As we get closer to the time of our annual strawberry production research meeting, I want to share with you what we are doing. Clearly, having some 300 attendees packed shoulder to shoulder in a closed room to listen to the latest in strawberry science is not possible now, not to mention very likely ending in me and some of my colleagues time in jail and garnering a certain measure of national infamy.
Never fear, together with the fantastic collaboration of Emily Webster of the California Strawberry Commission, you will once again be able to partake in the finest that the University and its collaborators have to offer.
Unlike some of the other meetings, which have taken place on one single day, we are rather offering the presentations in an "on demand" format, meaning that you can watch them whenever you have the time. And time you will need, since in this format I can have scientists from out of state present just as easily as those right next door. The idea is to post them in a publicly accessible space online, to which you go to and pick and choose what you want to watch, when you want to watch it. I'm thinking right now we are close to 15 total presentations.
Continuing education Emily is petitioning the CDPR to award hours to presentations related to pest management, and YES, translated versions to Spanish for each presentation will be available.
So, stay tuned the meeting is coming.
One more thought as well. I've spoken with many growers and others about this meeting, and it is my full intention to bring it back to the in person format when it is safe to do so. There is nothing like the energy and camaraderie of the in- person meeting, so that needs to come back. Then again, and I have heard from others further away, that this Zoom format is great since you don't have to travel a whole day (or halfway around the world, as the case may be) to be here. I am intending to somehow offer that then too in the future.