We just returned from Portland, OR, where Clyde, Pierce, Jan, our new Nebraska Department of Agriculture colleague, Mark, county educator Robert Tigner, and I all attended the 2011 Pesticide Applicator Certification and Training conference. This national meeting is held every other year (with Regional meetings in between) and provides a chance for PSEP colleagues around the country to network and discuss new ideas. Session topics included pesticide exposure and PPE, the Ag Health Study, NPIC resources, improving PPT presentations, soil fumigation, using Adobe Connect and Present, and IPM, just to name a few.
We were very pleasantly surprised to have many comments from colleagues about our YouTube dramatization video work! A colleague from North Dakota even showed a clip in his presentation of our What to Wear video about PPE, and said how he has used it in his own training. It was great to find out that other state counterparts are enjoying and using our training videos.
The day before the conference began, our group had the opportunity to go on a tour that demonstrated Oregon agriculture or good IPM/pesticide practices. We visited Oregon Berry Packing Company, an Oregon hazelnut store, Fisher Farms nursery, International Rose Test Garden, and Nike World Headquarters.
Attendees also got to enjoy a social outing during our stay, with dinner at Queen Anne Victorian Mansion and its outdoor gardens. And before we went home, some of my colleagues and I couldn't miss a stop at Powell's City of Books, which is a city block long and 5 stories high! After that, it was off to Old Town Pizza, which is supposedly haunted by a ghost from the 1800's!
Our next national meeting will be held in the twin cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) in Minnesota. As someone who lived in MN for five years as a child, I'm greatly looking forward to getting back to the state!
This is one very nice event to attend to. Congratulations guys!
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