Nominate someone you know for the Professional Development Awards of Excellence. These awards will be presented at the 2008 Trends in Agriculture fall meeting, November 11-12, at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City.

The awards honor NAMA members based on outstanding achievement in each of the Professional Development Areas (PDA): (1) Marketing Communications; (2) Product/Species Management; (3) Public Relations; and (4) Sales. Nominees must be NAMA members. Nominators should target individuals with direct planning and execution responsibilities in the respective Professional Development Area from agribusiness and related companies.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Select a nominee. This nominee should excel in one of the four professional development areas. Consult the eligibility requirements closely.
2. Fill out the application and then address the three Areas of Excellence. Include your contact information, if NAMA has questions regarding the application, the nominator will be contacted.
3. Send the application and narrative to NAMA by September 1, 2008.

Nominees will be judged solely on their write-ups. Please do not send any other appendices, video-tapes, or samples. There are no entry fees.

The deadline for submitting nominations is September 1. If you have any questions regarding these awards, please contact Jenny Pickett at jennyp@nama.org.

To download the nomination form in an Adobe .PDF format, visit http://www.nama.org/awards/PDAapplication.pdf.

You can also fill out the form on-line at http://www.nama.org/awards/pdaonlineform.htm.

For more information on the awards, visit http://www.nama.org/awards/pdaawards.htm.

There’s still time to register for the 2008 NAMA Boot Camp. The Boot Camp will take place at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City, August 12-14.

This year’s Boot Camp will provide the tools you need to more professionally market to the ag industry. Enlist today to learn more about agri-marketing!

All attendees will receive a notebook packed with ag terminology and facts as well as case studies and speaker presentations.

Come in early and attend the optional MoKan Ag Tour. This tour will be a production agriculture tour with half of the day focusing on Animal Health and the other half of the day focusing on crop production.

You won’t want to miss the 2008 NAMA Boot Camp and MoKan Ag Tour! To register now, visit http://payment.nama.org/bootcamp08.htm.

For more information on Boot Camp speakers and sessions, visit http://www.nama.org/programs/bootcamp.htm.

In an effort to broaden your professional development opportunities, NAMA will be hosting several webinars. If you don’t have time to attend a chapter or national meeting, stay connected with your NAMA peers at a NAMA Webinar – you won’t even have to leave your office!

Our first webinar will be Thursday, August 7. Barb Murphy, President of Weyforth-Haas Marketing will present Direct Branding: Where Message Meets Measure.

All too often the direct strategies used to motivate a decision maker or influencer to take action can be counter-productive to the overall branding strategy. Yet traditional advertising can fail to generate measurable results. In the face of ever-tightening marketing budgets, you can have the best of both worlds by implementing a direct branding strategy. This session will focus on how to create the right mix of message, measure and media.

Make sure your marketing strategy, or even just your next campaign, not only inspires and supports the desired belief about your brand or product, but motivates measurable response.

The webinar will begin at 1:00 p.m. (Central Time) and will last for one hour.

Cost for all webinars is $35.

Upcoming webinars include:

October 9, 2008 ~ 1:00 p.m. (Central Time)
The Confluence of Social Networking and Mobile Marketing: The Value Proposition for Agribusiness with John Gilbert, Bader Rutter & Associates

Social networking refers to a broad class of web sites and services that allow people to connect in innovative and meaningful ways with friends, family, and business colleagues, as well as collaborate with people who have similar interests.

Social networking has become a global phenomenon, and going mobile with it is the next big thing. We’re now seeing millions of users of LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook and other social networks interacting with their virtual spaces while they’re on the move. We’ll spend an hour examining the place where social networking meets mobile marketing, and understand the possibilities for marketers in the agribusiness space.

Coming in January/February
Maximizing Your Trade Show ROI with Scott Hannah, Skyline Displays

What do you do at a trade show? Now, more than ever, your tradeshow marketing program must generate sales and profits. Scott will help you get results by revealing the essential aspects of a successful tradeshow program.

To register for a webinar, visit http://payment.nama.org/webinar.htm.

Registration is now open for Trends In Agriculture, November 11-12, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center in Kansas City.

NAMA works hard to keep programs and meetings relevant and not just timely, but ahead of the curve. That’s why we’ve changed the name of the Agribusiness Forum to directly reflect the mission of this innovative meeting to Trends in Agriculture. This year’s topic is the burgeoning rural lifestyle market and the decision makers who define it.

Join your colleagues in Kansas City for:

• interactive sessions on the influence rural lifestylers have on the agriculture industry and what’s driving their purchases and buying choices
• practical, proven advice for effectively marketing to the rural lifestyle population
• helpful perspectives from leaders outside agriculture who have had to shift their focus to capture a new audience in a changing marketplace
• opportunities to talk shop with colleagues facing the same communication and messaging challenges you are and discover how they’re managing them

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.

So you think you’re ready to take home a Best of Show award at the 2009 Best of NAMA Ceremony? Well you’ll have to wait just a few more weeks to begin your climb to be the best of the best.

The Best of NAMA Call for Entries, designed by Nicholson Kovac, will be available on the NAMA web site beginning August 25 and will be mailed by September 1.

All entries must be received in the NAMA Office by October 10, 2008.

The Best of NAMA awards program honors the best work in agricultural communications. Actually, the best of the best, since companies/agencies must first qualify through regional competition in order to advance to the national level. The national awards ceremony will take place April 15, at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, GA.

Best of NAMA operates on a regional judging format. Entries are sent directly to the national NAMA office and judged by industry professionals at a regional level for possible advancement to national competition. A minimum point standard will be used at the regional level. If you place first or merit at the regional competition and score above the minimum point standard, you are eligible to advance to the national competition.

Stay tuned to your email inbox for notification of the Call for Entries on the NAMA web site!

Nearly 30 Badger NAMA members made the trek to Green Bay to learn about the marketing of the Green Bay Packers on July 8th.

Speaker Craig Benzel, Director of Marketing and Corporate Sales for the Green Bay Packers, presented an exciting look into what goes on behind the scenes at Lambeau Field.

Benzel stressed that the message is simple, “Sport is FAN-tastic.” The overall goals of the organization are 1) stay true to the brand, 2) remain relevant and 3) build and keep a strong emotional relationship with the fans. Craig also stressed some of the key virtues of the Green Bay packers including community ownership, small town underdog spirit, glorious legacy and family. These are enforced through events such as tailgating, community outreach, Packers Bike Tradition and the Fan Hall of Fame (the only one in the NFL).

The Lambeau Field stadium tour allowed members to experience the Packers’ facility first-hand and see several behind-the-scenes areas. It was a wonderful opportunity to see sites such as the Lambeau Field Atrium, the exclusive Club Level, and the players tunnel.

The Southeastern NAMA chapter has been gearing up for the 2008-2009 program year. Chapter members attended a planning meeting at Freebairn & Company in Atlanta, GA on July 15th courtesy of John Freebairn.

The members brainstormed ideas for rejuvenating the chapter and elected the following officers for the year. In addition, the chapter determined that they will plan to have events in January, March, May, September, and October of 2009. Student chapters will be encouraged to practice their Marketing Competition at the March meeting. Chapter members will have further discussions concerning activities in conjunction with the 2009 Agri-Marketing Conference that will take place in Atlanta, April 15-17.

Southeastern chapter leaders for 2008-2009 include:

Kim Maloney, AGCO Corporation – Chapter President
Sandy Chapman, Freebairn & Company – Chapter VP/President-Elect
Amanda McAvoy, Merial, LTD. – Secretary
Allison Bass, AGCO Corporation – Treasurer
Chris Lund, AGCO Corporation – Membership Chair
Shawn Clark – Program Chair