Guelph Students Favourites at North American Agri-Marketing Contest
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> VOLUME 7 | ISSUE 1 | SPRING 2013 Guelph Students Favourites at North American Agri-Marketing Contest A team of University of Guelph students won second place and the admiration of their competitors at a North American agricultural marketing contest. Nine students in OAC agricultural business, science and marketing programs won second at the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) student marketing competition in Kansas City, Missouri. The Guelph team finished just two points behind the University of Minnesota, and was voted “most favourite team” by the 29 competing teams. The U of G team was only one of two Canadian teams at the event, the other being from the University of Saskatchewan. Teams began brainstorming innovative agricultural products last fall. They created an executive summary, a PowerPoint presentation and speaking notes before the contest in April. “For the summary, we research the market and competitive analysis, create a marketing plan (From left to right) Front row: Laura Nanne, Emily den Haan with events and advertisements, complete and Melissa Parkinson Middle row: Eamonn McGuinty, Elizabeth Stubbs, Jill Brown and Lucas Meyer. the financial breakdown of what it will cost Back row: Rob Bos and Jeremy Fallis the company with all expenses included, and finally create a monitoring and measuring section,” explained Emily den Haan, president For Lucas Meyer, Guelph NAMA treasurer and of the Guelph NAMA student chapter. co-president, winning silver was a bonus.“After This is the first year Guelph has reached completing each presentation, we all were extremely CHANGING LIVES CHANGING LIVES the contestCHANGING final since LIVES placing third in 2007. happy, because we were proud of how we did and felt IMPROVING LIFE IMPROVING LIFE The teamI MPRtrainedOVING twice L aIFE week this year extremely confident about it,” he says. “It was a great and sought comment from local agricultural feeling, because even if we hadn’t moved on to the marketing professionals. next level, we were happy with our efforts.”He credits the agricultural marketing courses he has taken with “Having professionals and sponsors watch and helping him prepare for the event.“The competition is critique it helped us to think on our feet during intense, and the teams are quite competitive,” he said. the question-and-answer period, and made “The classes we took at Guelph helped with creating us feel confident in our product and marketing the marketing plan for our product.” plan throughout the three presentations,” said den Haan, a fourth-year student. “We are Joining den Haan and Meyer as part of the Most thankful for all the Canadian Agri-Marketing Favourite Team were Rob Bos, Jill Brown, Jeremy Association did for us; their support is the Fallis, Eamonn McGuinty, Laura Nanne, Melissa backbone to our chapter and its success.” Parkinson and Elizabeth Stubbs. CHANGING LIVES CHANGING LIVES CHANGING LIVES IMPROVING LIFE IMPROVING LIFE IMPROVING LIFE FACE >forward | SPRING 2013 Message from the Dean 2 Supporting Growth in Food and Agriculture THIS ISSUE Dean’s Message ................... 2 I see OAC as a critical conduit between capable students, Student Successes ................ 3 from all levels of post-secondary education, and sectors with a high demand for knowledgeable staff. MLA Conference – The Science Behind Design . 3 We support the growth of the food and agricultural sectors OAC Students Win in many ways. In partnerships with groups like the Conference at Project SOY . 4 Board of Canada, the Toronto Board of Trade, and the SES Students Help Community President’s Council of Commodity Groups, OAC is working to Reduce its Carbon Footprint . 5 guarantee the graduates from our programs are well-informed Designing a New Look for Branion Plaza . 6 industry leaders that can fill the widening gap between the number of sector jobs and the number of qualified graduates. Master’s Student Creating Food-based Lotion . 6 We also forge partnerships to give our students the best Research ......................... 7 opportunities; for example, sending two of our best business Improving Food Production students to the Canadian Produce Marketing Association in Developing Countries . 7 Convention to learn and network. Aquatic Ecosystems Research We host liaison events called Reach Ahead Days on campus Receives Funding . 7 for potential students. Just this spring we engaged over New Environmental Microbiology 400 high school students through these graduate student of Agro-ecosystems Canada and faculty supported events. Students from St. Thomas, Research Chair . 8 Clinton, Wellington County, Chesley, Orangeville, Mississauga, SEDRD Project Benefits Ontario Mennonites . 8 Richmond Hill, Toronto, Pickering and Oshawa (to name a few) all learned about the various OAC programs offered. We also Research Aimed at Big Cat Comfort . 9 engaged 200 students through our first interactive online activity. Corn May Be The Next Step Our industry supporters and alumni also provide tremendous In Eye Care . 10 support to ensure we have the capacity to engage and support OAC News ....................... 11 our students. A great example of this is the new Reek Student Provincial Government Services and Recruitment Centre at Ridgetown Campus. Alumni, Officials Visit the BDDC . 11 industry and government supported this building rejuvenation Ken McEwan Named project that will see the new and improved facility open for Ridgetown Campus Director . 12 operation in September to welcome students. The building Professor Receives will double as a careers centre and as a welcome venue for Provincial Award . 12 prospective students and their parents. It will also serve to host New Arboretum Director Named . 13 conferences and other campus and community events. Campus d’Alfred Receives Building capacity within the walls of the University of Guelph Federal Funding to Boost and the Ontario Agricultural College is important, however I see Food Production in Africa . 14 OAC’s role as much more than that. We support capacity and OAC Program Counsellor growth in the agriculture and food sectors through our teaching, Receives Medallion . 14 research and community service. We take pride in working with Using OAC Research in industry and supporting our students to do our part in ensuring High School Classrooms . 15 the future of agriculture and food is robust and vibrant. Alumni Come Out Strong in Outstanding Young Farmers Competition . 16 Guelph Turfgrass Institute To Be Relocated . 17 Robert Gordon Dean, Ontario Agricultural College In Brief .......................... 18 Guelph • Alfred • Kemptville • Ridgetown Upcoming Events ................. 20 FACE >forward | SPRING 2013 Student Successes 3 MLA Conference – The Science Behind Design Graduating Master of Landscape Architecture students pose during the 2013 MLA Conference. Each year, for the last 21 years, Master of to their respective universities and pilot a Landscape Architecture (MLA) students organize student-run conference. It was then that Brown and execute an event to communicate their began including a student-run conference as part research findings to the public. of his course. “We try to model the conference on a professional, academic-style meetings common to This year the MLA Conference was held on landscape disciplines,” he explains. March 25th in Guelph, Ontario at the Guelph Over the years the conference has taken many Civic Museum and featured presentations by 16 different shapes, with the most recent years’ events advanced graduate students. Ranging in topics being run and organized by second-year students. from participatory design to typography, and The second year students plan, promote, execute cross-cultural professional values to the ecological and even provide food for the event. “That way the value of cemeteries, the presentations focused on third years can just show up and present. They focus communicating the student’s research work and on their thesis and the presentation,” Brown says. findings from the last year. This year’s conference was again a great success. The conference is put on as part of a research The presentations were professional but also seminar course run by Professor Robert Brown, relatable and presented in a way that the general that includes both second and third year students. audience could understand. “I was so pleased with The conference became part of the course shortly the professional quality of the presentations,” says after Brown joined the University of Guelph. Prof. Wayne Caldwell, Director of the School of “When I started on faculty I was the first to have a Environment Design and Rural Development who PhD. There were many professors who came from sat in on the day. “It’s a pleasure to attend events successful professional practice but I was hired to like this where we can celebrate our student’s encourage more scholarly study. To make landscape accomplishments,” he adds. architecture more evidence based,” he explains. For a full listing of students who presented The original concept for the conference came from a and their research topics visit www.uoguelph.ca/ brainstorming session with a colleague he met at a oac/news/science-behind-design conference. The two thought up the idea to go back . FACE >forward | SPRING 2013 Student Successes 4 OAC Students Win at Project SOY Several OAC students took home prizes from the 17th annual Project SOY (Soybean Opportunities for Youth) competition for University of Guelph students. The event showcased a dozen projects from a total of 25 University