With its highest attendance in a decade, the 2016 edition of the International Potato Technology Expo held Feb. 26-27 at the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown, P.E.I. was a resounding success.
Approximately 3,200 industry professionals walked the show floor to check out the diverse grouping of local, regional, national and international exhibitors. Potato growers, together with the leading manufacturers of equipment and product solutions from across the Maritimes and beyond, were in attendance.
“We were happy to see that this year’s edition drew the show’s highest attendance since 2006,” said show manager Matt Mitchell. “I think the excellent conference program really contributed to that, given that it was so well attended. Likewise, we certainly couldn’t have asked for better weather, and the addition of the tractors was a great draw for potato farmers.”
Exhibitors echoed the positive sentiments. “All the major suppliers to the potato industry were there and attendance by potato growers was very high. I heard many positive comments about the speakers at the conference and many said that they picked up some valuable information for their farm,” said Brian Beaton, potato industry co-ordinator with the P.E.I. Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Karen MacInnis Larter, marketing program manager for Farm Credit Canada (FCC), said the Potato Technology Expo provided an excellent opportunity to connect with customers and others in the ag industry.
“The FCC booth was a busy place, with all kinds of people stopping by to discover what FCC does, learn about our financing options, see demonstrations of our farm management software, or just say hello. Our Agriculture More Than Ever booth was also popular. People were very interested in finding out how they could become ‘Agvocates’ and tell the great story of Canadian agriculture,” she said.
“We were proud to be the major sponsor for this year’s event. It was a great showcase and an excellent learning event for producers. They could find industry-related information pertinent to their operations and hear top-notch speakers. It was a quality event from start to finish.”
Trent Cousins of Allan Potato Handling Equipment Ltd. said: “We found the Expo extremely beneficial. We feel there was a huge attendance from our industry. Having our exhibit in the show put us in touch with many customers, both new and existing, that we may not have had the chance to meet with. We will definitely be attending again in the future.”
Marco Gagnon of GOW Group Inc. said: “I can honestly say that this year show was by far better for us in quality lead generation and people coming to visit our booth; industry interest was like we haven’t seen in a few years. All in all, we qualify this event a success for us.”
This year, a full educational conference program was offered alongside the tradeshow portion of the event on Feb. 26. It featured seminar presentations from leading experts including: Tom Wolf of Agrimetrix Research & Training; Bernie Zebarth of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Gefu Wang-Pruski of Dalhousie University; and Lane Stockbrugger of Farm Credit Canada.
The International Potato Technology Expo takes place biennially in Charlottetown. The next edition will occur in February 2018 and information will be posted online at PotatoExpo.ca as it becomes available.
With its highest attendance in a decade, the 2016 edition of the International Potato Technology Expo held Feb. 26-27 at the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown, P.E.I. was a resounding success.
Approximately 3,200 industry professionals walked the show floor to check out the diverse grouping of local, regional, national and international exhibitors. Potato growers, together with the leading manufacturers of equipment and product solutions from across the Maritimes and beyond, were in attendance.
“We were happy to see that this year’s edition drew the show’s highest attendance since 2006,” said show manager Matt Mitchell. “I think the excellent conference program really contributed to that, given that it was so well attended. Likewise, we certainly couldn’t have asked for better weather, and the addition of the tractors was a great draw for potato farmers.”
Exhibitors echoed the positive sentiments. “All the major suppliers to the potato industry were there and attendance by potato growers was very high. I heard many positive comments about the speakers at the conference and many said that they picked up some valuable information for their farm,” said Brian Beaton, potato industry co-ordinator with the P.E.I. Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Karen MacInnis Larter, marketing program manager for Farm Credit Canada (FCC), said the Potato Technology Expo provided an excellent opportunity to connect with customers and others in the ag industry.
“The FCC booth was a busy place, with all kinds of people stopping by to discover what FCC does, learn about our financing options, see demonstrations of our farm management software, or just say hello. Our Agriculture More Than Ever booth was also popular. People were very interested in finding out how they could become ‘Agvocates’ and tell the great story of Canadian agriculture,” she said.
“We were proud to be the major sponsor for this year’s event. It was a great showcase and an excellent learning event for producers. They could find industry-related information pertinent to their operations and hear top-notch speakers. It was a quality event from start to finish.”
Trent Cousins of Allan Potato Handling Equipment Ltd. said: “We found the Expo extremely beneficial. We feel there was a huge attendance from our industry. Having our exhibit in the show put us in touch with many customers, both new and existing, that we may not have had the chance to meet with. We will definitely be attending again in the future.”
Marco Gagnon of GOW Group Inc. said: “I can honestly say that this year show was by far better for us in quality lead generation and people coming to visit our booth; industry interest was like we haven’t seen in a few years. All in all, we qualify this event a success for us.”
This year, a full educational conference program was offered alongside the tradeshow portion of the event on Feb. 26. It featured seminar presentations from leading experts including: Tom Wolf of Agrimetrix Research & Training; Bernie Zebarth of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Gefu Wang-Pruski of Dalhousie University; and Lane Stockbrugger of Farm Credit Canada.
The International Potato Technology Expo takes place biennially in Charlottetown. The next edition will occur in February 2018 and information will be posted online at PotatoExpo.ca as it becomes available.
