Just one more week and the shortline farm equipment industry will be gathering in Minneapolis for EMDA’s Fall Convention and the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association’s Distribution & Marketing Convention. Meeting and networking opportunities are the main reason attendees and exhibitors participate in the Fall Convention and EMDA strives to provide the most effective structured means to enable such interaction. We’re expecting a great turnout – check out EMDA’s online Communication Center to see who’s attending.
EMDA is also pleased to have several keynote speakers on hand in Minneapolis too.
The EMDA and FEMA Joint Opening Session next Wednesday (October 31) is designed to bring the members together to “kick-off” their conventions with a dynamic presentation that will set the tone for an intensive week of appointments and meetings.

Mike Veeck
The Joint Opening Session features Mike Veeck presenting “Fun is Good – Finding Your Joy & Passion”
Mike Veeck is a nationally renowned speaker, entrepreneur, college professor, marketing, promotions and advertising expert as well as an owner of several successful minor-league baseball clubs and the business consulting firm, Fun Is Good. His name is synonymous with fun and creativity and he continues to blaze new trails each year. He believes anything is possible and that passion drives performance! Through stories of his successes and failures, Mike demonstrates that every good idea starts with innovative, creative and many times totally outrageous suggestions. Mike will challenge you to get out of your comfort zone and into an environment where unique partnerships, promotions, and engaged employees equal increased profits and success for any organization.
Immediately following Wednesday’s Joint Opening Session is EMDA’s Corporate Annual Meeting which includes the Association’s annual report to the membership and Board of Directors elections.

Dr. Joleen Hadrich
We’ll also welcome Dr. Joleen Hadrich, an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in Farm Manager, in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Hadrich will share her insights on the “Factors Affecting Machinery Investment.”
Hadrich’s research focuses on farm-level, decision making with an emphasis on maintaining or improving farm-level profitability as new constraints are imposed on the agricultural producer. Some examples of these constraints include the biological process of the system studies, environmental regulations, and fluctuating input and output prices. Much of this work is completed using farm-level data, which allows her to analyze how producer-level decisions change over time to suggest relevant management and policy recommendation.

Sara Stern
And, we’re happy to announce a late addition to the EMDA Convention program: Sara Stern, will do a “sneak peek” of her “Leading Your Business” session on Friday, November 2, leading in to EMDA roundtable discussions. Sara is one of the speakers set for EMDA’s 2019 Spring Workshop in San Francisco.
Sara is on a quest to help owners get what they want from their family business and build lasting legacies. She is the former director of the nationally recognized Family Business Center at the University of Saint Thomas, a seasoned coach and trained EOS Implementer. Her business clients enjoy real, simple results. They are clear on their vision, their leadership teams are accountable and cohesive and they work together as a healthy team. They are ready for succession, have clarity on the roles needed for the future of the business, understand the skills needed to do those jobs and made decisions based on a shared vision of the future of the family business.
If you haven’t registered yet – we can still get you signed up! Registration forms are available at: https://emda.net/fall-convention/
See you at #EMDAminneapolis!