NWA poised to hold its largest convention yet
NWA poised to hold its largest convention yet
The National Watermelon Association plans to provide "a slice of North Carolina" to attendees of its 93rd annual convention to be held Feb. 21-25 in Asheville, NC, at the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa.
"This is the first time we have had a convention in the state of North Carolina," Bob Morrissey, the NWA's executive director, told The Produce News. "It will be the single-largest convention that we have ever had. We are anticipating an attendance of 450 to 500 people, and that's huge for us. We set the record in Lake Tahoe last year, and we've already blown that away."
Mr. Morrissey said that the NWA, a voluntary membership group, has been in existence for 93 years, making it the second-oldest produce trade organization in the United States.
"We have members in 30 states plus Canada and Mexico and have 10 chapters across the country," he said. "Our purpose is to promote the best interests of the industry from production to consumption."
According to Mr. Morrissey, the NWA provides "the vast majority, if not all, of the scientific research that is not provided by the government through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We take care of it all. We handle all of the lobbying efforts for the industry in Washington and that's from grade standards and GAP certifications and grants with the USDA to working with our congressional leaders and the White House on comprehensive immigration reform and health care plans for small business and trade associations like ours. Membership is open to anybody who has an interest in the watermelon industry. It's not just farmers, not packers, shippers or brokers - it's everybody and anybody."
One of the priorities for the association over the next two years is food-safety education, and it will kick off the convention with its first-ever watermelon food-safety roundtable seminar during the morning of Feb. 21.
"We've never done this before, but based on all of the different issues that have affected other fruits and vegetables, we decided we wanted to begin to provide education to our members," Mr. Morrissey said. "We are bringing in some of the best experts on this subject that have been involved in the spinach, lettuce, tomato, green onion and cantaloupe deals for the last six or seven months from the [Produce Marketing Association, United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association], USDA, inspectors from departments of agriculture from North Carolina and South Carolina, and Dr. Trevor Suslow from the University of California-Davis. As far as research is concerned, Dr. Suslow is considered the expert on food safety."
He continued, "We are expecting a pretty sizable audience ... and we want to make this an annual process where we have an educational series every single year and we talk about different aspects of food safety. Instead of this being presentation after presentation and saving questions until the end, we are going to make this a huge roundtable discussion and allow [attendees and panelists] to interact with everyone along the way to make this a value. We did not want to sit here, as a national organization with a major fruit and vegetable item like watermelon, and not see things progress. Is something going to happen food-safety-wise with watermelon? Hopefully not, but we wanted to be progressive enough with some foresight to say, 'Let's start educating our people, and if we can change some attitudes or change some ways people are doing things or just get them to think outside the box a little bit, it's going to be that much better for the entire industry.' It's going to be an awesome, awesome event and we are looking forward to that."
On Wednesday afternoon, the NWA will hold its annual golf tournament at The Grove Park Country Club, which is ranked as one of the top 10 golf courses in the United States that are over 100 years old by Golf Digest magazine.
"People have told me that there is no way you can play golf at the end of February in North Carolina," he said. "At the end of February, the high temperature in Asheville is 55 to 60 degrees, and we are anticipating great weather and a great tournament."
After the 10 individual state chapter meetings take place Thursday afternoon, attendees are invited to a president's welcoming reception and dinner from 6:30 p.m. to midnight.
Friday promises to be an activity-packed day, starting with the opening general session breakfast at 8:30 a.m., where attendees will hear a welcome address by Steve Troxler, the commissioner of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, and see the kickoff of the annual National Watermelon Queen pageant.
A watermelon seed-spitting contest will take place later Friday morning, followed by the convention's most popular event, the annual watermelon auction at 1 p.m.
The auction, which will have a NASCAR theme, is where the association raises approximately 75 to 80 percent of its operating funds, Mr. Morrissey said. "If somebody has never been to our convention, they have never, ever seen anything like this in their life. It is so much fun and everyone has a blast," said Mr. Morrissey about the auction, which is expected to last for about five hours. "There are tables and tables of watermelon-related items, pretty much anything you can imagine with a watermelon on it, that are donated by our members and purchased by members." The cost is more than what would be paid in stores, he said, but members "know that they are making an investment into NWA and the programs for the following year. Where we raise the most money is auctioning the watermelon truckloads. Last year, farmers and grower-shippers donated 60 40,000-pound truckloads of watermelons to the association. We raised over $400,000 last year in those 60 loads."
Between events, attendees will be able to visit what Mr. Morrissey termed a "business-to-business center," an exhibit center of approximately 30 companies that will be "strategically located right outside entrances to the ballrooms where most of the events will be held, and that way we can get more people to interact with our exhibitors."
Mr. Morrissey added, "It is my personal goal to help the exhibitors and sponsors of our convention to get a [return on their investment]. We try to do everything we can to reward them and thank them for their contribution by driving people to them so they can at least have a conversation about their business and what solutions they can provide. There are a number of new exhibitors that are coming in this year. We have twice as many as we have ever had before, and we are very excited about that. If [attendees] need anything for their farm or packingshed, they'll be able to look at some of the solutions to what their needs are right at our convention, and that is exciting for us."
On Friday night, attendees will have the opportunity to visit and have dinner at what is arguably Asheville's most famous landmark, the Biltmore Estate. "We rented out the Biltmore Mansion exclusively, and after a very nice dinner at the Deerpark Restaurant, guests will be dropped off at the mansion for a 90-minute candlelight guided tour of the entire mansion," he said. "Five minutes of every half hour, a song will be played on the beautiful pipe organ in the Great Hall, something which the Biltmore does not typically do."
After Saturday's breakfast session, where Mr. Morrissey will give his "state of the NWA address," attendees with have the afternoon off to enjoy the facilities at the resort and spa. That night, the NWA will host its annual awards banquet, where it "will be honoring up to 12 of our board members that have been serving on the NWA board for over 30 years," he said. "We are going to honor them in a ceremony and promote them to our lifetime council. On Saturday night, we get to bring the people up onstage that have really meant the most to us and honor them and really show our appreciation. We will also crown our 2007 National Watermelon Queen that night."
At Sunday's closing breakfast, Brent Jackson of Jackson's Farming Co. will hand over the gavel to Bradley O'Neal of Coosaw Farms, marking the end of Mr. Jackson's two-year term as NWA president.
"There is a lot that happens in three-and-a-half to four days," said Mr. Morrissey, who came to the NWA two years ago after serving as marketing director at the Florida Department of Citrus. "This was a wonderful opportunity to really take the NWA to the next level and to evolve it into a nationally recognized and eventually a world-class trade association. Especially being a voluntary organization, we're really headed on the right track."
"This is the first time we have had a convention in the state of North Carolina," Bob Morrissey, the NWA's executive director, told The Produce News. "It will be the single-largest convention that we have ever had. We are anticipating an attendance of 450 to 500 people, and that's huge for us. We set the record in Lake Tahoe last year, and we've already blown that away."
Mr. Morrissey said that the NWA, a voluntary membership group, has been in existence for 93 years, making it the second-oldest produce trade organization in the United States.
"We have members in 30 states plus Canada and Mexico and have 10 chapters across the country," he said. "Our purpose is to promote the best interests of the industry from production to consumption."
According to Mr. Morrissey, the NWA provides "the vast majority, if not all, of the scientific research that is not provided by the government through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. We take care of it all. We handle all of the lobbying efforts for the industry in Washington and that's from grade standards and GAP certifications and grants with the USDA to working with our congressional leaders and the White House on comprehensive immigration reform and health care plans for small business and trade associations like ours. Membership is open to anybody who has an interest in the watermelon industry. It's not just farmers, not packers, shippers or brokers - it's everybody and anybody."
One of the priorities for the association over the next two years is food-safety education, and it will kick off the convention with its first-ever watermelon food-safety roundtable seminar during the morning of Feb. 21.
"We've never done this before, but based on all of the different issues that have affected other fruits and vegetables, we decided we wanted to begin to provide education to our members," Mr. Morrissey said. "We are bringing in some of the best experts on this subject that have been involved in the spinach, lettuce, tomato, green onion and cantaloupe deals for the last six or seven months from the [Produce Marketing Association, United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association], USDA, inspectors from departments of agriculture from North Carolina and South Carolina, and Dr. Trevor Suslow from the University of California-Davis. As far as research is concerned, Dr. Suslow is considered the expert on food safety."
He continued, "We are expecting a pretty sizable audience ... and we want to make this an annual process where we have an educational series every single year and we talk about different aspects of food safety. Instead of this being presentation after presentation and saving questions until the end, we are going to make this a huge roundtable discussion and allow [attendees and panelists] to interact with everyone along the way to make this a value. We did not want to sit here, as a national organization with a major fruit and vegetable item like watermelon, and not see things progress. Is something going to happen food-safety-wise with watermelon? Hopefully not, but we wanted to be progressive enough with some foresight to say, 'Let's start educating our people, and if we can change some attitudes or change some ways people are doing things or just get them to think outside the box a little bit, it's going to be that much better for the entire industry.' It's going to be an awesome, awesome event and we are looking forward to that."
On Wednesday afternoon, the NWA will hold its annual golf tournament at The Grove Park Country Club, which is ranked as one of the top 10 golf courses in the United States that are over 100 years old by Golf Digest magazine.
"People have told me that there is no way you can play golf at the end of February in North Carolina," he said. "At the end of February, the high temperature in Asheville is 55 to 60 degrees, and we are anticipating great weather and a great tournament."
After the 10 individual state chapter meetings take place Thursday afternoon, attendees are invited to a president's welcoming reception and dinner from 6:30 p.m. to midnight.
Friday promises to be an activity-packed day, starting with the opening general session breakfast at 8:30 a.m., where attendees will hear a welcome address by Steve Troxler, the commissioner of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, and see the kickoff of the annual National Watermelon Queen pageant.
A watermelon seed-spitting contest will take place later Friday morning, followed by the convention's most popular event, the annual watermelon auction at 1 p.m.
The auction, which will have a NASCAR theme, is where the association raises approximately 75 to 80 percent of its operating funds, Mr. Morrissey said. "If somebody has never been to our convention, they have never, ever seen anything like this in their life. It is so much fun and everyone has a blast," said Mr. Morrissey about the auction, which is expected to last for about five hours. "There are tables and tables of watermelon-related items, pretty much anything you can imagine with a watermelon on it, that are donated by our members and purchased by members." The cost is more than what would be paid in stores, he said, but members "know that they are making an investment into NWA and the programs for the following year. Where we raise the most money is auctioning the watermelon truckloads. Last year, farmers and grower-shippers donated 60 40,000-pound truckloads of watermelons to the association. We raised over $400,000 last year in those 60 loads."
Between events, attendees will be able to visit what Mr. Morrissey termed a "business-to-business center," an exhibit center of approximately 30 companies that will be "strategically located right outside entrances to the ballrooms where most of the events will be held, and that way we can get more people to interact with our exhibitors."
Mr. Morrissey added, "It is my personal goal to help the exhibitors and sponsors of our convention to get a [return on their investment]. We try to do everything we can to reward them and thank them for their contribution by driving people to them so they can at least have a conversation about their business and what solutions they can provide. There are a number of new exhibitors that are coming in this year. We have twice as many as we have ever had before, and we are very excited about that. If [attendees] need anything for their farm or packingshed, they'll be able to look at some of the solutions to what their needs are right at our convention, and that is exciting for us."
On Friday night, attendees will have the opportunity to visit and have dinner at what is arguably Asheville's most famous landmark, the Biltmore Estate. "We rented out the Biltmore Mansion exclusively, and after a very nice dinner at the Deerpark Restaurant, guests will be dropped off at the mansion for a 90-minute candlelight guided tour of the entire mansion," he said. "Five minutes of every half hour, a song will be played on the beautiful pipe organ in the Great Hall, something which the Biltmore does not typically do."
After Saturday's breakfast session, where Mr. Morrissey will give his "state of the NWA address," attendees with have the afternoon off to enjoy the facilities at the resort and spa. That night, the NWA will host its annual awards banquet, where it "will be honoring up to 12 of our board members that have been serving on the NWA board for over 30 years," he said. "We are going to honor them in a ceremony and promote them to our lifetime council. On Saturday night, we get to bring the people up onstage that have really meant the most to us and honor them and really show our appreciation. We will also crown our 2007 National Watermelon Queen that night."
At Sunday's closing breakfast, Brent Jackson of Jackson's Farming Co. will hand over the gavel to Bradley O'Neal of Coosaw Farms, marking the end of Mr. Jackson's two-year term as NWA president.
"There is a lot that happens in three-and-a-half to four days," said Mr. Morrissey, who came to the NWA two years ago after serving as marketing director at the Florida Department of Citrus. "This was a wonderful opportunity to really take the NWA to the next level and to evolve it into a nationally recognized and eventually a world-class trade association. Especially being a voluntary organization, we're really headed on the right track."
