Lesson Learned
50 Oct.
22,2001 Marketing News CALENDAR / From page 54 DEC.
4-5—KNOXVILLE, TENN.
Marketing Boot Camp Sponsored by AMA and the Knoxville Chapter at Club LeConte.
A one-and-a-half day basic market- ing program for those new to the profession.
AMA contact: Lynn Brown, (312) 542-9011 ([email protected]. Fees: Mem- bers $395; nonmembers $590* (*includes one-year AMA member- ship).
For more information, go to www.ama.org/conf/baotcamp.
DEC.
13-14-WASHINGTON Marketing Boot Camp Sponsored by AMA and tlie Wash- ington Chapter at Marriott Crystal City. Aone-and-a-half day basic marketing program for those new to the profession.
AMA contact:
Lynn Brown. (312) 542-9011 ([email protected]). Fees: Mem- bers $395; nonmembers $590* (*includes one year AMA member- ship).
For more information, go to www.ama.org/conf/bootcamp.
JAN.
13-16,2002- SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ.
Executive Insights 2002:
Best Practices in Market- ing Research Sponsored by AMA at Camelback Inn.
AMA contact: Clara Nelson, (312) 542-9074 ([email protected]). Fees: Mem- bers $695 per conference and $ 190 per optional tutorial; nonmembers $890 per conference and $215 per optional tutorial. Add $65 for regis- trations and $20 for tutorials received after Dec. 11.
For more information, go to www.ama.org/events.
General information REGISTRATION To register for an AMA internation- al or divisional conference (but not a chapter or non-AMA conference), send a check made out to the AMA and the name ofthat conference to:
Registrar, American Marketing Association, 311 S. Wacker Dr., Suite 5800, Chicago.
111., 60606- 2266.
You can also register by phone or fax with a credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express); call (800) AMA-1150, or fax (312) 922-3649. In addition, you can find details about these and other conferences as welt as sponsorship information and regis- tration forms on our Web site (www.ama.org).
FEES Registration fees and deadlines are listed under each conference description. The conference plus one-year membership fee is only available with preregistration. Fees are tentative and subject to change.
CANGELUTIONS/ REFUNDS For information, please consult the individual conference's program brochure. • NATION • Forbidden taste South and Southeast, Vietnam embroiled in catfish controversy U .S.
farmers are locked in an intensifying dispute vyith importers of Viet- namese fish over control of America's catfish market.
Domestic catfish farmers are hav- ing a hard time making money from their product because the imports have depressed prices, says Hugh Warren, executive vice president of Indianola, Miss.-based Catfish Farmers of America. He says as much as 20% of the frozen filet mar- ket has been captured by imports of what he calls a cheap, low-quality fish.
"The fact is that these relatively cheap products are out there dri- ving down the price for the farm- raised catfish market," Warren says.
"The Vietnamese fish is not even closely related to catfish at all." Producers say as much as 1 mil- lion pounds of Vietnamese catfish are imported into this country each month.
An importer of Vietnamese fish says American catfish growers are to blame for their own difficulties by selling most of the domestic fish in only a few states.
"It is the failure to adequately market the product effectively throughout the U.S.," says Andrew Forman, president of Boston-based Infinity Seafood LLC.
The domestic industry has rev- enue of more than $500 million, with the greatest concentrations of farms found in Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana. There are more than 150,000 acres of catfish ponds in the United States, with 91,000 of those acres in Mississippi.
In an effort to aid the belea- guered domestic industry, con- gressmen from Mississippi and Arkansas have introduced legisla- tion requiring catfish sold in the United States to carry country-of- orgin labels. And Mississippi Gov.
Ronnie Musgrove has considered calling a special legislative session to deal with labeling issues, but it's unclear what, if any, authority the state would have over an interna- tional trade issue.
"I think that it's an example that our elected leaders are realizing and are convinced that severe economic harm is being done ... to the farm- ers," Warren says.
Warren notes that the U.S.
catfish industry must go through inspec- tions fVom 17 federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection Agency, while the Viet- namese imports have to only meet FDA approval.
Forman says the real problem is that the U.S.
industry does a poor job of marketing and has prices that are too high for its product.
"The perennial problem that we found with domestic catfish pro- ducers is that we know that 85% to 90% of their production is con- sumed in that eight- or nine-state area of the mid-South and South- east," Forman says.
Forman says legislation on label- ing isn't needed, because the Viet- namese government has passed a regulation indicating that all fish exported from Vietnam must be labeled with the country of origin. • —Tim Brown for The Associated Press The American Marketing Association announces exclusive members-only benefits provided by Avis!
Good News! The American Marketing Association has formed a partnership with Avis, and AMA members can now enjoy considerable savings, special benefits and the comfort and reliability that come with renting from Avis.
Additionally, the Avis Preferred Renter Service is the fastest way to rent a car with Avis- no waiting in line.The $50.00 application fee is waived for AMA members.
For reservations and information, see your travel professional, visit us online, or call 1-800-698-5685. Be sure to provide your AMA/Avis Worldwide Discount number D098500.To request an enrollment form for Preferred Service, call 1-800-525-7530, or enroll online at avis.com.
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