Many of you joined us right from the start on Sunday afternoon choosing to attend either the Transition or Advanced  Agronomic Workshops.   Excellent instruction was provided by Ian Cushon, Organic Producer, Saskatchewan and AV Singh, Truro, Nova Scotia.

We were pleased that you could join us downtown Saskatoon as the Santa Claus parade travelled down First Avenue.  Thanks to Natures Path, Bean North Coffee Roasting and the Hilton Garden Inn our partners in sponsoring the Organic Hot Chocolate and Cookies that were handed out to parade participants young and old!  

 Exhibitors and participants were both treated to excellent Organic Appetizers prepared by Chef Sherri and Staff at TCU using the very best in Organic products.   Stringed entertainment was provided on 2 floors of TCYU and a good time was had by all!   Watch for an extended party in the trade show in 2010.

Many people crowded into our first Plenary Session on Monday morning  with Joel Salatin from Polyface Farms in Virginia, USA.   We were not disappointed as he delivered an inspirational and informative talk that had everyone standing on their feet applauding by the end.  Joel was kept busy autographing books following this presentation.    

Richard Heinberg’s presentation on Peak Oil provided an opportunity for the delivery method to be an important part of the message.   Among the many things we learned from Richard we also discovered that technology can still present challenges when satellites fail, power goes out and communication lines are not as clear as you wish.   We appreciated your patience as we worked through these difficulties and will carefully consider the use of web-casts in the future.

We owe a huge thank you to Dag Falk of Natures Path who became the pinch hitter for our Tuesday morning Plenary Session when Xingji Xiao was unable to attend from Hanjing, China.   Dag gave an eye opening presentation on Nano Technology and has generously made that presentation available to you here.

We know you were kept plenty busy choosing between four concurrent sessions highlighting Transitions, Sustainability, Lifestyles and Farming.   We heard what you liked in your evaluations -  what you want more of and for how long.  We will work hard to offer as good a selection as we did in the past.  Checkout presentations listed above from the Breakout session. -Check out our program ->>

Wow wasn’t that a great tradeshow!   Evaluations rated this as the best Organic Connections tradeshow ever!    Everyone enjoyed the bright and airy space of the Grand Salon and the increased time that was allotted to networking, buying and selling in the tradeshow area.   Exhibitors’ did not disappoint by providing an increased level of sophistication in booth design and a warm hospitable greeting for everyone passing through.   Please ensure you support exhibitors as they played a very big part in the success of the conference.

This was the first year that the Organic Incubator was offered.  This smaller meeting room was used by a number of groups to hold small meetings and by those who wanted a more intimate environment to discuss issues or make future plans for collaborations.    We hope to offer this space again in November 2010!