Omaha, Nebraska, USA
January 27, 2012

The Independent Professional Seed Association (IPSA) saw attendance approach 300 at the Association's 23rd Annual Conference and Trade Show, January 17-19 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event featured outstanding keynote speakers on a variety of relevant topics. "The IPSA Annual Conference continues to set the bar higher each year with quality programming and talented speakers, maintaining a unique position for the Conference among its peer events" commented outgoing IPSA President Steve Kinsell, Silver Lane Hybrids, Remington, Indiana.

IPSA's Business Development Committee provided insight and support throughout the conference planning process. IPSA President John Hennenfent, Munson Hybrids,
Galesburg, Illinois served as Chairman of the planning committee and offered this assessment: "This year's Committee began the planning process early by identifying relevant topics and interesting speakers for 2012 that encouraged attendance and participation. I want to thank the Committee for their hard work and energy in bringing this event together, and look forward to a stronger conference in 2013 in Tucson."

IPSA also awarded its 2011 Industry Service Award to Dave Moe, formerly with Bayer CropScience. Dave was recognized for his service to agriculture and to IPSA, having served on the Association's Business Development and Education Committees, including serving as Committee Chairman. IPSA President John Hennenfent stated "Dave Moe demonstrates the essential characteristics of an Association member - giving selflessly of his time and talents to something larger than himself, with no expectation of something in return. This award is a small way for IPSA to recognize Dave's significant commitment and efforts in support of regional, independent seed companies across the country."

A key responsibility of members at the IPSA Annual Conference is to make elections to the IPSA Board of Directors and to select Association Officers for the coming year. Board members re-elected this year for a second three-year term include:

• Chuck Cornelius, Cornelius Seed, Bellevue, Iowa
• John Hennenfent, Munson Hybrids, Galesburg, Illinois
• Carl Peterson, Peterson Farms Seeds, Harwood, North Dakota

Additionally, the following Officers were elected by the Board for the coming year:

• President - John Hennenfent, Munson Hybrids, Galesburg, Illinois
• First Vice President - Chuck Cornelius, Cornelius Seed, Bellevue, Iowa (also Chair of the IPSA Business Development Committee)
• Second Vice President - Lou Buice, Golden Acres Genetics, Waco, Texas
• Secretary - Terry Schultz, Mustang Seeds, Madison, South Dakota (also Chair of the IPSA Education Committee)
• Treasurer - Carl Peterson, Peterson Farms Seed, Inc., Harwood, North Dakota
• Randy Wilken, ProHarvest Seeds of Ashkum, Illinois serves as Chair of the IPSA Member Services Committee

IPSA recognized Steve Kinsell with Silver Lane Hybrids, Remington, Indiana for his past year of service as the Association's President. The Association also recognized Dave Moe, who had retired during 2011 from Bayer CropSciences. Dave had served on IPSA's Business Development and Education Committees for a number of years, including several years as Committee Chairman.

IPSA's Business Development Committee and the IPSA Board of Directors provided insight and support throughout this process. IPSA President John Hennenfent with Munson Hybrids in Galesburg Illinois served as Chairman of the planning committee and offered this assessment: "This year's conference offered insight our members can benefit from and profit from directly and immediately."

General Session I
To kick-off the conference, John Hennenfent with Munson Hybridsmoderated a new rapid-fire session, where all breakout speakers were offered 8-10 minutes to highlight their presentation to all attendees. The program provided real insight into each breakout session, allowing attendees to decide what concurrent session to attend.

AM Breakout Sessions
The morning concluded with five concurrent breakout sessions, highlighted below:

• Seed Corn Supply Strategies - Yesterday, Today and into Tomorrow - Paul Kjolhaug, MayerSeedline
• How to Create Fascinating Social Media - Sally Hogshead, Orlando, Florida
• Estate Planning for 2010 - 2012: Temporary Uncertainly - Roger McEowen, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
• Be the Hero: Deliver New Value by Using On-Farm Data to Fit Seed to Field - Chris Fennig, MyFarms, Portland, Indiana
• Managing Stewardship Agreements with AgCelerate - David Lane, AgData, Morrisville, North Carolina

PM Breakout Sessions
IPSA hosted a variety of breakout sessions right after lunch that included the following:

• Effectively Marketing & Communicating with your Customers - Lynn Henderson, Agri-Marketing magazine, St. Louis, Missouri
• Going Pro: How to UP your Sales Professionalism - Mike Wagner, White Rabbit Group, Des Moines, Iowa
• Business Tax Law Changes - Roger McEowen, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa
• World Status: An Overview of the Global Seed Industry - Shawn Brook, SeedWorld magazine, Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Managing Stewardship Agreements with AgCelerate - David Lane, AgData, Morrisville, North Carolina

General Session II
The afternoon concluded with an exciting presentation by keynote speaker Sally Hogshead titled "How to Fascinate Your Customer." Decades of research on how customers respond to messaging allowed Sally to develop a training program for companies to tailor specific messages to various customer types. Sally utilized material from her book titled "Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation."

General Session III
The closing General Session included a presentation by Mike Mazzocco with Verdant Partners Consulting regarding the new IPSA Benchmarking Program for financial and business metrics. Mike outlined the benefits of the program, and indicated that signups were still being taken through the end of January.

The capstone presentation featured Mike Wagner with White Rabbit Group, who also spoke at last year's Annual Conference. Mike's presentation, titled "Coaching Your Sales Team," was well received by those in attendance. Mike provided a number of tools that owners and sales managers can use to coach their sales staff (and all staff members, for that matter). Mike provided attendees an entertaining and enlightening perspective.

Summary
"The planning committee just sets the bar higher and higher with each successive IPSA Annual Conference. Given the tremendous success surrounding this year's conference, I can't wait to see what they have in store for 2013 in Tucson," stated IPSA's CEO, Greg Ruehle. He added "IPSA strives to continue delivering high-quality and relevant programs for its members - at Annual Conference, via the web and by direct delivery."

Website: https://ipseed.org

Published: January 27, 2012