One of Iowa State’s own recently took an award for her outstanding leadership in a student organization.

The National Agri-Marketing Association, recently held an awards ceremony to honor Iowa chapter participants. Stacey Noe, program coordinator in economics-agriculture, took home top honors as National NAMA Adviser of the Year out of 31 chapters statewide.

“It was a good surprise; this is my first year as an adviser,” Noe said. “It is good because it makes the students and I look forward to the coming year.”

Noe, who grew up on a farm and received a B.A. in agronomy and animal industry from Iowa State, was the program coordinator of the ISU Agricultural Entrepreneur Initiative before moving to the ISU chapter of NAMA, and said she has felt “it is a good fit” there, and has worked to give the program a more “entrepreneurial spin.”

“I think that it’s probably one of the best clubs out there to give you real world experience. It’s a nice compliment to your major,” Noe said.

Noe stressed the real-world applications for agricultural-marketing majors and other marketing majors because of the club’s networking possibilities. The club engages in a yearlong development of a marketing plan, which the students do themselves, for presentation at a NAMA convention.

Noe said developing a marketing plan teaches students how to develop a plan and how to work in teams. She only tries to “critique them to help them make it better,” and to motivate the students. She is mostly “hands-off” in her approach, as “the students do all the work” and she is there to “open their minds to other possibilities.”

Amy Burmeister, president of the National Agri-Marketing Association and senior in agricultural education, said the group engages in a variety of activities throughout the year, such as selling cotton candy for Veishea, picking winter grapes for a winery, picking up cans after tailgating events, helping with Ag Week displays around campus, putting on an annual banquet in April and a freshmen transfer barbecue for recruitment. In the fall each year, members participate in Club Fest and give presentations about the club in 101 classes.

Burmeister said the chapter has won awards, such as Outstanding Chapter, as well as the Adviser of the Year Award.

“NAMA is definitely a great networking organization. It’s a great way to network with pros in your field of interest, be it marketing, advertising or communications,” she said. “It just showcases the College of Agriculture.”