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PRO Institute at Lake Tahoe — August 12-15, 2007
PRO Institute's postharvest and marketing program is designed to share the floral expertise of mass marketers, growers, importers, bouquet suppliers, florists, transportation firms, cooler companies, educators, wholesalers, and/or dry good suppliers with the research findings and commercial experiences of the discussion leaders. The discussion leaders are Dr. George Staby, president of Perishables Research Organization and founder of the PRO Institutes and Chain of Life Network® and Dr. Michael Reid, Professor and Postharvest Extension Specialist, University of California, Davis. The program is limited to 30 attendees.
Nearly 200 individuals representing 118 companies, associations, and universities have participated in eight PRO Institutes conducted during the last three years. Participation will help ensure that attendees are ahead of the curve with practical, cutting edge, and commercially viable solutions to postharvest related problems. General subjects covered include the latest in flower and plant care and handling, quality measurements, production factors that influence postharvest crop quality, cold chain issues, factors affecting crop quality after harvest, postharvest disease prevention, and consumer reactions to floral products and services. Attendees have opportunities to discuss other topics of interest.
The next PRO Institute will be held August 12-15, 2007 (starting 5 PM on the 12th with departure on the15th), at the Executive Lodge Complex of the Granlibakken Resort & Conference Center in Tahoe City, CA. Located about one mile from Lake Tahoe, some of the resort's amenities include tennis, a swimming pool, spa, fine cuisine, hiking, and wireless Internet/data port connections. The resort is conveniently located about one hour away from Reno/Tahoe International Airport, where shuttle service to and from the facility is available.
Those attendees interested can arrive early, depart late, and/or bring their families to enjoy the lake, mountains, and surrounding venues. In addition, one can always try their luck at gaming, as there are many nearby Nevada casinos.
Cost — All program-related costs except transportation are included in the registration fee. Registration includes three nights lodging, eight meals, four breaks, three beer/wine/soft drink social hours, handouts, and the program itself.
Single is $1,825 per person (one attendee per room).
Double is $1,590 per person (two attendees per room).
Attendee plus spouse, children, and/or guests is $1,825 plus $160 per additional person (spouse/guests/children must share same room with attendee, meals included).
Registration — George Staby is handling all Granlibakken and PRO Institute reservations. To secure your registration, send a check for the applicable amount to Perishables Research Organization, 18210 Conifer Court, Pioneer, CA 95666. Bank wiring instructions and/or invoices are provided upon request. Alternatively, contact George at george.staby@volcano.net or 209-295-1577 to register and/or ask questions. The program is limited to 30 attendees.
Cancellations — Cancellations made prior to July 1, 2007 will result in a full refund, after July 1, 2007 and up until August 1, 2007 will result in a 50% refund, while cancellations on August 1, 2007 or later will result in no refund.
Previous Attendees — The following companies, universities, and associations have sent one or more representatives to one or more of the PRO Institutes.
1800FLOWERS (NY)
A&P Canada (Canada)
AgroFresh (PA)
Aldershot of New Mexico (NM)
Aphrodite Roses (Colombia)
Aquatrois (NJ)
Armellini Industries (FL)
Assoc. of Floral Importers of Florida (FL)
Avery Dennison (OH, WA)
Ball FloraPlant (IL)
Bay City Flower Company (CA)
Beaverton Florists (OR)
Borgen Systems (IA)
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (CA)
California Association of Flower Growers and Shippers (CA)
California Cut Flower Commission (CA)
Chase Research Gardens (CA)
Claymore C. Sieck, Inc. (MD)
Colombia Center for Innovation in Foriculture (Colombia)
Delaware Valley Wholesale Florists (NJ)
Dole Fresh Flowers (CA, FL)
Dos Gringos (CA)
Dramm & Echter (CA)
Dreisbach Wholesale Florist (KY)
EnviroLogix (ME)
Equiflor (Colombia, FL)
Escort Data Loggers (WA)
Esprit Miami (FL, AZ)
Falcon Farms (Columbia, FL, NV)
Field of Flowers (FL)
Fife Flowers and Gifts (WA)
First Distributors (CA)
Floral Marketing Innovations (MA)
Floral Solutions (The Netherlands)
Floralife (SC, CA, FL)
Floraline (OH)
Floratech (NY)
Flores del Valle (Equador)
Florist Distributing / Hy-Vee (IA)
Flower Focus Ltd. (United Kingdom)
Flower Transfer (FL)
FlowerWatch (The Netherlands)
Fresh Express (CA)
Goldsmith Seeds (CA)
Greenleaf Wholesale Florist (CA)
Hallmark Flowers (MS)
Hardin's Wholesale Florist (NC)
Hoogasian Flowers (CA)
Hy-Vee Inc. (IA)
ICA TriNova LLC (GA)
Infratab (CA)
International Floral Distributors (CA)
J. J. Kothari & Co. Ltd. (Ethiopia)
Jacques Flower Shop (NH)
Jessup Transportation (CA)
John G. Hofland Ltd. (Canada)
Kendall Farms (CA)
Kendal Floral (CA)
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Kitayama Brothers (CA)
Klatt, Inc. (CA)
Lakeshore (Canada)
Loblaws (Canada)
Maria Flowers (FL)
Marubeni Specialty Chemicals (Japan, NY)
MEI (IL)
Mellano Brothers (CA)
MIA Perishables Center, LLC (FL)
Montalbano Technology (Italy)
Mundoflowers (TX, Mexico)
Nelpo SA (Ecuador)
Oberer Flowers (OH)
Ocean View Flowers (CA, OH)
P&F Ornamentales (Costa Rica)
Pacifica Farms (CA)
Passion Growers (Colombia, FL)
Passion Growers West (CA)
Perishables Research Organization (CA)
Perlmart (NJ)
Petals West (Canada)
Pinckney Molded Plastics (MI)
Pokon & Chrysal (The Netherlands)
Pokon and Chrysal USA (OR, Canada)
Prime Floral (CA, MO)
Proflowers.com (CA)
Pyramid Flowers (CA)
Rose Isle Floral (Canada)
Safeway (CA)
Schnucks (MO)
Seagroatt Riccardi (NY)
Seaman Paper (MA)
Selective Micro Technologies (MA)
Sensitech (MA)
Smithers Oasis (OH)
Stems & Bunches (MA)
Stop & Shop (MA)
Sud-Chemie (CA)
Sun Valley Floral Group (CA)
Sunshine Bouquet (Colombia, FL)
Syndicate Sales (IN)
Syngenta (Switzerland, NC)
The Elite Flower (Colombia, NJ)
The Kroger Company (OH, CO)
The Produce News (KS, CT)
Tosca Limited (WI, IN)
TransFresh (CA)
Trinity Farms, (Colombia)
Ukrop's Super Markets (VA)
Universidad Autonoma Agraria (Mexico)
University of California, Davis (CA)
University of Florida (FL)
USA Bouquet (FL)
USDA-ARS (CA)
Vacuum Cooling Colombia (Colombia)
Wageningen University (Holland)
Wholesale Florist & Florist Supplier Association (MD)
World Flowers (Great Britain)
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Agenda
| Sunday |
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5:00 |
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Meet your fellow attendees and speakers at a reception featuring wine, beer, soft drinks followed by dinner prepared by the award winning Granlibakken Chefs. Introductory comments will be made about the conference and hotel complex, schedule flexibility, FAQ, change of pace products, and "Quality is Free" by Philip Crosby. |
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| Monday |
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7:30 |
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Breakfast |
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8:15 |
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Session I: Importance of production and harvest factors influencing postharvest crop quality including species/cultivar, nutrients, light, water, container/pot configuration, growing media, acclimatization, packaging, and stage of maturity at harvest |
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10:00 |
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Break |
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10:30 |
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Session II: Growth regulators/hormones including ethylene, temperature, precooling, relative humidity, water quality, storage, transportation, disease, packaging, hygiene, anti-yellowing and anti-ethylene treatments, gibberellins, cytokinins |
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12:00 |
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Lunch |
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1:30 |
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Session III: Cold Chain related subjects including using sea containers for shipping floral crops |
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3:45 |
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Break |
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4:00 |
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Session IV: A review of the most current postharvest research findings, while providing specifics that can dramatically improve the chain of life from grower to consumer and a look into what technologies are on the horizon and how you may be able to capitalize on them |
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6:00 |
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Period of social adjustment followed by dinner featuring the best in local cuisine |
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| Tuesday |
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7:30 |
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Breakfast |
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8:15 |
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Session V: Consumer related subjects including using the Chain of Life Network® web site to obtain data/articles related to improving crop quality and increasing floral sales, guarantees, shrinkage rates, color, longevity, roll of breeders, mass market floral roll, trade press, contributing writers. |
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10:00 |
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Break |
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10:30 |
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Session VI: Products that reportedly directly or indirectly improve postharvest performance of floral crops |
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12:00 |
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Lunch |
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1:30 |
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Session VII: Botrytis detection, prevention, and control techniques for use in the production and postharvest marketing of floral crops and increasing consumer consumption of flowers |
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2:45 |
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Break |
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3:00 |
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Session VIII: "Mass Market" session including the Great Britain approach, where to we go from here, and feedback from attendees |
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6:00 |
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It's that time again — to relax and enjoy drinks, dinner and conversation |
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7:00 |
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Final wrap up, Q&A session, and formulate action plans by creating a manageable, workable ?to-do? list |
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| Wednesday |
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7:30 |
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Breakfast, last minute informal discussions, tour of Perishables Research Organization and/or departure |
Questions/Registration — Please contact George by e-mail, phone (209-295-1577), or georgeStaby (Skype). |
