Consumers claim to want their food to be grown with more environmentally friendly, “natural” products but how practical are bio-derived products for agribusiness?  And could this trend affect all facets of agriculture and agribusiness?

FBSciences’ Jessica Skinner will discuss the challenges bio-derived products present to manufacturers, dealers, and farmers and whether these products serve the goals of sustainable agriculture and the needs of an increasingly hungry world.  She’ll lead a discussion about this trend and the possible cost to agribusiness to develop a chemical pesticide and generic market.

Date/Time:   Thursday, October 17, 11:30 a.m.

Location:       Grove Grill, 4550 Poplar Ave., Memphis, TN

Cost:               $25

Pay Ahead: You may always pay at the door or pay online in advance by credit card

This is it! Best of NAMA submissions are due this Friday! If you haven’t reviewed your work from this year and picked out a couple of winners, you don’t have much time left. Find out how to prepare and submit your entries.

Don’t forget…the MidSouth Chapter receives a portion of each entry fee! This is a great way to support the chapter and make sure we have the resources needed to bring you quality programs and activities…and you have a chance to win an award too.

What is Best of NAMA?
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 9, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront. More info.

Recruit someone you know to become a NAMA member and be entered into a drawing for an iPad Mini!

The member-get-a-member campaign will run from October 3 to December 9. The drawing will take place on December 10.

The more members you recruit, the more your name will be entered into the drawing!

Visit our Get Involved page or www.NAMA.org for more info on joining NAMA!

The 2013/14 chapter meeting schedule is now loaded into the website calendar. The only exception is the January Best of NAMA meeting. There is a conflict with the original date so it is being rescheduled. Free free to contact us if you have questions about future chapter events or if you know of a major conflict with any of the dates. Details about each month’s meeting will be posted closer to the meeting date.  Can’t wait for another great year!

Thursday, October 17
Thursday, November 14
Thursday, December 19
Mid-January – Best of NAMA
Thursday, February 20 – Student Meeting
Thursday, March 20
Thursday, April 17
Thursday, May 15

The Best of NAMA entry deadline is October 11, 2013! That means you have 2 weeks left to pick out your best work, prepare your entry, and send it in!

Support Your Local NAMA Chapter! Your local chapter receives $20 per regional entry. So, enter your work in Best of NAMA and support your local chapter at the same time.

More Info?
NAMA.org
Call for Entries

Saturday, September 28 is the opening reception of the Cotton Museum’s newest temporary art exhibit, Rotan Switch: an Exhibit of Photographs by Lisa McCord. Through compelling and personal photographs, the collection documents life on one of the last tenant run cotton farms to operate along the Mississippi River. During the opening reception from 6pm to 9pm guests will have the opportunity to meet the artist, sip beer from the local High Cotton Brewery, and enjoy live music by the Swamp Katz. The event is free and open to the public.

The event is part of the Cotton Museum’s “Making the Delta” program, supported by Arts Memphis, the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Downtown Memphis Commission. The exhibit will remain on view at the Cotton Museum (65 Union Avenue) through October 20, 2013. The opening reception is at 6pm on September 28 and is free and open to the public.

Making the Delta is funded by an Arts Build Communities grant – a program funded by the Tennessee General Assembly and administered in cooperation with the Tennessee Arts Commission and ArtsMemphis.

See The Cotton Museum website for more info. 

Groupon has a current offer for reduced admission to The Cotton Museum. The discount varies depending on the number of tickets you purchase but could be as much as 76% off. Only 5 days left to buy! Want more details?

According to The Cotton Museums’ website, There is a free admission day tomorrow (Saturday, September 21st) as well!

The Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange building showcases the cotton’s industry’s past and future through interactive exhibits, documentary films, and oral histories telling the story of the plant that built the Bluff City.

During the concluding lunch to the 2013 NAMA Fall Conference, Chuck Zimmerman from AgWired had a chance to talk to the 2013 NAMA Professional Development Award winners and find out what the award means to them.  Read more and listen to the remarks.

Congratulations to this year’s recipients:

• Marketing Communications – Gary Sakin, Monsanto
• Public Relations – Linda Romander, broadhead
• Product/Species Management – Zach Hetterick, Case IH
• Sales – Jay Carlson, Penton Media – BEEF Magazine

The 2013 Fall Conference kicked off yesterday with nearly 200 attendees in St. Louis, MO. Check out photo’s of Monday’s Gateway Ag Tour on Flickr and follow the Fall Conference on Twitter at #namafall13!

One Month Left!!!

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 9, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront.

What’s Eligible? If you’re a NAMA member, you’re eligible to submit your company’s communications materials produced for first use in 2013. (If entered in 2012, the EXACT SAME entry will not be eligible in 2013.) Additions or modifications to an ongoing campaign will not be eligible year after year. You must enter through chapters where your company has a member. Entries are open to agricultural, ornamentals, turf, livestock veterinarians, and any other ag-related products or services whose primary audience is farmers, ranchers and growers (except as otherwise noted). Each entry should be submitted through one region only.

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 and enforced at the regional level. Work that is not above a certain point standard will not be eligible to be advanced. 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. The NAMA office will notify you by Feb. 1, 2014, regarding entries eligible for advancement. An entry fee at the regional and national levels is required. If your entry advances to national, however, it will not be necessary to create another entry.

Support Your Local NAMA Chapter!
Your local chapter receives $20 per regional entry. So, enter your work in Best of NAMA and support your local chapter at the same time.

Additional Submission Details