Why You Should Attend The St. Louis Fall Convention

Our fast paced Fall Convention packs an incredible amount of business into a very short time frame. There’s no meeting anywhere in North America where you can make the same number of contacts in just three short days. From Wednesday afternoon until our final speaker on Saturday morning, the return on your time invested simply can’t be matched.

Business Opportunities:
On Wednesday our Supplier Associate Section will host an evening Welcome Reception. We can’t think of a better place for Supplier and Regular members to visit and setup time for additional meetings needed during the Convention. As a suggestion, Friday morning we have an open seating breakfast from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m., which is perfect for appointments. Following the breakfast, time is set aside for our Marketplace where manufacturers come for a quick session with members of our Marketing Section. Once you have those visits taken care of, you are welcome to visit with members of EMDA at their Contact Appointment Session. EMDA also has a showcase planned for mid-day on Thursday, where you are sure to see exhibitors of equipment and supplies from around the world.

Educational Opportunities:
We are bringing in nine speakers to address important industry topics during our three days of meetings, in addition to our Product Council meetings.

Wednesday:
Gene Schmittgens, a St. Louis attorney, will bring us a session on, “What Triggers an Environmental Compliance Obligation?” Standards Awareness, Sprayer and Tillage Councils will also hold meetings this afternoon.

Thursday:
The first full day of our Convention starts with Col. Mark Tillman addressing our Joint Industry Breakfast on the, “The Zero Fail Mission”. Col. Tillman understands better than most the zero fail philosophy. For eight years Tillman had the honor of serving as the commander of Air Force One, where failure simply was not an option. Tillman’s unique view on history comes from the cockpit of the most highly protected plane on earth, the flying White House. Tillman has only this past week revealed many of the details of September 11, 2001 when the U.S. was under attack from the air.

That same afternoon Dr. Rick Johnson will lead a panel on, “Making Distribution Work for All Partners”. Our Posthole and Rotary Cutter Councils and our Dealer Relations Committee also have meetings planed for Thursday afternoon.

Friday:
Following your breakfast meetings, you will want to plan on joining Brian McGrath as he talks about, “Successful Negotiation of Distribution Agreements”. Afternoon sessions will begin with our special guest, Mary Andringa, President and CEO of Vermeer Corporation. In addition to running one of our largest member companies, Andringa currently serves as the Chair of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). Just this past week, NAM took a lead roll in filing suit against another of the NLRB’s anti-business rulings. We are eager to learn how the Farm Equipment Manufactures Association and NAM can work together to be a greater influence on national and global issues. Brian McGrath will wrap up our afternoon with a session on, “Compliance with State Warranty Issues”.

Saturday Morning:
The Fall Convention concludes with two great sessions. First up will be our three Ag Bankers: John Blanchfield, Senior VP, American Bankers Association; Sam Miller, Group Manager, Agricultural Banking BMO Harris Bank; and Curt Covington, Senior VP Division Credit Manager, Bank of the West. These experienced bankers will be sharing their thoughts regarding the agricultural economy and provide insights into the entire credit evaluation process.

At 10:45 a.m. our closing speaker will be Dr. Jay Lehr, who will be discussing, “The 2012 Farm Bill and its Impact on Agriculture”. Sometimes for better and sometimes for worse, Lehr explains how agriculture is no longer a forgotten industry but now on the minds of societies everywhere. His half century of varied work within the farming industry has given him a highly sought after crystal ball with which he predicts the future based on precise knowledge of the past, as well as distinctive current trends.

Early Registration Discounts will end on September 23. We urge you to visit our website at FarmEquip.org for full information and register several executives from your company today! ◆