NIAGARA FALLS, ON

Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show was thrilled to win the best Corporate Web Design for www.OutdoorFarmShow.com at last Thursday’s prestigious “2009 Best of CAMA Awards” in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Approximately 250 agriculture and marketing professionals from across Canada gathered at the Niagara Falls Sheraton Fallsview Hotel to celebrate at the 26th annual awards night for the Canadian Agri-Marketing Association (CAMA). The winning web site was designed by Guelph-based agency, GJA Communications.

Frances Marciniak, President of GJA, was delighted with the win as the champagne corks pinged hotel chandeliers after the awards ceremony. “Web sites are a pivotal part of every advertising campaign, and it's an honour to be recognized as a leader in the digital realm,” said Marciniak.

The winning GJA web site includes regular news feeds, media releases, general program updates and online videos. In September 2009, the web site attracted 29,433 visits – up 36 per cent from 2008.

The Certificate of Merit was awarded to Cayuga Mutual Insurance Company and their agency Bark Communications, with other web category finalists including Echelon (through BCG communications), Farms.com (In-House) and the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers (In-House).

“We work hard to keep the Canadian farm community informed about the latest agricultural technologies and developments at our September show through our www.OutdoorFarmShow.com website,” said Lorie Jocius, President of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show. “So it is wonderful to get this kind of recognition for our efforts.”

In the Special Events category, Jocius and her staff were also delighted to see first and second place awards go to exhibits from the 2008 edition of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show – won by Monsanto Canada and Pioneer Hi–Bred Limited respectively.

“It is a testimonial of how much effort our exhibitors put into their exhibits at our Show,” said Jocius.

CAMA received more than 240 submissions in 50 different award categories. Every year, agri–business and advertising agency representatives from across Canada meet to celebrate and recognize the best of agricultural advertising and communications at “Best of CAMA.”

The CAMA festivities concluded with Jay Bradshaw, President of Syngenta Canada, named as the 2009 CAMA Agri-Marketer of the Year.