Report of the WAS Industry Relations Committee

Sydney, Australia. September 25-26, 2004.

Committee Members / Chair, Lorenzo Juarez, Alejandro Flores, John Hargreaves, Dan Fegan, Julie Delabbio

TASKS, ACTIONS AND REQUIRED DECISIONS

Tasks

/ Actions / Required Decisions
1. Work with John Cooksey to meet and greet conference exhibitors / Committee members reminded to check with John Cooksey in order to greet exhibitors as needed / None
2. Consider on-line trade show concept with Quick-Stream. / Designed guidelines for concept (see Appendix). / Aprove concept and proceed to quote with Quick-Stream.
Market to exhibitors
3. Co-ordinate with conference organizing committee (include person from Conference organizing committee). / Contacted organizers of Sydney Meeting. Include person from upcoming meetings? / Decide on including person from upcoming meetings

Additional Ideas for the WAS Industry Re lations Committee

(Lorenzo Juarez and Julie Delabbio)

  1. Strengthen Ties with Industry and Farming Associations (non-exhibit industry)

1.2What can we do to further involve WAS with the Aquaculture Industry as a whole, not only with suppliers that exhibit at shows? What additional contacts can we promote with non-exhibit industry? Consider how we relate (or could relate) to the industry other than the trade show. We should perhaps carry out a survey of the industry to see how they perceive WAS and where they believe we can play a role. This would help us to develop a clear industry-relations strategy for the Society.

1.3Increase joint meetings with Industry farming associations (i.e. Catfish farmers of America, Striped Bass Growers Association, Tilapia Growers Association, etc).

1.4Increase Industry presence at WAS Board. Maybe we can start with Committee membership. Can we identify some industry people to assist us in this committee?

  1. Industry Participants at WAS meetings (exhibitors and attendants).

2.2At WAS meetings, farmers often express that most talks lack practical value. While research should have an important place in WAS, most members of Industry would like to see more practical sessions centered on how to solve problems from a practical standpoint. Some sort of "compartmentalization" will be required, as the hot problems are species and region-specific. This is probably best done by getting more industry involvement in the meeting planning and session committees. They would be able to identify appropriate “hot topics” for the meeting that would attract industry. This was very successful in the Bangkok APC meeting when the session on vannamei culture was “standing room only”.

2.3Perhaps we could organize producer sessions at meetings with specific topics (i.e. Management practices to reduce the impact of White Spot in shrimp farming in Asia, etc.), where specialists and farmers are brought together in a dynamic and interactive format. This is done in some of the meetings outside of the USA. It does involve translation if the location is in a non-English speaking country to encourage farmers and industry people. In general, it helps if there is a good topic.

2.4Another idea would be special WAS-sponsored seminars by recognized specialists in the main areas-problems of the world.

2.5The evaluation form sent to Trade Show expositors after meetings proved not valuable, and was thus discontinued. We still wonder what can be done to get feedback from this group.

2.6How can we better work with John Cooksey to welcome conference exhibitors? Most conference exhibitors are more concerned with getting their stands up efficiently and having a good attendance at the trade show, especially prospective customers. Several of us do visit the booths to thank the exhibitors and get some feedback.

2.7Would a pre-conference social with expositors be a good idea? Or a short post-conference meeting with them? Or a letter sent to them after the meeting requesting feedback and "how can we serve you better?"

2.8Any ideas as far as including a novel products session at upcoming WAS meetings? What meetings are still open for new sessions?

2.9At large conferences consider having a separate night of socials centered on the different species (i.e., Tilapia cocktail, marine fish party, shrimp room, etc.).Time is usually the limitation on this given the number of social and business events that are organized around the WAS meeting. Cost might also be a consideration.

APPENDIX: Online trade show concept; Quick-stream, or similar

  1. Obtain quotes from Quick-stream and/or similar for an on-line showcase of 6 to 10 aquaculture companies to be linked from the WAS website.
  2. Individual company presentations to be 3 to 5 minutes long, include audio and pictures (video?) and showcase the products, services, and personalities of each company, based on interviews that could be conducted at actual tradeshow, and/or be prepared with materials provided by the company.
  3. Presentations can link to company website, online catalogs, ordering, etc.
  4. Present concept and costs to trade show exhibitors, indicating initial limited availability during pilot phase.
  5. Implement mechanisms to track success of online show as sales tool.
  6. Based on results, adjust and expand concept.