21st Annual IPSA Conference Recap
January 21, 2010 - January 18, 2011
The Westin
50 South Capitol Ave.
Indianapolis, IN
The 21st Annual Conference and Trade Show held January 19th -21st, was a huge success! Nearly 300 people attended the three-day program which featured speakers from Purdue University, the Indiana Lumber and Builders' Supply Association, Ice Miller LLP and MorganStanley SmithBarney. Thirty four companies manned booths in the trade show which took place in and around the meeting rooms.
The conference began with a tour of Beck's Superior Hybrids, which covered everything from research and greenhouses to robots stacking bags. Over 70 people participated in the tour and Beck's provided lunch for everyone. The tour received rave reviews and got our program off to a great start!
No doubt one of the highlight of the conference was the NCAA Hall of Champions reception sponsored by
GreenLeaf Genetics. (View and order photos from the event) Attendees enjoyed food and beverages while mingling with friends and colleagues throughout the facility. Many participated in the interactive games, which included a scavenger hunt, simulated golf and football competitions, and a free throw contest. Steve Roswarski with Ag Printers earned 1st place in the free throw contest and Greg Gerard with JGL earned 2nd. Both were awarded Visa gift cards from GreenLeaf Genetics.
Wednesday's agenda consisted of a general session and five breakout sessions divided into 4 tracks, designed to benefit the leadership, sales, human resources/information and production facets of most seed companies.
Everyone enjoyed the opening General Session which looked at the domestic and global challenges facing independent seed companies. Owners, Presidents and GM's focused on acquiring new skills and tools for evaluating and managing their own and others' performance. Sales leaders found Purdue's most recent study of farmer buying behaviors, the 2008 Large Commercial Producer Survey, very beneficial. Administrative leaders learned how to understand financial statements, including how to extract meaningful data for decision-making purposes. They also learned how a CFO uses the financial metrics and introduced the cost, value, and management issues which a CFO worries about.
Wednesday night's "Casino Night" and Texas Hold'em Tournament hosted by Ag Printers was a hit once again! The winner at the ladies table was Sheilina Nohner. She took home a BluRay DVD player and a BluRay DVD. At the men's tables, the top five finishers received awards. In 5th place: Russell Browning, iPod Nano with a $25 iTunes gift card; 4th place: Chuck Cornelius won a Canon digital camera with 4Gig memory card; in 3rd place, Steve Kinsel won a GPS; for 2nd place, Alan Hojer won a Wii with Wii Play game and extra remote and nunchuck; and 1st place, Marvin Rode won a Sony Bravia HDTV.
At Thursday's Members Meeting Breakfast, Former IPSA President Bill Latham made a surprise appearance via Skype. Bill was able to listen to the entire meeting and accept the 2009 Industry Service Award from home where he was recuperating from chemotherapy treatments. IPSA CEO Greg Ruehle stated "Bill Latham and the Latham family embody the heart and soul of independent seed businesses across North America. This award is a small way for IPSA to recognize Bill's commitment and efforts on behalf of independent seedsmen."
General Session II brought the program to an end with presentations addressing immigration law and ongoing reform efforts, an outlook at credit and capital markets for the coming year, and a look at the unique challenges associated with managing a seed business. The Board met briefly to discuss the events of the week and everyone headed home feeling confident that the conference was a success!
The results of the 2010 Exit Survey will be analyzed after the February 5th deadline. All conference attendees were encouraged to take the survey and provide their input. IPSA's planning committee will rely heavily on feedback from the survey when planning our 2011 conference, which will be held January 18th -20th at the Sheraton Westport Chalet Hotel in St. Louis, MO.