Notes on a Conference: 2011 NOFA-NY Winter Conference, Part I

Back in January I attended the NOFA-NY winter conference for the first time. I tried to go with no expectations other than to meet new people and come back with a ton of materials to help me get clear on my future farm goals (I just loves me some magazines and stickers!). While I have an opinion or five (who, me?) about specific aspects of the conference, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, feeling both welcomed and confident to keep going on this path.

It is very challenging living Downstate when you want to be involved in New York State’s agriculture community beyond a consumer’s role, and I won’t go into that pesky business about me not having a driver’s license yet (12 years in the making!) that’s keeping me from getting Upstate as often as I’d like to be. I’ve been going strong supporting NYS farmers by shopping exclusively at farmer’s markets year-round and being a CSA core member for the past three years, but now that I am actually considering a livelihood in farming, I’ve got to do more. This conference was good for me on a lot of levels.

The best thing about going to conferences is those breakout sessions where you can learn about a topic that interests you. The sad part about going to conferences is that so many of them sound exciting and you hate having to choose. But I don’t have to worry about what I missed, because this called Organic Voices was on hand and recorded the sessions in both mp3 and CD format. This is one of the best ideas ever and every conference should have Organic Voices there.

There was a lot of information packed into that three-day weekend, and I ended up having to retreat to my hotel room on more than one occasion just so I could decompress from all the information. It took me about three days after I got back to even look at all the handouts, catalogs, and brochures I brought back with me.

Because I was a scholarship recipient, I was able to meet some of the staff and engage with them a little more deeply than I think I would have if I was just a first-time attendee. I am deeply grateful to the sponsors who made the scholarship fund possible. Having been behind the scenes at a number of conferences and major events over the years, I know firsthand the hundreds of hours that go into putting on an event like this and for that I salute everyone who worked ‘round the clock to pull it off.

In my next post, I’ll go into detail about the sessions I attended.

I also interviewed some folks I met there, including Kristina Perry, NOFA-NY’s Food Justice Coordinator, so be on the lookout for those posts as well.