Travis: I always really enjoy attending this conference! It is great to catch up with colleagues and clients alike and meet new professionals to the field or this area of crop protection. There have been a lot of changes in the industry so connecting the dots on where and how people have moved internal and external to their organization is important for us. 

Throughout the week, I met with several field research cooperators who we have worked with over the years as well as next generation scientists within family businesses. I enjoy these in-person opportunities to discuss ongoing work with clients and meet with analytical laboratories to understand the challenges they face for their part of the process. Our event was complete with the addition of the charity poker game which I joined with Jenn and Natalie. It is always a fun evening.

San Antonio’s warmer weather was a welcome break, and my wife and I enjoyed visiting the Alamo and River Walk. Can’t wait for next year’s meeting! 

Jennifer: This time of year is always a challenge with unexpected weather, but the cold temperatures that crippled the Midwest leading into the week was a new experience. Cold temperatures in the lower double digits brought on many conversations of climate change impacts and challenges many farmers, researchers, and sponsors are facing whether planning new study trials or needing to adjust ongoing field research. This event was an opportunity to catch up with those who have collaborated with Waterborne over its 30-year history and personally for me over my 20+ year tenure. I thank everyone for their valuable time discussing opportunities and how Waterborne can help them succeed in any part of their work. 

An exciting, but unexpected surprise, was finishing 2^nd place in the charity poker game! The event is always a wonderful evening of networking, laughs, and surprise endings for even the novice poker players while supporting a good cause. My late-night stamina was probably my secret weapon in my near victorious experience. A highlight from the conference was joining Natalie on a tour of the Alamo. While the grounds are much smaller today within the city’s urban development, the amount of care and restoration over the many decades preserving this history was amazing to see. We noted the moisture and temperature monitoring instrumentation setups being used inside Alamo Church which is similar to what we use in our field studies. The time went fast and upon departing I even had an in-depth conversation with my Uber driver, originally from the UK, on environmental challenges including water use and how will we feed a growing world population with safe, healthy and affordable food choices. He expressed his gratitude to all those trying to move the needle on US and global environmental and crop challenges. I look forward to connecting with others after the conference to see where we can help them in 2024.

Natalie: This was my first time attending the conference and the opportunities to interact with new people and share more information about our Waterborne work was a highlight. A few high points included learning more about auditing digital data through a session focused on e-Data, the importance and knowledge surrounding quality control and quality assurance, and how to better prepare for client facility inspections. These aspects are a big part of what we deal with on studies conducted according to Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) standards or those “in the spirit of the GLPs”. I enjoyed stepping away from the conference for a few hours to visit the Alamo and some other sites downtown with Jenn and attending the charity poker game. I learned how to play Texas hold’em so now I can practice and be ready for next year!