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<< back to the 2001 archive listing << Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation Commentary From The Executive Director Make plans now to be in Minneapolis this August Where can you go to see and hear the leading authorities in food science? Where can you go to discuss the latest findings and methods in food protection? Well of course, it is IAFP 2001 — the Association’s 88th Annual Meeting! This year, like many years preceding, the Inter-national Association for Food Protection offers more than 350 presentations over the 3-day conference. Make your plans now to be in Minneapolis this August to partake and refresh your thirst for new knowledge. We are expecting up to 1,400 attendees at this year’s Annual Meeting. Our Meeting has become known as the place to be if your interests lie in food safety, science and protection. See page 423 for expanded information about IAFP 2001. The preliminary program gives a preview of what you can expect. There are 21 symposia, 60 technical presentations and 150 poster presentations this year in Minneapolis. Topics cover everything from dairy plant HACCP to irradiation, from zero tolerance to water quality, from food safety objectives to educating food service workers, and from indicator microorganisms to communications. Truly, something for everyone with interests in food safety. You might ask, how does all of this come together to make up IAFP 2001? The answer is really quite simple — many dedicated individuals pool their time, efforts and talents to make the Meeting flow smoothly. Planning begins more than a year before the actual Meeting. Two groups put forth a great amount of time and energy. They are the Local Arrangements Committee and the Program Committee. Jenny Scott covered the workings of the Program Committee in her March 2001 President’s Column, "My Perspective," so I will not duplicate that information here. Just let me add my sincere thanks to all of the Program Committee Members for their work in developing this year’s program. It takes a lot of hours to review the submitted abstracts, attend the Program Committee meeting and to place all elements of the Program in a logical order without duplicating topics or having speakers in two places at once! We rely upon the expertise of the Program Committee and Chairperson Stan Bailey to guide us in all Program related decisions. The Local Arrangements Committee begins their work about 18 months before the Annual Meeting. This year’s Committee is co-chaired by Paul Nierman and Mary Anderson from DQCI Services, Inc. and Dan Erickson from the State of Minnesota Department of Agriculture. These three Co-Chairpersons have been talking with Upper Midwest Dairy Industry Association (UMDIA) members for about three years to motivate those members to help out when the Meeting actually materializes. Now is the time that they (Paul, Mary and Dan) have to fill up their volunteer rosters and assign people to help at registration, in the session rooms, with the Audiovisual Library and Silent Auction, and to serve as hospitality hosts. We are grateful to UMDIA and all of the individual members who have agreed to help out during IAFP 2001. We recognize that it takes a great amount of dedication from everyone volunteering his or her time. By the end of our conference, UMDIA members will have logged hundreds of hours of volunteer time. Although it takes a lot of preparation and many hours, the experience forms lifetime friendships that might never have formed otherwise. Our thanks to all UMDIA members in advance for your commitment! One other group of people who should be recognized is our speakers and presenters. The vast majority of our speakers pay their own expenses to come to IAFP 2001 to share their presentation with our attendees. This commitment is truly amazing when you look at the expense each speaker’s employer incurs — all in the name of sharing information on protecting the food supply. As you prepare for your journey to Minneapolis, please take a moment to think about the time and effort that so many people put forth in preparing for IAFP 2001 — the Association’s 88th Annual Meeting. Remember that this Meeting doesn’t just happen, it takes years of planning and many hours of many people’s time. In planning your travel schedule, you will want to consider this year’s pre-meeting Workshops. We have three to choose from. Workshop I is titled, "Critical Steps in Laboratory Methods for the Detection of Listeria monocytogenes." Workshop II is "Applying Advanced Techniques to HACCP Systems," and is cosponsored by the US Poultry and Egg Association. Workshop I and II are 2-day workshops that begin on Friday. Workshop III is a one-day workshop on Saturday and is titled, "Crisis! Recall Management in the Food Industry." Workshop details appear on page 444 in this issue of DFES. We hope to see you this August in Minneapolis for IAFP 2001. It is sure to be the best food safety conference ever! |