NAMA leader's message. (National NAMA News).

2004 by 2004

"2004" is the number to watch! From now until the 2004Agri-Marketing Conference, we will be focusing on" 2004". The reason is that the NAMA membership committee chaired by Don Schultz (Doan Broadcasting/MOKAN) and vice-chaired by Susan Armstrong (Armstrong Shank/Great Plains) has set a goal of growing NAMA's membership to 2,004. Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?

Recently with consolidations and company closings, our membership has been challenged. Wouldn't you agree that there have to be at least 2,004 agri-marketing professionals across the country who could benefit from NAMA as you and I do now?

Changes in the structure of companies and the outsourcing to independent contractors present us with both challenges and opportunities. If we can find the agri-marketing professionals within merged agriculture companies and the independent contractors servicing those companies, we can tell them our story of how NAMA can help them with their professional development. Once we tell the story, we'll easily gain members--in excess of 2,004.

It's not so much a question of whether there are potential new members out there and whether simply reaching them with our message is doable, it's more a question of whether we can motivate our membership to devote the few extra minutes to ask a colleague to join. And to motivate our members enough to do it now!

Motivating the membership is the fun part! The membership committee is working on prizes that truly will inspire. The current membership recruitment program is "Kick a Membership Goal" This program runs from September 1,2002 to November 30, 2002. When your recruit submits their applications with a referral listed and pays their dues, you will each receive a "Gourmet Gift Certificate" to use at Omaha SteaksO. Check out the details at www.nama.org. If you know of a great membership recruitment idea, please let us know. We'd like to promote our members' products first! In addition to motivating the membership in general, we need to continually support and motivate the chapter membership chairs as they're the more direct contact to you. We plan to do that with cash and prizes.

It's up to all of us to make the effort to engage and help potential new members. It comes down to the simple act of inviting a colleague to a meeting, explaining to them why you're a member and asking them to join. Please help us reach our goal of 2,004 by 2004!

Tom Smull, Vice President