I want to see you in Nashville this April ... (For Openers).

Seriously, I really do! And that goes for all of you folks that I saw at the Best Of CAMA last fall in Ontario. That's right, it is almost time for NAMA's Agri-Marketing Conference and Trade Show.

This year's event may be one of the most important to learn new ideas, reconnect with business associates, establish new contacts, discuss new approaches to your marketing efforts, and just have a darn good time. I think we all need that, don't you? Plus, there are the opening night festivities, which include the Best of NAMA/Golden ARC awards presentation, where we witness great creativity used in effective ads and PR campaigns.

Please take a look at this year's schedule, shown in the NAMA section of this issue, starting on page 13. You can also go to www.AgriMarketing.com and click on `Upcoming Events' in the NAMA menu bar on the left hand side. Topics range from survival strategies to emotion marketing to grassroots marketing to power selling to differences between the mid-size grower and the super farmer, and everything in between.

So I will see you in Nashville. There will be good music, food and drink, plus great networking and learning. Stop by our booth in the trade show and say hello.