Coming Together Again

I just returned from attending an industry event in Texas, and in doing so I came away with a perspective I would never have had had the pandemic never taken place. And here is why.

Prior to the pandemic and in fact in my now over forty years which I have been involved in the fresh produce industry it was commonplace for all of us who participated in industry functions across many association event schedules to plan, budget and prepare for attending and or exhibiting for these primary reasons;

• Show or find new products and sources - whats new, whats next
• Attend education sessions - professional development
• Meet with industry peers - strategic planning and introduction of new team members
• Make new contacts - develop new business relationships
• Be Inspired - how to improve your business / productivity / outcomes
• Or just go to have fun...and it happened

The last example was certainly the exception, not the rule. The reality is that we all had specific reasons for attending events and programs and it was those opportunities which had to be maximized to provide an ROI to our company in order to be able to continue to participate.

What I observed this past weekend while in Texas was people were just genuinely happy, no they were ecstatic, to be together after so much time apart. The produce industry has long been known for big hugs and long handshakes, big belly laughs and shedding a tear in a moment of emotion because we are so closely connected to each other. But it seems to be more than that now, as if that was not enough. It is almost like, we all know we cannot take for granted what we have anymore...because we now know it can be taken all away overnight.

This is the thought which weighed on my mind over and over as I walked the hallways, meeting rooms, corridors and expo aisles over two days. The remaining question to be answered is will we be able to maintain this level of literal rejoicing. And with that, how to leverage this moment to teach the next generation why it is so important. Truly over the past two years many industry veterans have taken this moment to step away, calling it an end to their great careers and in their wake there is a void...not just a void of years of knowledge, but void of understanding. Of what it means to develop and maintain long standing relationships and why it is critical business success and the overall success of our industry.

Challenges are all around us today, but there is one challenge which we must depend on each other to overcome. And that is to pass along our knowledge and relationships to the younger professionals coming into leadership roles and impressing upon them to keep them flourishing...to cultivate them, invest in them and celebrate collective success. After all, for a business relationship to succeed, both parties have to be successful, otherwise its just a transaction.

So as I am reflective on the past few days and look ahead to our own schedule of events I am motivated by the opportunity and look forward to shaking many hands and hugging the necks of those who mean more to me than a transaction, they are the reason why -

I do what I do

And am who I am