Exchange Schedule
Schedule-At-A-Glance
This is a developing schedule. More details to come!
Saturday, March 26
7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
GEAPS Exchange Registration
Kansas City Convention Center – Registration Lobby 2300
7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Get Acquainted Party
Kansas City Convention Center – Hall B
Kick off your fun during the Get Acquainted Party! Enjoy a reunion with GEAPS friends and colleagues. The casino-themed event will host blackjack, roulette, Texas hold ‘em and Plinko. Don’t worry, you won’t lose real money; this is all for fun! Music will be provided by Glen Hofbauer. A former chairman of Kansas Grain and Feed Association, Hofbauer has been in the ag industry for 40 years. He has retired from the industry and is releasing music. Don’t stay out too late, we’re going to have fun the next morning.
Admission includes two drink tickets and food. This event is included in the Full Registration option as well as an a la carte item.
Jonathan Shaver
Envision Partners LLC
Leadership Coach and Talent Management Consultant
All great outcomes are achieved through relationships with other people. Jonathan Shaver founded Envision Partners to help organizations bring focus to the people-side of your company. Through impactful group facilitation or customized coaching, we partner with your organization, your team and employees to maximize the desired impact of your business or organization. Jonathan has been part of the food and agriculture industry for 24 years including a research scientist at Monsanto Life Sciences and an agronomy professor at Oklahoma State University.
Brad Droegmiller
Dodge Bearings & Power Transmission, Division of RBC
Senior Territory Manager
Brad has nearly 30 years of experience in bulk material handling and mechanical power transmission. Prior to joining Dodge Industrial, Brad worked for a conveyor manufacturer that supplied and engineered belt conveyors, screw conveyors, live bottom bins, ship loaders, belt feeders, bucket elevators, drag conveyors, screening/crushing equipment and complete conveyor systems globally. Brad has been with Dodge Industrial over 15 years and is currently a Senior Territory Manager. He has served on various engineering/sales committees and was an instructor for Dodge’s Advanced Conveyor Training Program. Brad’s past and present professional affiliations include, AED, CEMA,GEAPS, NSSGA and SME. He is a graduate of Wayne State College and is a past lecturer of SME and GEAPS. Brad has authored and published four industry and equipment related papers. His extensive knowledge of bulk material handling and mechanical power transmission is beneficial to OEMs as well as end users in the industry.
Ben Ferguson
Cargill, Inc.
Director-Human and Organizational Performance
Ben Ferguson is the Corporate Human and Organizational Performance Director for Cargill, with responsibility for leading the process of integrating HOP thinking and methods into the operations within the Cargill organization. Ben has more than 14 years of experience training, coaching, and integrating HOP into industrial organizations.
Prior to joining Cargill in 2017, Ben had HOP and environmental, health and safety roles with the HEICO Companies, John Deere and Alcoa. In addition to HOP, Ben expertise in industrial emergency response, incident investigation and event analysis. Ben is a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in industrial hygiene and has holds the Certified Safety Professional credential.
Dr. W. Scott Downey
Purdue University
Professor
Dr. W. Scott Downey is a professor in the agricultural economics department at Purdue University and director of the Center for Food and Agricultural Business. He oversees the Bachelor of Science in Sales and Marketing degree program and the Certificate in Industrial Selling. He has taught undergraduate and executive courses at Purdue for more than 20 years, including a highly rated sales course to 300 students each semester. He has been recognized with national and university-wide awards for his teaching. He is lead on author on one of the top books in this field, ProSelling, which is used in more than 80 different sales courses across the United States and Canada. He graduated from Purdue with bachelor and doctoral degrees and received his MBA from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. His PhD is in buyer behavior, which drives his research on customer buying decisions, sales processes that lead to them, and sales management activities that maximize ROI of those efforts. He has led action-based workshops with industrial sales groups all over the world and is a frequently published author in a variety of magazines.
Shawn Ellis
The Speakers Group
Motivational Keynote Speaker & Coach
Shawn Ellis has been inspiring readers and audiences for over 15 years, sharing ideas and principles to cultivate resilience and thrive in the face of uncertainty, adversity, and change.
Whether in his “Mastering the Moments” and “Beyond Resilience” keynotes, his “Built to Thrive” leadership development program, or his “Live Your Calling” coaching program, Shawn shares lessons from mindfulness, neuroscience, and psychology combined with strategic coaching methodologies to facilitate immediate and lasting shifts in mindset and behavior—so you, rather than your circumstances, are empowered to be the creator of your life experience.
Audiences especially appreciate Shawn’s “whole person” approach to thriving and his humor and authenticity as he shares his own decade-long journey of learning to rise above challenging circumstances and limiting beliefs to make the shift from just surviving to truly thriving.
His “thriving” clients include Bayhealth, Bridgestone, CMT, Dippin’ Dots, Freddie Mac, Medallion Transportation, Michigan Medicine, New Milford School District, United Insurance Group, and many more.
Shawn is a graduate of Belmont University and currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee. When he’s not developing or delivering content for his clients and community, you’re likely to find him in a Nerf war with his son, or on a nearby hiking trail, enjoying the beauty and rhythm of nature.