I want to thank Denny Eilers for helping me out with Best of NAMA photos.

To start with we have the Best of Show for the Advertising category. The winner is:

Client: New Holland North America, Agency: Colle+McVoy

The message: New Holland is the innovative brand of the future.

Next is Best of Show – Public Relations. The winner is:

Client: Dow AgroSciences, Agency: Fleishman-Hillard

The message: To build the market for Dow AgroSciences’ Omega-9 Oils, made from their specially-bred Nexera canola and sunflower, in light of the data that trans fats have been related to coronary events and the cause of several health issues every year.

Next is Best of Show – Specialty. The winner is:

Client: Merial Limited, Agency: Bader Rutter

The message: RECOMBITEK Equine Influenza Vaccine is proven to protect horses against influenza while significantly reducing viral shedding.

There you have it – The Best of the Best!

2008 Agri-Marketing Conference Photo Album

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.

It’s Day 3 of the NAMA Convention and… let’s just say, things have been busy.

Right now, the Thursday lunch is underway. Can you guess which is which (student vs. professional)?

This afternoon we’ve got breakout sessions and a number of interviews and stories that will be getting published.

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.

Speaking of rock. We were speaking of rock weren’t we?

Colle + McVoy held the 6th Annual Agri-Rock Fest this evening. Here’s some of the band. There were a lot of body piercings and tattoos and specialty rock legend beverages.

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.

A big part of the NAMA Agrimarketing Conference is the student chapter marketing competitions. For this year’s “Leading the Charge” event, students from Virginia Tech have chosen to promote Blue Ridge Apple Chips for a company based out of Western Virginia. Team member Josh Stephens (pictured shaking hands far right) touts the apple chips as a healthy, on-the-go snack for busy-bodies living in the fast track… like us bloggers.

You can listen to Laura McNamara’s interview with Josh here, where he explains why his team chose Blue Ridge Apple Chips. He also comments on what he’s learning through the NAMA experience… and he’ll tell you, marketing isn’t easy.

But then, that’s why we are all here at the NAMA Agrimarketing Conference isn’t it… Interview with Josh Stephens (2 min MP3)

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.

The first breakout session at the 2008 NAMA “Leading the Charge” Agri-marketing Conference focused on advertising. A group of panelists opened discussion on “Ag Advertising: How the Best was Won.” Tim Naylor, the chief creative officer for Yamamoto Moss Mackenzie, moderated the panel discussion. Other panel members included representatives from Colle + McVoy, Rhea & Kaiser, Bader Rutter and Martin Williams.

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.

The NAMA Board of Directors’ Meeting met to tackle important issues and topics on the agenda. Thanks to Laura McNamara I have a pic of the the NAMA Chapter Leaders getting down to business at the Chicago meeting room at the Hyatt Regency at Crown Center in Kansas City. NAMA’s “Leading the Charge” Agri-marketing Conference will be hosting events here through Friday.

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.

The Best of NAMA Awards featured lots of firearms and noise and cowboys on stage announcing the winners.

I’ll try to get some summary information posted by tomorrow. Right now the Connection Point is about to start and things are going to get busy.

We’ve got a great looking crowd of professional agrimarketers on hand for this year’s Agri-Marketing Conference. I’ll have a lot more posts coming so keep checking back.

The NAMA Blog is sponsored by Successful Farming.