There’s not much time left to submit your most choice work for consideration for a Best of NAMA award! The Best of NAMA awards program honors the most prime work in agricultural communications. You might say it recognizes la crème de la crème, actually, because companies/agencies must first qualify through regional competition in order to advance to the national level.

Best of NAMA operates on a regional judging format. Entries are sent directly to the national NAMA office and judged by industry professionals at a regional level for possible advancement to national competition. A minimum point standard will be used at the regional level. If you place first or merit at the regional competition and score above the minimum point standard, you are eligible to advance to the national competition.

Your local chapter receives $25 per regional entry. So, enter your work in Best of NAMA and nourish your local chapter at the same time.

If you’re a NAMA member you’re eligible to serve up your company’s sauciest communications materials, prepared for first use in 2008.
To view the Best of NAMA Call for Entries visit http://www.nama.org/amc/bon/index.htm.

Would you like to see the industry’s best work? If so, take part in the Regional Best of NAMA Judging, November 10-11, 2008. If you have 3 or more years of experience in the agribusiness industry and are a NAMA member, you’re eligible to be a judge.

The judging will be held at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City. This will be convenient for those of you attending the 2008 Trends In Agriculture at the Hyatt and/or the NAFB Convention at the Westin.

Judging Schedule
Monday, November 10 from 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, November 11 from 8:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Travel arrangements are to be paid for by the judge, but NAMA will cover one night’s hotel stay. The deadline for signing up to judge is Friday, October 10. If you are selected as a Best of NAMA judge, you will be notified by October 15.

To sign up to be a regional Best of NAMA judge visit, http://www.nama.org/amc/judging.htm.

Do you want a free registration to the 2009 Agri-Marketing Conference, April 15-17, in Atlanta, Georgia? Simply register for Trends In Agriculture, November 11-12, by the early cut-off date (October 27) and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a complimentary registration to the conference in April.

Join us in November as we explore the burgeoning rural lifestyle market and the decision makers who define it. Sessions will cover some of the new research on this target audience, digging into their purchase drivers and motivations, and a panel will discuss their successes and pitfalls in marketing to rural lifestylers. There will also be speakers outside of agriculture who have faced similar challenges in shifting some of their focus to capturing a new audience in a changing marketplace.

To register for Trends In Agriculture visit http://payment.nama.org/trends.htm.

NAMA’s second webinar, The Confluence of Social Networking and Mobile Marketing: The Value Proposition for Agribusiness, will take place 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.

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.

NAMA chapters have been busy planning for the 2008-2009 program year. Take a look at the many upcoming chapter meetings and events. We hope you’ll be able to attend!

Iowa NAMA ~ September 30
Creating & Extending a Brand Relationship Through Event Marketing
This meeting is being hosted by Channel Bio Corp., parent company of Crow’s Hybrids, Midwest Seed Genetics & NC+ Hybrids. Instead of using advertising & traditional communications tactics, Channel uses BioFuture to reach farmers, prospective employees & influencers. The event shows customers the Channel difference by explaining how new technologies, new markets & world events are reshaping the way corn & soybean products are developed, tested, produced & sold. The Channel marketing & communications team will lead a discussion on the philosophy & tactics behind this event marketing strategy.

The meeting will begin at 4:00 p.m. with a Circle of Science tour & discussion followed by a social and dinner at 5:00 p.m. There is no charge to attend this meeting. To RSVP Contact Klaire O’Rourke at Klaire.orourke@channelbio.com or 515-597-5010 or sign up on our evite page at http://www.evite.com.

Badger NAMA ~ October 2
Reception at the World Dairy Expo
Make plans to join fellow agri-marketers and NAMA members from around the country at the NAMA World Dairy Expo Reception, hosted by Badger NAMA. The reception will take place on Thursday, October 2nd from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Exhibitors’ Lounge at Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI.

Enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres, wine and soda, as well as Kentucky Ale courtesy of Alltech.

Chicago/Heartland Join Chapter Meeting ~ October 14
An afternoon with the ISU-NAMA Students
You are invited for an afternoon with the ISU-NAMA Students on Tuesday, October 14, 2008. The event will begin at 12:00 p.m. with lunch at the ISU Farm (I-55-Lexington Exit 178); followed by an ISU Farm Tour at 12:30 p.m.; a tour of Twin Groves Wind Farm (Largest Wind Farm East of the Mississippi) at 2:00 p.m.; and concludes with an ISU-NAMA business meeting and pizza dinner at 5:00 p.m.

Please RSVP by October 10th to isu.nama@ilstu.edu.

MoKan NAMA ~ October 14
From Pistols to Press Releases: Communication Lessons from the Real World
Join the Mo-Kan NAMA Chapter as they learn a little about the dark side – terrorism, corporate fraud, and organized crime. On Tuesday, October 14, former FBI Special Agent Jeff Lanza chronicles failures of leadership, crisis communications, and digital theft. An FBI spokesperson trained in media relations, Mr. Lanza presents anecdotes from a career fighting crime that will entertain, and a message on integrity that will inspire.

Join us at Starker’s Reserve Restaurant on the Plaza, 201 W. 47th Street (Corner of 47th & Wyandotte), Kansas City, MO 64112. Meal cost is $15 for members, $25 for non-members. Please RSVP to Amy Bugg at abugg@mccormickcompany.com or call 816.584.8444.

Eastern NAMA ~ October 16
Lunch & Learn
Mark your calendars for the NY NAMA Chapter’s first Lunch and Learn, Thursday, October 16th from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Please share a best practice, case study or research from the past year with your fellow NAMA members. We will hope to allow a 5-10 minute presentation from each interested member for their topic, with time for a brief Q&A. Special thanks to Pfizer Animal Health for providing the lunch and meeting space! The event will take place at the Pfizer World Headquarters, 235 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017.

Please RSVP by October 3rd to Sarah at Sarahj.miller@meredith.com or 866-252-4577. Please let me know if you plan to attend and if you have a topic to share so we can prepare an agenda. You don’t have to have a topic to attend. Cost for the meeting is $10.00 which supports NY NAMA chapter’s scholarship fund and future events. A dial-in number will be available for outer-lying members as well; please contact Sarah for the dial-in information.

Ohio NAMA ~ October 16
Cargill Ethanol Plant Tour
Join Ohio NAMA on Thursday, October 16, for a tour of the Cargill Ethanol Plant in Bloomingburg, OH. The event will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a lunch/meeting followed by the tour at 1:00 p.m. More details on the way!

MidSouth NAMA ~ October 23
What is Next For Our Bioeconomy?
It is nearly impossible to turn on the nightly news without hearing a story on the energy crisis. Throw in a major election and a stronger-than-ever green movement, and bio-energy remains at the forefront of discussion on a national and global scale. Pete Nelson, co-founder of BioDimensions, a Memphis-based consulting group that focuses on agriculture, will be discussing their work with the non-profit Memphis Bioworks Foundation. The luncheon will feature a ‘Fall Festival’ buffet featuring turkey and dressing with all the fixins! Lunch is served at 11:30 a.m. Cost for the event is $25.00/person, cash or check at the door or we can invoice you!

Please RSVP to http://survey.archermalmo.com/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=l8K1n59.

Attention chapters: Please send any upcoming meeting notices or post-event articles and photos to Kathi Conrad at the NAMA Office at kathic@nama.org.

Don’t forget to check out the NAMA Job Network and Student NAMA Network if you are interested in finding a new position or internship! We’ve recently added several job postings and many internships.

Please view all student internships on the Student NAMA Network at http://www.namablog.org/?page_id=82.

To view all available job openings visit the NAMA Job Network at http://www.namablog.org/?page_id=81.

Enabling productivity through innovation was the topic of discussion at the August Iowa NAMA chapter social. NAMA members gathered at this year’s 2008 Farm Progress Show Aug., 27 in Boone Iowa for a complimentary ice cream bar. Trimble Autopilot product manager, Levi Kettle, discussed feeding the world through precision agriculture.

Kettle explained how precision agriculture has enabled more productivity through guidance & steering, application & seeding, water management, and information management. Innovations are replacing tasks farmers do today and don’t want to do tomorrow and allowing farmers to do things tomorrow that they can’t do today.

A very special thank you to Trimble and Farm Progress Companies for making this event a success!