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<< back to the 2002 archive listing << Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation Commentary From The Executive Director I want to expand on all the ways our Student PDG participated this year
at IAFP 2002 WOW! IAFP 2002 exceeded all of our expectations. Even with a somewhat sluggish US economy, we set records in number of attendees, exhibitors, Monday Night Social attendees and in number of rooms used at the host hotel! It is too early to report on the “final” numbers, so we will save that for a future column. The growth we are experiencing is a direct result of the quality of the program material presented year after year at the IAFP Annual Meeting. You, as an active Member and participant, are to be commended for the work you put forth which benefits all Members and attendees. IAFP is one special organization with thousands of special Members working towards a common goal of protecting the food supply from contamination. One group within the Membership should be recognized for their exceptional contribution. That group is the Student Professional Development Group (PDG). Since their beginnings after the 1999 Annual Meeting, participation has steadily grown. Student presence was recognized everywhere at IAFP 2002 from their booth in the exhibit hall foyer, to their involvement as session room monitors and audiovisual assistants. I want to expand on all the ways our Student PDG participated this year at IAFP 2002. This year marked the third annual Student PDG Luncheon. It is inspiring to see the active participation of so many IAFP students at these luncheons and this year was no exception, with close to 90 attendees. These students listened to Jim Dickson, IAFP President talk about his experiences as an educator in the food industry. Sharing information and experiences, that is what IAFP is all about! Another way of sharing at IAFP 2002 was through many student presentations over the three-day conference. Over 125 students registered for this Annual Meeting and a good percentage of them presented papers at IAFP 2002. We know for sure that there were 57 students involved in the Developing Scientists Competition. That is a record number for this competition. The Student PDG also organized and presented a symposium titled “Cooperating to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Investigations” with internationally recognized speakers from FDA, CDC, the California Department of Health Services, and Texas Tech University. There was a lot of interest in this symposium as was witnessed by the session attendance. Isn’t it wonderful to have such an energetic group of students looking for more ways to become actively involved? Let me answer that for you — YES it is! Over the past few years, the IAFP staff has come to rely upon the students to help us prepare for the poster sessions. Usually, late on Sunday evening, after the Opening Session and Reception are completed, students and staff set the poster boards in place for Monday morning’s poster session. Their involvement with the poster sessions during the entire conference has helped a great deal. Another place where the Student PDG stepped up and really helped out this year was by volunteering to assist as session room monitors and audiovisual assistants. These volunteers perform crucial functions such as dimming the lights for LCD presentations and assisting convenors with audiovisual complications. We were glad to have the extra workforce this year in San Diego! IAFP 2002 provided the setting for the second Job Fair sponsored and organized by the Student PDG. Again this year, there were a good number of students involved and a nice selection of potential employers. Each year, the Job Fair has grown and we look forward to continued growth next year and in to the future. In addition to all of the student involvement, the Student PDG has undertaken the production of a Newsletter. The Student PDG newsletter is distributed via E-mail and is available on the Student PDG page of IAFP’s Web site. As you can see, the IAFP students are actively involved in many ways within IAFP. If you are a student and are not “in touch” with the Student PDG, I suggest you contact Manan Sharma at msharma@cfs.griffin.peachnet.edu to learn how you can become involved. Everyone is welcome! You may also contact me at the IAFP office to join the Student PDG. Thanks to all of the students for your participation in IAFP 2002 and special thanks to Kali Kniel and Manan Sharma for your leadership this past year! |