Winning in Agriculture with AgGateway
by Rod Conner, President/CEO

Last month the title of this column matched our conference theme – “Winning in Agriculture with eBusiness”. This month I couldn’t help but reflect on my conference experience in Las Vegas, which has caused me to change only the last word of the title.

The AgGateway Conference Committee deserves our thanks and many accolades for putting together an outstanding program. The amount of advanced planning, work and effort that was expended for our benefit truly paid off for those who attended. (A note to the reader that was unable to attend: We heard overwhelmingly from attendees that they learned a lot that they plan to take home and use to improve their businesses – one of the main goals of the conference – so you won’t want to miss out on the mid-year CCP or next year’s Annual Meeting and Conference in Albuquerque, NM.)

We all ought to thank the sponsors again; without their support we could not have had this great success. How can you show your support for our sponsors? By doing eBusiness with them, of course. After all that’s why we’re all in AgGateway.

Given that the Conference Committee did a great job and that we couldn’t have done it without the sponsors, what really impressed me was the energy and enthusiasm that the attendees had for the speakers, committee and council meetings. It seems that every year the energy and enthusiasm grows right along with the number of members and ever increasing connectivity. In our marketing materials we explain that AgGateway is a consortium of like-minded companies that want to help improve agriculture through the use of information and communication technologies. Behind those like-minded companies are a group of outstanding like-minded individuals. In the end, it’s your energy, enthusiasm, intelligence, and dedication that made the 2011 AgGateway Annual Meeting and Conference a success! THANK YOU!

Knowing that you are energetic, enthusiastic, intelligent and dedicated led me to throw out a challenge in the first general session that we’ll all have to accept if we want to make our shared vision a reality. AgGateway is growing quickly, but we need to grow faster. Every member should be promoting eBusiness. AgGateway members are getting connected, but we need to get more of Ag enabled and connected. AgGateway is expanding across other segments and geographically, but we need to expand more broadly. I invite every one of you to join the AgGateway staff and leadership as we put “Promote, Enable, and Expand” into high gear in 2012!

For Agriculture to meet the challenges of the future it must increase productivity and profitability. We know that AgGateway helps you and your trading partners do just that. In the parlance of our conference, AgGateway is not a gamble, it’s a sure thing!

Personal Note: As I write this, the Thanksgiving holiday is in full swing. While many of us have struggles in different aspects of our lives, every year I’m reminded that we all have a lot to be thankful for. Among the many things that I have to be thankful for are my family, friends, and colleagues (you.) As we all look forward to the holiday season, I wish for each and every one of you and your families, a safe and happy holiday season and may all your wishes come true in 2012.

Rod