Food Protection Trends - February 2010 - 70

from the executive director “COMMENTARY” ebruary is stacking up to be a very busy month for IAFP. The Program Committee meets at the beginning of the month; the Dubai conference takes place toward the end of the month; and all this while preparations for three IAFP meetings and symposia are underway – the European Symposium, IAFP 2010 and the International Symposium. Let’s take a look at each of these projects in more detail. By the time this column is read, the Program Committee will have met in Anaheim to review submitted abstracts for IAFP 2010’s technical and poster presentations. In addition to making decisions on more than 500 abstracts, the Program Committee finalizes scheduling for symposia, technical presentations and poster sessions during its two-day meeting. We are fortunate to have dedicated professionals serving on the Program Committee under the direction of Faye Feldstein, Chair for 2010. In addition to the time contributed at the meeting, Committee members also must give of their personal time to review the abstracts prior to the meeting and many times, they also help to follow up with symposia organizers when “fine-tuning” is needed on specific sessions. It is an honor to be selected to serve on the Program Committee as there are many IAFP Members who would like to serve in this capacity. We are glad to know those selected accept the responsibility and are willing to dedicate themselves to IAFP in this way.Thanks to each member of the Program Committee for your help in providing excellence in programming for IAFP 2010 for all attendees to enjoy! On the staff side, a number of Annual Meeting related functions By DAVID W. THARP, CAE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR “Thanks to each member of the Program Committee for your help” also take place in February. First, the work of the Program Committee must be digested and assembled to make up the program for IAFP 2010. Once this is completed, it is posted on our Web site and developed into our promotional brochure for mailing. Registration opens at the beginning of February, so these systems must be tested and ready for use. Efforts also continue to develop sponsorships and sign up exhibitors. At present, the exhibit space is over 50% sold and sponsorship monies are far ahead of last year’s totals. All of our indicators are pointing to a very successful Annual Meeting at IAFP 2010! One meeting where we have offered support for three years now is the Dubai International Food Safety Conference (DIFSC). It has been a pleasure for IAFP to be involved with this high-quality, well-organized meeting that takes place each February in Dubai. This year, conference organizers have extended a half-price registration fee to IAFP Members. DIFSC provides IAFP with an avenue to reach food safety professionals in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. We have seen an increased interest in IAFP from the region since our participation in Dubai and we look forward to continuing this special relationship. I A F P h a s t wo a dd i t i o n a l conferences that are well into the planning process. First is the European Symposium on Food Safety that will be held in Dublin, Ireland over the dates of 9–11 June this year. Registration is now open for this event and program information is available at the IAFP Web site. The Organizing Committee worked long hours over the past few months to develop the program content. In addition, technical papers can be submitted for consideration in either poster or oral presentation formats this year. For more information on submitting papers, please visit our Web site. The other IAFP conference in process is the Second Latin America Symposium on Food Safety to be held in Bogota, Colombia in September. 70 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | FEBRUARY 2010

Food Protection Trends - February 2010

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