The Agri-Business Educational Foundation (ABEF) will be hosting a Sports Night during the Welcome Reception of Trends In Agriculture, Tuesday, November 11, at 5:30 p.m. Proceeds from the Sports Night will benefit the ABEF in support of the NAMA Student Careers Program.

Every Trends attendee is encouraged to participate in the games to have fun, network and support the ABEF at the same time.

Prizes will be given to the sports pros and winners will all be entered into a drawing for a 2009 Agri-Marketing Conference registration.

The only way to win is to come to the 2008 Trends In Agriculture. To register for the entire meeting or just the Sports Night Reception/Best of NAMA Entry Viewing visit http://payment.nama.org/trends.htm.

If you would like to sponsor a foosball, pool table, basketball or darts game during the Sports night, contact Jenny Pickett at 913-491-6500 or via e-mail at jennyp@nama.org.

Get the recognition you deserve by sponsoring a session or event at the 2008 Trends In Agriculture meeting, November 11-12 in Kansas City.

As a sponsor of Trends In Agriculture, your organization will be noted as a front runner in supporting up-to-the-moment industry information. Additional benefits include:

• Recognition in the registration brochure (must have sponsorship commitment by September 5)
• Recognition in the program booklet, and from the podium during the session;
• Recognition by signage at the sponsored event (if applicable);
• Recognition in post-forum articles in the AgriMarketing magazine;
• Recognition on the NAMA Trends In Ag Web site page;
• and, first right of refusal for sponsorship of the same item for the 2009 Trends In Agriculture.

Sponsorships are still available for:

• Welcome Reception – $1,500 (1 available)
• NEW! Wednesday Afternoon Meet & Greet Reception – $1,500 each (2 sponsorships available)
• Professional Development Awards of Excellence Program – $2,000 each (2 available)
• Trends In Agriculture Sessions – $1,500 each (2 available)
• Wednesday Morning Continental Breakfast – $1,500
• Wednesday Luncheon – $1,000 each (1 co-sponsorship available)
• Audio/Visual Equipment – $1,000 (1 available)
• E-News Special “Trends In Agriculture” Edition (3 issues, includes ad) – $750 each (3 sponsorships available)
• Web Page Banner Ad – $650 (1 available)
• Speaker Audio Recording – $500 (1 available)
• General Trends In Agriculture Support – any amount
• Program Booklet Ads – Full Page $1,000; Half Page $500; Quarter Page $250

In addition, sponsorships are also available for the Agri-Business Educational Foundation (ABEF) Sports Night:

• Sports Night Games – $500 each (6 sponsorships available)
• Sports Night Prizes – $500

If you are interested in sponsoring a session or event at this year’s Trends meeting, please fill out the online form at http://www.nama.org/trends/form.htm or contact Jenny Pickett in the NAMA office at (913) 491-6500 or via e-mail at jennyp@nama.org.

And don’t forget! Everyone who registers for Trends In Agriculture 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!

Register now for Trends In Agriculture 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.

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.

Students from the University of Florida took first place at this year’s Student Marketing Competition, sponsored by Monsanto. The competition was held April 16-17 in Kansas City.

The University of Florida team had 11 students involved with this year’s project to market “Masher Meals.” The team spent the last several months doing market research, writing the marketing plan and developing a presentation.

The top six marketing teams this year were: First place, University of Florida; Second place, University of Wisconsin – Madison; Third place, University of Tennessee – Knoxville. Other finalists included: University of Delaware, Iowa State University, and New Mexico State University.

Students decide on a project and develop a plan to successfully bring the product or service to the marketplace. In developing their marketing plan, students follow the same practices and principles used by today’s marketing professionals. Teams submit a written plan summary prior to the competition and then make a formal presentation of their marketing plan to a panel of judges at the competition. The judges’ panel consists of marketing and agribusiness professionals.

Overall, 31 student NAMA chapters participated in the marketing competition. The competition is part of the annual Agri-Marketing Conference. Over 300 student members attended the conference.

For a complete list of all Student Awards and Scholarship Winners visit, www.nama.org and click on the “Students” button on the left.

We already told you about the University of Florida Gator NAMA team winning the student NAMA Marketing Competition, but we’re so proud of them that here’s a little more about it.

The team was so happy to win after three consecutive years of making it to the finals and not winning, especially team captain Alicia Taylor of Myakka City, who is a senior. She was thrilled to be able to finally get that win before she graduates this year and starts law school at UF. Their product was a vegetable-based milk marketed to children with a Disney partnership.

You can listen to Cindy’s somewhat over-modulated but brief interview with Alicia here:
Interview with Alicia Taylor

Watch the kids celebrate here:

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.

One of the primary goals of the NAMA Agri-marketing conferences is to listen to NAMA members and find out what’s working well, as well as determine where there is room for improvement. One of the newest members of the NAMA staff will be doing just that. Debbie Brummell (pictured left) says she has listened to feedback from various NAMA chapters and has identified some of the challenges they seem to be facing. Her goal will be to meet those challenges.

You can listen to my interview with Debbie here:

Interview with Debbie Brummel

Also pictured are Kathi Conrad, Jenny Pickett and Penny Graham.

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.

In the words of NAMA Executive Director Jenny Pickett (pictured right), organizers of this year’s “Leading the Charge” Agri-marketing Conference “knocked it out of the park.” This was Jenny’s first conference as the Executive Director, though she has been a part of NAMA for a long time. Jenny stepped up as executive director last year when the previous director, Eldon White, left.

I interviewed Jenny just as the event was winding down. You can listen to my interview with Jenny here:

Interview with Jenny Pickett

NAMA President Patty Travis (pictured left) says this year’s attendance was the highest attendance the NAMA Agri-marketing Conference has had in almost a decade. She says this year’s conference also picked up 80 first-timers. Patty, with 5MetaCom, says the ag business is strong right now and there is probably no better time than now to be in the industry. She says NAMA is planning to throw new things into the mix for the spring conference and the fall agri-business forum.

I also interviewed Patty just before the close of the event. You can listen to my interview with Patty here:

Interview with Patty Travis

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.