a Grade A Goat Dairy that also features a cheese cave for naturally aging the cheese. Attendees learned about the goat milking process and how the cheese is made. In addition, attendees were able to show off their milking skills by milking a goat.

Special thanks to MoKan NAMA for hosting the Ag Tour again this year!

Sessions on creative in ag, new media and global marketing attract new faces …

A blend of tried-and-true favorites and valuable new additions to the program proved to be a recipe for success at the 2008 NAMA Boot Camp. Over 100 agri-marketing professionals took advantage of the chance to hear from a producer panel, network with industry leaders and stay ahead of new trends and media shaping the market.

Marketing veterans new to agri-marketing and graduates just entering the industry both found value in networking with colleagues at Boot Camp and listening in on breakout sessions.

“I’m new to agri-marketing, and I feel a lot smarter about it now than I did a week ago,” shared Byron West, Vice President / Associate Creative Director at Mullen, Winston-Salem, N.C. “It’s amazing what you can learn by rubbing elbows with people who get it.”

This year’s Boot Camp featured sessions on creative in agriculture, new media and the ever popular producer panel. The program is updated every year with about 80 percent new content.

“It makes sense for managers to send their team members to Boot Camp more than once because there’s always something new,” said Jenny Pickett, Executive Vice President/CEO. “Our goal is to ensure there’s something for everyone from account executives to art directors and everyone in between.”

The camp kicked off with the MoKan Ag Tour and an evening opening session on speed networking. A day and a half of breakout sessions, panel discussions and ample opportunities to network with colleagues and associates followed. Participants were impressed with the 2008 line up.

Doug Stouffer of Bernstein-Rein said, “Attending the NAMA Boot Camp was one of the best decisions I’ve made to help move my career forward. I met several new people in the business and learned new things about the advertising and marketing world in the numerous sessions. For example, the communications plan session really helped provide clarity on objectives and strategies. But overall, attending the Boot Camp helped renew my passion for the ag industry again.”

To learn more about other NAMA programs being offered in the future, please visit www.nama.org or call Jenny Pickett at (913) 491-6500.

Stay tuned to the NAMA web site for information on the podcasts of some of the NAMA Boot Camp sessions. Special thanks to Truffle Media Networks for the podcasts.