As I write this, I’m sitting at a gate at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. I’m on my way back to Winnipeg from the Ontario Potato Conference which I attended to provide coverage of to you our loyal readers. The trip felt slightly like déjà vu, as this conference was the last one I attended three years ago before our lives changed forever and we went into lockdown.

At the time I had only been editor of Spud Smart for a month, and I was excited to get out and meet the Canadian potato industry from coast to coast. Unfortunately, I was only able to meet the Ontario folks in person before my in-person meetings turned to virtual ones. It would be over two years later before in-person conferences started up again and I was able to start meeting people in person — in some cases for the first time.

This whole winter has been a different experience for me as Spud Smart editor. Where I’m usually scouring any means necessary (mainly the internet) to find story ideas to fill these pages, this winter I found myself staring at conference programs picking and choosing which sessions I thought would make for the best stories, which topics I thought growers from coast to coast needed to know. In some ways it was easier, and in other ways harder.

I’ve found in the post-pandemic world I don’t have the same energy for travel I once did. Where I used to spend all day visiting and meeting people at conferences and then spend the evening socializing, my social battery usually runs out by supper time now and I’ll go back to my hotel room to recharge and ready myself for the next day. While this may mean I miss a few toasts in the evening, I am finding it has it’s perks and being bright eyed and ready to listen to sessions bright and early does help with reporting.

I am loving being back out on the road though, putting faces to names, shaking hands and forging relationships that couldn’t be made through a computer screen. My favourite part of conferences is when I’m sitting at a table or waiting in line for lunch and someone approaches asking if I’m Ashley Robinson, saying they had heard I was here and had to track me down. It always leads to a great conversation and a connection that I know will last.

Throughout the spring issue you’ll see stories from conferences I had the pleasure of attending this winter. I was thankful to be welcomed at Manitoba Potato Production Days and the Ontario Potato Conference over the past few months. Both conferences were chalked full of interesting presentations. I loved listening in on these sessions and learning what I could, so that I could report back and share that information with you my dear readers.

As the winter show season wraps up, we look towards field days. I look forward to attending more this year and meeting more of you from coast to coast. So please if you see me tweeting away on Twitter from an event or hear I’m in attendance, come and find me. I will be happy to shake your hand and hear your story.

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