Students in the Ohio State chapter of the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) recently returned from the 2013 National NAMA Conference, “Forging New Frontiers”, feeling inspired by the many learning opportunities offered at the gathering. The conference was held from April 17-19, 2013 in Kansas City, Missouri. Through participation in this undergraduate professional development group students hone their skills in market research, business writing, and public speaking.
Nine Ohio State undergrads from the Agribusiness and Applied Economics major traveled to Kansas City with the team’s faculty advisor, Dr. Steven Vickner, to compete in the annual agri-marketing competition. This year’s Ohio State team was comprised of Taylor Barnett, Michelle Beres, Michael DeWitt, Daniel Imus, Michael Mahaffey, Danielle Matthews, Nick Rettig, Cody Rine, and Derek Snider.
At the gathering students presented a marketing plan for a new product, competing with teams from across the U.S. in the competition. In total, 29 collegiate teams comprised of more than 200 students from a wide array of U.S. universities and colleges participated.
The AEDE students spent many weeks prior to the competition preparing to present a marketing strategy focused on a chocolate infused peanut butter product. Their marketing pitch focused on the fact that the product was guaranteed to be salmonella-free due to the product’s double pasteurization process.
The competition also included a number of professional development and networking activities for the students, allowing them to interact and learn from a wealth of agri-marketing industry contacts as the student gathering coincided with NAMA’s annual professional conference.
Student Michelle Beres commented on the competition: “From this experience I learned how much work goes into developing and proposing new products. Whether they are inputs or consumer products, extensive market research and analysis goes into making a product a success… I also really learned how to give a professional presentation from working with and learning from my peers. Many of these NAMA teams that go to the national competition have rehearsed their scripts, gestures, tone – everything. The amount of hard work that goes into each project is astounding, and the presentations are the culmination of all of that effort.”
To learn more about the undergraduate professional development opportunities offered to AEDE students, please click here.
April 29, 2013