Check out some student workshops this week

If you’re looking to get an edge on your professionalism, consider checking out some of the fun and interactive student workshops available the whole week of convention!

~Hannah Kleckner is a junior at Penn State studying Agriculture Sciences with a minor in Ag Communications. She has been an FFA for 6 years, now participating at the Collegiate level.  When it comes to hobbies she has a passion for training and showing quarter horses and enjoys photography and writing as well. This year, she’s  reporting on the convention as part of the National FFA Convention Newsroom Crew.

Expo highlighted in trade mag giant ‘Trade Show Executive’

The National FFA Convention & Expo was highlighted by senior editor Hil Anderson in the December issue of Trade Show Executive. Some notable exerpts from the feature:

Exhibit space at the Indiana Convention Center topped 225,000 net square feet this year (at the 2011 National FFA Convention & Expo). The exhibitors were varied, ranging from major equipment manufacturers down through agricultural colleges and retailers selling souvenirs and everything else to keep an army of teenagers out on the town well-supplied.

This wide variety of companies going face-to-face with attendees who are more likely to have part-time jobs than expense accounts required the FFA to take a different tack in convincing ROIconscious firms to sign up for one or more of the event’s 10’x10’ booths. “The approach prior to 2008 was more of a soft-sell to sponsors and current exhibiting companies,” said (National FFA Organization senior exhibit manager Bryan) Kelly, who arrived at FFA in 2008. “We’ve taken a more streamlined and harder approach in the past year and are reaching out to companies that may not have had us on their radar or thought about the potential of exhibiting with us.”

Check out the scene inside the 2011 Expo.

Download the 2012 National Convention & Expo prospectus

The 2012 National Convention & Expo prospectus is rolling off the presses right now. The new publication details what will be offered at the Expo next year, set for Oct. 24-26 at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis. The Expo draws more than 370 companies from throughout the U.S. and gives them a chance to engage the thousands of FFA members who attend the annual National FFA Convention & Expo.

Download the prospectus today and check out all the event has to offer, including the ability to showcase your company or organization according to the eight career pathways the National FFA Organization has created to help students today become industry leaders and decision makers tomorrow.

Questions? Drop us a line at Expo@FFA.org or browse through the new National FFA Convention & Expo website.

Meet Nick Radivan: Exhibit sales coordinator for the Expo

Nick Radivan is an exhibit sales coordinator at the National FFA Organization. He’s responsible for assisting the organization’s convention and events management division in sustaining and enhancing the National FFA Convention & Expo. He strives to innovate marketing and selling techniques for the event, using all forms of media, social media and digital technology. The Expo is a three-day event during the National FFA Convention that showcases more than 370 exhibitors.

Radivan joined the National FFA Organization from the Indianapolis Star where he was a sales coordinator who managed single-copy operations within the greater Indianapolis area and at all major public events. Previously, he completed a marketing internship at Elvis Presley Enterprises in Memphis, Tenn., during which he assisted the marketing department with marketing and promoting Graceland, special events and the likeness of the Elvis Presley estate.

Originally from Indianapolis, Radivan earned an undergraduate degree in sales management from Purdue University, where he earned academic honors and was named to the Dean’s List. He was a member of the Purdue University Sales Competition Team and a teacher’s assistant for Introductory to Selling Principles and Strategic Sales and Marketing.

Radivan, who resides in Indianapolis, is a member of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events. Contact him at (888) 332-2589 or by email at nradivan@FFA.org.

Meet Bryan Kelley, Expo manager

Meet Bryan Kelley. He’s the senior exhibit manager responsible for managing all aspects of sales, sponsorship, coordination and implementation of the National FFA Convention & Expo. He oversees the Expo’s budget, collaborates with the National FFA Foundation on sponsorship booth sales, creates the Expo’s sales and marketing plan, oversees all booth sales and manages the design and set up of the event floor.

Kelley joined the National FFA Organization from the Indiana Convention Center, where as event coordinator he successfully staged more than 250 events that ranged from social events to entire facility trade shows. He scheduled labor on behalf of show management to accomplish the needs of each event and maintained a good working knowledge of union contracts as related to clients’ event needs.

Previously, he was operations manager at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison, Wis., where he managed an operations department of 25 full-time and more than 75 part-time city employees and oversaw an annual $1.5 operations budget.

Originally from Terre Haute, Kelley earned an undergraduate’s degree from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. He is a member of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events and the National Agri-Marketing Association.

Contact Bryan at (888) 332-2589 or by email at bkelley@FFA.org today for any Expo information or answers you need.

2012 Expo: Sporting a new name, look and feel

While the National FFA Organization has many programs, initiatives and staples that make up the FFA experience for our members and collectively spell out who we are, there is only one event that truly defines us within our organization and outside our ranks. That event is our annual National FFA Convention.

For years, people have erroneously associated the trade show part of convention — previously called the “career show” — with the notion that it’s a job fair. That’s never been the case.

Rebranding our trade show to the Expo reinforces what we want to accomplish every year — showcase industry to the thousands of impressionable minds that enter the Expo doors and give students the opportunity to have relevant discussions with real people working real careers in industry.

Our staff at the National FFA Organization is working hard on its bigger and bolder identity for 2012 and beyond. This year, attendees undoubtedly noticed the newly designed Expo banners hanging throughout the Expo hall and FFA Island (shown above), a great, highly visual entryway into the Expo from the Shopping Mall. This year, we also created two great videos that give viewers a feel of what it’s like to attend the Expo and what our exhibitors have to say about their experiences.

Our new National FFA Convention & Expo website was designed to capture all convention and expo news and information in one place to help members and their advisors relive their experiences from this year and make their preparations to attend the 2012 event.

So be sure to click around our new website, browse through the 2012 National FFA Convention & Expo brochure and watch both the Experience the Expo and Expo Excursion videos. And mark your calendars now: The 2012 Expo is Oct. 24-26 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.

80 new companies exhibit at 2011 National FFA Convention & Expo

As part of its record year of fundraising — as reported by AgriMarketing.com — to support the National FFA Organization, the National FFA Foundation drew more than 80 new companies and organizations as exhibitors at the 2011 National FFA Convention & Expo, the nation’s largest gathering of students.

More than 370 exhibitors showcased their companies and products to 53,350 FFA members, teachers and school administrators who attended the big event in October in Indianapolis. The expo spanned a record 225,000 square feet of space inside the Indiana Convention Center.

Take a minute to check out the expo floor by watching our Experience the Expo video.