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2008 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show
Gord Butcher, President AgCall Inc
May 20, 2008
Several hundred bright-eyed and eager agricultural marketing gurus recently convened in Kansas City to attend the 2008 Agri-Marketing Conference & Trade Show put on by NAMA (National Agri-Marketing Association).
The conference is renowned in the industry not only for its phenomenal networking opportunities (let’s just say a lot of impromptu business meetings take place in the span of a day-and-a-half) and the high quality of speaker presentations. This year was no exception, with the Best of NAMA Awards celebration officially kicking off the event and setting a lively tone for the remainder of the conference.
What I appreciated most about the speakers this year was their deviation from “shop talk” toward lifestyle topics such as how we look at the world and finding balance in life. For example Mary LoVerde, author of “Stop Screaming at the Microwave – Keeping Your Life in Balance When Cloning Yourself Won’t Work” asked how many hours you would estimate you spend on Christmas Day playing a game or with toys you gave your child as a gift? Between clean-up from presents, meal preparation/clean-up and travel time, a recent survey found the average person spends seven minutes playing with their children on that day. It’s probably safe to assume that on some days we spend more time waiting in line at Starbucks in the morning for a cup of coffee. Mary’s point was the importance of finding a balance so that work and the daily distractions of life don’t interfere with quality time spent with those we care about.
We also benefitted from Barry Libert’s discussion surrounding the inspiration for “We Are Smarter Than Me,” a book he co-wrote that draws on the observations and insights of more than 4,000 contributors. The basic concept of the book and of Barry’s presentation was to show how business can profit from social networking and community, which I found quite fascinating.
The NAMA conference is a must for those in the agri-marketing industry who appreciate the opportunity to gain a fresh perspective on life and business and meeting hundreds of others seeking to do the same.
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