Last month, the National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants (NAICC) held its annual meeting from January 26th to 30th in sunny Orlando, FL. Despite weather challenges for much of the US, Waterborne’s Jennifer Trask and Shawn Meyer were able to escape the snowy weather and soak in the warm Florida sun. The meeting was a success and gave us the chance to learn what’s ahead for the coming year. share experiences and cutting-edge tools and skills with friends and colleagues. As a bonus, we found time for a little team-building fun. 

There were many highlights from this year's meeting! For Waterborne, meeting the many people who stopped by our booth ranked number 1. Outside the booth, this year’s meeting included educational workshops, training sessions, networking events, and professional development opportunities. 

One thing that makes this NAICC event special is the chance for exhibitors to offer a raffle prize. This year, Waterborne’s offering was a mouth-watering basket of Florida fresh fruit, which went to Kenneth Bolen of Carolina Ag-Research Service for winning the fresh Florida fruit basket. Congratulations, Kenneth!

When not in the booth, Jennifer and Shawn spent their days meeting with clients and understanding their needs for 2026 and beyond. It’s always a pleasure to spend face-to-face time with our clients and partners, helping them identify solutions to current challenges and frame exciting opportunities for future collaboration. 

There were also many amazing and valuable talks throughout the week! We had the opportunity to attend various sessions on topics ranging from drones and social media platforms to regulatory updates from ESA and government updates from EPA and USDA. 

While the week was full of opportunities for professional gatherings, Jennifer and Shawn did manage to squeeze in a quick trip to Disney’s Epcot, which was the cherry on top of a productive week of meetings! Seeing Epcot at night was amazing. We saw how Disney is sustainably growing food for its local restaurants and experimenting with new technologies to maximize food production, such as vertical farming. Shawn’s highlight was seeing Disney’s aquaculture systems, which brought back memories of his time as a research scientist at Southern Illinois University. Of course, we had to sneak in a few roller coasters and visit some “countries"! 

While the year has just begun and there is much to accomplish in 2026, we look forward to seeing everyone next year at The Gateway City in St. Louis!