As if you can’t tell already, I had a blast during the NAMA conference last week in Kansas City. I especially had fun spending time with the 31 student teams that competed in this year’s Student Marketing Competition. I did, however, have a special place in my heart for my Alma mater, Iowa State University. I had an opportunity to spend some time with them during the week and they are a fantastic group of students. I look forward to working with them, as well as all the students at the conference, in the near future.

Congrats to all the winners whom you can see in our 2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

NAMA knows how to draw out the suspense and before announcing the winner Chapter – New Mexico State University- of the 2010 Student Marketing Competition, several other awards were given. Rod Delahy, with the Marketing Den, was awarded the Outstanding Professional award and he was nominated by the University of Saskatchewan. The Outstanding Professional Chapter was awarded to the Iowa Chapter who was nominated by Iowa State University.

Then came the Student Choice Awards because the professional judges don’t get to have all the fun, right? Speaking of fun, Illinois State was given some props since they were written-in as the “Best Partiers.” The other winners were:

Favorite Team – New Mexico State University
Best Dressed Team – Sam Houston State University
Best Dressed Advisor – Dustin Bass with ABAC
Team You’d Most Like to Be Friends With on Facebook – The University of Guelth

And the final award for the night was “The Hard Ass Award,” given to the judge the students thought was the most difficult and the winner was…Michael Gustafson from John Deere who was able to take home a shiny new toilet seat!

Once again, congrats to all the winners and thanks to all the students who participate in NAMA and competed in the competition. We look forward to seeing you next year.

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

And the awards keep on a coming….at least during the 2010 NAMA Student Marketing Competition. During the Awards Ceremony, five student chapters were given awards by John Deere as part of the John Deere Signature Awards that were started by Michael Gustafson, who also won the “Hard Ass” award for his role as a judge in the competition.

The awards are given to the student chapters based on a scale that includes student participation in NAMA.

This year the winners are….

1st Place – Iowa State University -$3,000
2nd Place – University of Florida – $2,000
3rd Place – New Mexico State University – $1,000
4th Place – Illinois State University – $500
5th Place – University of Wisconsin Madison – $500

Congratulations to the winning chapters!

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

“I feel like I’ve made 300 of the best friends I’ve ever had,” said Paul Mobley, author of the new photographic book, “American Farmer” when describing how photographing farmers around America has changed his life. Paul never set out to put together a collection of photos taken of farmers around the world – he happened upon the opportunity when he went up to his cabin to get away from his career as a portrait photographer.

As the story goes…he walks into a cafe one morning for breakfast and sees four farmers gathered around a table having breakfast. One of the men hadn’t shaved for a week and suddenly, he felt compelled to take their photo. Three plus years and 37 states later, the result is a stunning collection of photography and stories that tell the story of the American Farmer.

I had the opportunity to speak with Paul after the closing luncheon during the 2010 NAMA conference. I asked him how this book has changed his life. “I feel like its changed me on so many levels….I walk the earth with so much kindness grace and humility and I got it all from you guys,” he said.

However, what he has enjoyed the most are the people outside of agriculture who have come to embrace the industry since reading his book.

I asked Paul about any future projects and he said that he has been approached by several people who would like to turn “American Farmer” into a documentary and he is also exploring the opportunity for a traveling exhibition. You can order a signed copy of his book at www.paulmobleystudio.com and you can listen to Paul’s interview here: download (mp3 file)

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album.

You didn’t have to be the 2010 Student Marketing Competition Winner to take home an award. This year, six Chapter Performance Awards were given to five teams:

Chapter Performance Awards
Abraham Baldwin Ag. College – Chapter Management
Iowa State University – Chapter Programs
Abraham Baldwin Ag. College – Membership Recruit.
Pennsylvania State Univ. – Fundraising/Fin. Mngt.
Iowa State University – Chapter Communications
Delaware Valley College – Career Development and
Illinois State University – Career Development

In addition, four awards were given to the Overall Outstanding Student Chapter. What is really cool is that the winner, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is only in its second year as a chapter! This should inspire all the chapters.

First Place
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College

Second Place
Iowa State University

Third Place
Illinois State University

Fourth Place
New Mexico State University

And last but certainty not least is the award for Outstanding Advisor who was award to Stacey Noe, with Iowa State University.

Congratulations to all the winning chapters and to Stacey Noe!

Congrats to all the winners whom you can see in our 2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

Each year, as part of the NAMA Student Marketing Competition and student activities, one student is awarded the Successful Farming/Fergie Ferguson $4,000 Scholarship. This was the largest award of all the 15 student scholarship awards given. This year, the honors went to Amanda Sollman from Michigan State University.

Amanda is a senior majoring in Agri-Science and Communications and upon graduation, she plans to pursue teaching agri-science communications. She said during her thank you speech that NAMA has been the greatest club experience she has had while attending Michigan State.

Congrats Amanda and good luck with all your endeavors!

Congrats to all the scholarship winners whom you can see in our 2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

Hallmark Cards has the whole branding thing down to a science. To share some insight into their history and issues they face today John Courtney, Consumer Understanding & Insight Manager, Hallmark Cards, Inc. spoke at the National Agri-Marketing Conference. John is pictured left of Matt Coniglio, Fastline, who introduced him.

John says Hallmark is celebrating 100 years of the brand. Some milestones include the move to the name Hallmark in the late 1920′s, the Crown Logo was created about 70 years ago and the tagline, “When you care enough to send the very best” was created about 60 years ago. John says that he started with the company when they were getting started with digital and they have created a number of ways for consumers to utilize their products that most recently includes Hallmark Mobile Cards. They also have an interactive social calendar application on their Facebook page too.

You can listen to my interview with John here (mp3).

2010 National Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album