Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the family of  Glenn R. Mayo, who passed away on March 14, 2013.  Glenn was an active member of  NAMA from 1967-87, including serving in several regional and national positions.  He founded Fletcher/Mayo/Associates and helped build the business into the largest agricultural marketing agency in the country during the 1970s and 1980s – with branch offices in Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and Kansas City.   F/M/A played an integral role in bringing the Agriculture Hall of Fame to Bonner Springs, KS.

The North Central NAMA Chapter celebrated National Ag Day on Tuesday, March 19, with an event focused on food and agriculture. The event hosted more than 35 guests at Heartland Restaurant, St. Paul. Executive Chef Lenny Russo welcomed the group and shared the unique story behind the restaurant and farm direct market. Everything in the market is sourced from local and regional farmers, including the bar beverages.

A majority of the event was focused on round-table discussions about where consumers seek information about food, those who produce it and how it is produced. The round table discussion leaders included:

• Emily Zweber (@agchatfound), executive director, AgChat Foundation
• Paul Hugunin (@MNagriculture), domestic marketing team supervisor, Minnesota Grown
• Emily Mohn-Nalevanko (@MNfarmmomma) and Shawn Augustine (@whoeatslikethis), working moms active on social media
• Jane Shey (@CityMinneapolis), coordinator, Homegrown Minneapolis

Comments heard during and following the event included:

• “The money you spend on food is not a cost – it’s an investment.”
• “Our (restaurant) believes in sustainability because we believe in sustaining the people on that land.”
• “Today we’re not competing with grocery stores, we’re competing with movie theaters.”
• “After hearing everything tonight, I want to visit a farm and really see where my food comes from.”

The North Central NAMA Chapter thanks Heartland Restaurant, the discussion leaders and those in attendance for the opportunity to have such a lively and relative discussion on food and its origins.

You’re invited to attend the most important Ag Day program in our history…

March 18, 2013

3:30–5:00 p.m.

Farm to Fork Politics:
An insider’s look at the year ahead for food and agriculture

Join us for a panel discussion moderated by Sara Wyant of Agri-Pulse and featuring J.B. Penn, Chief Economist, John Deere; Dr. Keith Collins, former Chief Economist, USDA; and B. Hudson Riehle, Senior Vice President of the Research and Information Services Division, National Restaurant Association.

Hart Senate Office Building Room 902

Agri-Pulse reception following in Hart Senate Office Building Room 902 Free of charge

9:30–11:00 a.m.

USFRA Capitol Hill Briefing on the New Language of Food and Modern Agriculture

A special event featuring a new perspective on food culture today led by farmers and ranchers.

The Sewall-Belmont House & Museum Free of charge

Mix-and-Mingle Luncheon

A luncheon emceed by legendary agricultural broadcaster Orion Samuelson and featuring Congressman Frank Lucas, the Outstanding Young Farmer.

Cannon Caucus Room Free of charge

Celebration of Ag Dinner

This event will feature Tom Vilsack, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and Teresa Scanlan, Miss America 2011. Join us as we honor the winners of the Ag Day essay, video essay and poster contests.

USDA Whitten Patio

Tickets: $150 per person, or $1,500 for a reserved table of  10

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Sponsorships still available! Contact Jenny Pickett at jennyp@nama.org or visit the Ag Day website at www.agday.org.

Register for events at www.agday.org!

Steve Vandeberg, director, endectocide marketing, Merial Limited has been named the 2013 NAMA Marketer of the Year. The NAMA Marketer award will be presented during the Second General Session of the 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference, “Forging New Frontiers” on Thursday, April 18 at 11:00 a.m. in Kansas City, Missouri and is sponsored by Agri Marketing magazine.

Steve’s work in parasiticides pioneered a golden era for the cattle industry. He developed the launch campaign for IVOMEC^® (ivermectin) – the iconic industry brand; thus creating the cattle endectocide category and one of the first 100 million dollar dose form cattle products in the United States. Steve has worked to maintain the IVOMEC Brand sales and margin in the face of branded competition and one of the most aggressive generic onslaughts seen in the industry. Steve continues to play key roles in groundbreaking work that grows awareness and sales – leading key product introduction efforts and authoring training materials.

Steve’s depth of experience grants him the knowledge he needs to guide innovative work. But, Steve doesn’t rest on past successes. He’s always staying one step ahead in the field, quick to share the latest findings with any and all. Steve is driven to make sure that veterinarians, beef and dairy producers and the media understand best practices and treatments for strategic parasite control. He is a tireless sponsor of industry conferences, and events and shares his 30+ years of knowledge in the cattle endectocide business.

Steve has been integral in creating tools and platforms to enhance producer knowledge. He developed and launched a new Merial dairy campaign and new EPRINEX^® (eprinomectin) beef campaign relying on heavy digital advertising, digital producer contact and print. In November 2012, Steve led the charge to launch LONGRANGE^TM (eprinomectin). LONGRANGE is an innovative product for parasite control in cattle and the first in its category of extended-release dewormers. Steve leveraged his tenured experience within the cattle industry to create a dynamic and innovative marketing plan that focused not only on bringing LONGRANGE to market and raising awareness at launch, but first on educating producers on common misconceptions about deworming and reasons why current practices are not effective.

Steve has been a NAMA supporter for many years, participating in conferences and judging Best of NAMA.  Steve is also an active member of the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

Thad Simons, president and CEO, Novus, has been awarded the 2013 Agribusiness Leader of the Year.  This award, which is NAMA’s highest honor, will be presented at the Opening General Session of the 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference, “Forging New Frontiers,” April 18, 2013, in Kansas City, Missouri. The award honors outstanding leaders in agribusiness, education, government service or other agribusiness related areas who exemplify excellence in agribusiness by their significant contributions to the industry.

As President and CEO since 2001, Thad continues Novus on a path to achieving the vision of “helping to feed the world affordable, wholesome food.” Novus started out as a small B2B company with two products for the poultry industry, but Thad saw the potential to transform the organization’s global reach and impact. He established the organizational framework to develop solutions specific to new markets based on Novus’s established core technologies. His strategy was successful, and today the Novus product portfolio contains over 100 products that provide a holistic approach to health and nutrition for poultry, cattle, pigs, equine, companion animals, farm-raised fish, seafood and people. Novus has employees working in over 100 countries, serving more than 3,000 customers worldwide.

Under Thad’s leadership, Novus has created a unique business model which marries excellence with innovation, sustainability and sharing best practices. The company maintains a culture of collaboration both internally and through interaction with a global network of agricultural students, academia and customers to identify solutions to move the agriculture industry forward.

Thad shares his vision for feeding the world through an ongoing campaign of industry event participation and sponsorships worldwide.  His message is reaching an ever-larger audience of agribusiness leaders.

Thad is currently President-Elect for the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA), and is committed to advancing the IFAMA mission – to improve the strategic focus, transparency, sustainability, and responsiveness of the global food and agribusiness system.

Thad serves on the Board of Directors for Novus International, Inc., the Nine Network of Public Media, Grand Center, Inc., United Way of Greater St. Louis, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, St. Louis Zoo, Corporate Council on Africa, St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association, and ESM Technologies. He is a member of the Missouri and Georgia Bars.

Thad’s additional awards and recognitions include: International Businessperson of the Year, World Trade Center of St. Louis, 2001; International Visionary Award, Boeing Institute of International Business, 2007; Heroes of the Planet Award, St. Louis Business Journal, 2009; Entrepreneur of the Year, Central Midwest-Bioscience, Ernst & Young, 2010; Entrepreneur of the Year, National Distribution and Manufacturing, Ernst & Young, 2010.

The early registration deadline is March 22, 2013.  Register today to take advantage of our early registration discount.

Download registration form and mail, fax or phone it in to the NAMA office. Register on-line at https://www4983.ssldomain.com/nama/ConferenceRegistration/Default.aspx?confid=51

Please note: No “Bill Me’s” will be allowed after March 30, 2013.  All “Bill Me’s” will need to be secured with a credit card.

Hotel Cut-off March 22, 2013
The Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center is the hotel for the 2013 Agri-Marketing Conference.  Reservations made after this date are subject to higher rates and potential unavailability. Make sure you mention “NAMA” when making reservations. Hurry and make your reservation today before the block fills up!  To Register online

Professional Block – https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/NAMarketing2013

Student Block - https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/Book/NamaStudent2013

Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center
2345 McGee Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
Phone: (816) 841-1000
Reservations: 1-800-325-3535

OPENING GENERAL SESSION
Digilogue-Where High Tech Meets High Touch
Anders Sorman-Nilsson
Thursday, April 18 ~ 9:00-10:30 am

The current rapid pace of change in every industry means we need to be constantly upgrading our personal, organizational and leadership software.

The only way to make these upgrades is to understand how oncoming trends are likely to affect your organization, so you can act swiftly when the next tidal wave of information hits. How would your company be different if your staff were inspired about change, rather than paralyzed by it? Anders Sorman-Nilsson is here to help.

A reformed lawyer, and the founder and creative director of the Sydney and Stockholm based research company – Thinque, Sorman-Nilsson helps teams and leaders navigate a constantly changing business landscape.  His unique global perspectives have been assisting business owners in the USA, Europe, Asia and Australia make sense of and harness disruptive trends in innovations, generations and communications. His misfit insights have recently been manifested in his book Thinque Funky: Upgrade Your Thinking and endorsed by AFR Boss Magazine, Wired (UK), and Monocle.  His clients include Apple, MTV, Johnson & Johnson, and Eli Lilly.

Sponsored by ABM Agri Council

SECOND GENERAL SESSION
Unleashing Creativity
Josh Linkner
Thursday, April 18 ~ 11:00 am-12:30 pm

In a world economy that can flip in a nanosecond, thinking that the future will follow the past is the fast road to obsolescence. What’s the antidote? Igniting your company’s creativity.

Josh jolts organizations and people worldwide, helping them recharge their creativity to reawaken companies and careers. A New York Times bestselling author, successful four-time entrepreneur, venture capitalist and well-respected jazz musician, Josh bridges the gap between the arts and business to help audiences maximize their creative potential.

He’ll share methods from his proprietary system, Disciplined Dreaming, to unleash the creativity in settings from weekly staff meetings to new product breakthroughs.

Sponsored by Syngenta

CLOSING GENERAL SESSION
Humor for the Heart of Agriculture
Damian Mason
Friday, April 19 ~ 10:30 am-12:00 Noon

With an unabashed passion for the agriculture industry, Damian Mason will send you on your way with a smile on your face. Mason is a professional comedian, author and entertainer with a degree in Agricultural Economics and improvisation experience gained at the prestigious Second City Training Center in Chicago — the training ground of many Saturday Night Live stars.

Growing up on a dairy farm provided plenty of material, and he has an optimistic message for everyone who earns their living in agriculture.  Mason’s comedy is relevant, funny and uplifting. His stories and witty observations get right to the heart of American agriculture—the people.

Sponsored by Beef Checkoff Program and Elanco Animal Health

Conference Workshops-

Attracting & Retaining Talent Through Employee Engagement
Joe Calhoon, CSP
Wednesday, April 17 ~ 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

The essential role of management is to create and sustain high performance. Unfortunately, most managers under-estimate the impact of their daily behaviors in the increasingly competitive areas of talent acquisition and talent retention.

According to Gallup research, more than 70% of employees are disengaged (they simply put in their time) or they are actively disengaged (destructive in their attitudes and actions). Here’s the good news – research has also identified specific behaviors that consistently engage people’s best efforts.

Joe will show you how to develop your employees into future leaders, build your team and consistently produce results. The measuring tools for success? Customer satisfaction, employee engagement and better bottom line profits.

Over the past 25 years, Joe Calhoon has delivered more than 2,000 client experiences—to more than 400 different clients, providing the tools and guidance needed to improve performance and results. His proven business growth process has allowed clients like Wilson Auctioneers to double revenues in one year and WGK Engineers to improve profits by 800 percent in one year.

In addition to helping start more than 20 new business ventures, he has co-authored two breakthrough books, Prioritize! and On the Same Page.

Sponsored by Morgan&Myers

Senior Management Workshop: Waves of Change-Global Trends That Will Disrupt Your Existence
Anders Sorman-Nilsson
Thursday, April 18, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Waves of change are rolling towards us. Will you surf to success or wipeout in a riptide and end up stranded on the beach?

Unfortunately for business leaders today, change doesn’t care whether you like it or not. Change happens ceaselessly without your permission.

The waves of change threatening every business are:

Digital Disruption – managing the tension between the analogue and digital customer touch points

Media Madness – realizing that every company must think like a media company

Data Driven Dominance – working out how to turn data into competitive knowledge

Those who are unprepared will go belly-up, but those who can recognize opportunity, innovate and welcome change will ride the waves of success. Plus, they’ll enjoy every minute of the journey!

Anders Sorman-Nilsson will share the important questions you need to ask of yourself and your organization. Do your leaders understand which customer touch points can be digitized and which ones should be left alone? Are you mining the data you’re collecting about your customers and turning it into a strategic asset?

You’ll also uncover which new markets you should be targeting. Explore new tactics for engagement and appreciate the value of stepping back to deconstruct your business model to identify new, non-traditional partnerships.

Sponsored by John Deere

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

Fast pasted enough to keep you engaged, yet ample time to dig in, ask questions and learn more about the details you want to explore a little deeper.

Take a look at what’s in store:

The Impact of Global Development on Agriculture-
Find out how the dual realities of growing global middle class and billions of undernourished families will affect the future of American agriculture…

Using Big Data to Build One-on-One Relationships-
It’s possible to use an omni-channel sales approach to create a personalized customer experience.  Examine the new technologies and techniques that can help you get there.

Measuring the Real ROI of Social Media-
Hear examples of how organizations are combining metrics to measure long-term value, conversions and cost deflection to arrive at the true ROI of social media investments.

Sponsored by AgiLife Studios, FMC Corporation, MoKan NAMA, Mosaic Company and National Cotton Council of America

Visit www.nama.org/amc for conference details, schedule and registration.