Andrew J. Markwart, 43, Shawnee, KS, passed away Friday, February 24, 2006. Visitation will be 4-8 p.m., Tuesday, February 28, 2006, at the Amos Family Chapel of Shawnee. Services will be 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 1, 2006, at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 7851 West 119th St., Overland Park, KS. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Capitol Federal Savings, c/o the Markwart Children Education Fund, 5700 Nieman, Shawnee, KS 66203.

Andy was born November 3, 1962, in Yale, MI, son of Robert and Audrey Markwart. He married Thelma Schoonmaker on September 4, 1993. Andy graduated from Capac High School and Michigan State University, with a BA degree in Communications. Andy was an active member of Kaw Prairie Community Church. He was a dedicated family man, who loved spending time with his wife, Thelma, and their two children, Marlaina (7) and Owen (3). He had a passion for music, and played bass guitar, harmonica, and sang in several bands through his life. During college, he was with the PinHeads; later he played with QuasiMojo, and he shared his musical gifts with his church in the praise band.

He worked for the National FFA Organization, Prairie Farmer, CyberCrop, and Deere and Co. Andy was a gifted writer and photographer, and brought great insight and leadership skills to key positions throughout his career, including his most recent position as editor of The Furrow, a John Deere equipment magazine and the Homestead magazine as well. Andy was respected and well liked on both personal and professional levels. He had a kind heart and generous spirit and he shared them both over and over with all he came in contact with. He is survived by his wife, children, parents; brothers, Terry (Corrine), Luther (Terri), sisters, Julie (Lee) Magneson, Melanie (Jon) Arnold, Heidi (David) Devereux, and nieces and nephews. Condolences may be expressed at www.amosfamily.com. (Arr. Amos Family Chapel of Shawnee 913-631-5566.)

It’s official! NAMA is launching the Ag ADS Program (Agriculture Advertising Data Source). The program’s goal is to provide NAMA members a means to obtain advertising placement data through an unbiased source. This source will allow client companies and their agencies to have better market intelligence and a rough estimate of media placement levels without compromising confidentiality.

The first phase of the program is focusing on crop protection products from 2005. If this program is successful it may be rolled out to other areas of media placement. The exchange of information will be mutually beneficial to each company participating and no rate information will be supplied.

What will the participants receive:

– Compiled Electronic File of all data sorted by product, crop and publication.
Summary reports including:
– Percent of Weight by Media Type for Crop Protection as a whole
– Percent of Weight by Media Type for individual product type
– Percent of Weight by Media Type by Crop
– Percent of Weight by Media Type by month for Crop Protection
– Percent of Weight by Media Type by month for individual product type
– Percent of Weight by Media Type by month for crop

At this time the program is open to any crop protection products seller. Data contributors pay a fee to access the compiled data plus summary analysis. The fee is intended to defray the cost of compiling data and generating reports. Note: Under no circumstances will compiled data be distributed beyond the contributing members.

For more information e-mail Jenny Pickett at jennyp@nama.org.

The Immutable Laws of Branding in the 21st Century
April 20 ~ 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.

There’s a myth that marketing is nothing but common sense. Nothing could be further from the truth. This power-packed session will explore the most important issues facing marketing managers today: brand names, positions, line extensions, second brands and divergence.

Common sense can easily lead you astray. Case in point: customer focus. Since virtually all companies are “customer focused,” Ries will show how this concept can lead a company in exactly the wrong direction. To be successful today, learn why you need to be “competitor focused.”

Laura Ries is president of Ries & Ries, an Atlanta-based marketing strategy firm. Together with her partner (and father) Al Ries, Laura has consulted with many Fortune 500 companies. She is co-author of four books: The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding; The 11 Immutable Laws of Internet Branding; The Fall of Advertising & the Rise of PR; and The Origin of Brands.

NOTE: The seating limit for the Senior Management Workshop has been reached and registration for the Workshop is closed. If you would like to be placed on a waiting list for the Workshop, please call Linda Schaefer at 913-491-6500. We will notify you if space becomes available. Remember, you must be registered for the conference; however, no additional fee is required for this special workshop.

Special thanks to Successful Farming for sponsoring this session.

Find a home for that special edition wildlife print or even those sports tickets and surplus company logo jackets. Or give a media package or services, and support the Agri-Business Educational Foundation (ABEF) at the same time.

Donations are needed for the 2006 Silent Auction, held during the Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show, April 19-21 in Kansas City.

Please join your agri-marketing peers in supporting this worthwhile effort by donating to the auction. Fill out the on-line Pledge Form at http://www.nama.org/abef/silentauction/pledgeform.htm to indicate your donation and/or interest in the project by March 24, 2006 to be included in the auction catalog. Any worthwhile product or service will be gratefully accepted.

Please show your support of the ABEF and donate what you can (minimum of $50 value suggested). All proceeds from the Silent Auction support the NAMA Student Careers Program.

Please note that all media and service packages will be auctioned on-line. The on-line auction will take place at the end of March.

For more information on the ABEF and the Silent and On-Line Auctions visit, http://www.nama.org/abef/abef-index.html.

To make a pledge to the Auction visit, http://www.nama.org/abef/silentauction/pledgeform.htm.

For more information about the 2006 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show visit, http://www.nama.org/amc.

This year, the Agriculture Council of America will again host the National Agriculture Day Luncheon on Thursday, March 16 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the ballroom of the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Our keynote speaker for the luncheon will be Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry. MCs for the event will be Orion Samuelson, WGN Radio/RFD-TV and former Secretary of Agriculture, John Block. The luncheon is hosted by Ag Day Partners ADM and John Deere and many other Ag Day supporters.

In addition to the keynote speaker, the winner of the National Ag Day Essay Contest will read the winning essay and will be presented with a $1,000 cash award. Special thanks to the sponsors of the Ag Day Essay Contest: DuPont, Case IH, The Council for Agricultural Science & Technology, High Plains Journal, National Association of Farm Broadcasting, McCormick Company and the National Agri-Marketing Association.

If you are unable to join us in Washington, DC on March 16 you can still take advantage of listening to the program from the comfort of your office or home in a special webinar hosted by NAMA. This is a great opportunity for chapters to host an “Ag Day” chapter meeting. For more information in participating in the webinar, contact Eldon White at 913-491-6500 or via e-mail at eldonw@nama.org.

A unique and valuable component of NAMA is the Student NAMA organization. Many of our professional members got their first taste of our industry through their involvement in Student NAMA. You may have even personally benefited from your participation in the New Products Marketing Competition or your college NAMA chapter.

The success of Student NAMA relies on the generous support from volunteer professionals. There are a number of ways you can help support this worthy cause both at the local and national level.

Below is a list of ways you can volunteer at the national level:

Agri-Marketing Conference Mentoring
Offer your professional insight to students at the NAMA Conference luncheon. Volunteer professionals commit to lunching with students interested in learning more about their profession. This informal interaction is a great chance to exchange ideas with the future of agri-marketing. Time commitment – 1-2 hours (lunch on April 20)

Student Marketing Competition support
Monitor rooms, keep time, and assist general operations at competition. Volunteers commit to assisting the successful operation of the student marketing competition at NAMA Conference. This is a great chance to observe schools as they present their new product marketing plans in the preliminary, semifinals, and final rounds. This is also a great place to start your involvement with Student NAMA. Time commitment – 4-8 hours (April 18, 19, 20 – various times available)

Student Marketing Competition judging
Judging the New Products Marketing Competition. Judges of the Student NAMA Marketing Competition have the very important task of rating the participating schools and giving feedback. Preliminary judges will judge written proposals in advance and judge live presentations at the NAMA Conference. Semifinals and Finals judges judge only the live presentations. Five years professional experience required. Time commitment – 4-10 hours (April 18, 19, 20 — various times available)

Volunteer now to help the Student NAMA program, sign up at www.nama.org/amc/student.htm.

This year, a Task Force was formed to take a look at various elements of the Best of NAMA program. Specifically these elements were the Judging Process, the Ceremony and the Awards themselves.

One of the changes adopted is how the Best of Show winners are recognized. The winners and Best of Show winners will be presented at the Best of NAMA Ceremony that kicks off the 2006 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show, April 19-21 in Kansas City.

Winners in the 69 categories will be featured in the April issue of Agri Marketing magazine. Traditionally the Best of Show winners would be featured in the April issue, but not this year. To heighten the element of surprise the Best of Show winners will be featured in the June issue. Task force participants felt that if Best of Show winners were interviewed prior to the ceremony it took away from the award. So, if you don’t get a call from Agri Marketing in March, it doesn’t mean you didn’t win Best of Show. You’ll just have to attend the April 19 ceremony to find out.

To register for the 2006 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show visit, https://nama.org/amc/register.html.