Pacific Agriculture Show kicks off

The first all-digital edition of the Pacific Agriculture Show kicks off Thursday morning, treating participants to the direction of future trade shows and conferences.

This winter’s industry events have been transformed as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which continue to limit in-person gatherings and events. Organizations have embraced a variety of conferencing platforms, often incorporating familiar elements such as Zoom videoconferencing and profile pages for attendees not unlike social networking platforms.

Organizers of the Pacific Agriculture Show chose Pheedloop, a made-in-Canada platform to host this year’s event. A tested platform, it will allow participants to interact and engage with each other, and ensure access to show content for up to a year.

Preregistrations have exceeded 500, and visitors to the show will have more than 140 virtual booths to explore, including equipment dealers, government agencies and, of course, Country Life in BC.

While there will be no pressing of the flesh, Shepard hopes visitors will consider it a one-stop networking spot during and between the presentations making up the growers’ short course organized by the Lower Mainland Horticultural Improvement Association.

“This year’s show is definitely going to be different but the response from the entire ag community has been really supportive,” he says. “It’s shaping up to be great venue to stay in touch until life gets back to normal!”

In addition to the regular short-course sessions covering berries, vegetables, floriculture and hazelnuts, several sessions will be free to all trade show attendees. These include agricultural water management on Thursday, and farm business management and agri-innovation on Friday.

Co-organizer of this year’s event is the BC Agriculture Council, which will host its annual BC Agri-Food Industry Gala on Thursday evening. The hour-long event begins at 5:30pm and features keynote speaker and nationally recognized personality Rex Murphy.

Registration for all events other than the short course is free, but participants must sign up. To register, visit [https://pheedloop.com/register/agricultureshow/attendee/] (access code: pas2021).

To register for the short course, visit [https://www.agricultureshow.net/horticultural-growers-short-course/].