While it’s Wednesday (Dec. 3) at the American Seed Trade Association’s (ASTA) CSS & Seed Expo, the conference is far from over. While you might be used to a content light Thursday, ASTA has flipped the switch.
So far, ASTA brought plenty of new ideas and content to their CSS & Seed Expo — including a new village concept.
“We have a really strong attendance — over 90% of our attendees have chosen to be here in person,” Bethany Shivley, vice president of strategic communications for ASTA, says. “There’s a lot of excitement here.”
The new village concept has been adding excitement with exhibits integrated with educational content and network opportunities. Shivley says the villages has given ASTA the perfect ability to bring people together but ensure everyone is spread out throughout the show area.
“We’ve been able to do so much virtually over these last few years,” she says. “But, nothing can take the place of these in-person opportunities. It’s been great that we can still come together and have these discussions.”
As for tomorrow (Thursday, Dec. 4), Shivley is looking forward to the added content.
“I’m looking forward to both gene editing sessions tomorrow,” she says. “It’s a huge deal in our industry, especially as we look at the future of innovation and what those solutions look like to help with environmental and economic stability.”
Make sure to watch out for a special Seed Speaks session live from the CSS & Seed Expo at 7:15 AM, focused on taking a deep dive into gene editing and novel genomic techniques with speakers Fan-Li Chou of ASTA, Diego Risso of the Seed Association of the Americas and Szabi Ruthner of the International Seed Federation.
Check out more of Editorial Director Sonja Begemann’s chat with Bethany Shivley on Seed World’s Facebook page.
