ECHO holds virtual agricultural conference
Every year, delegates from around the world converge on Southwest Florida and the ECHO Farm in North Fort Myers for a conference to learn how to better feed the people of the world, especially those where food can be hard to come by.
Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a monkey wrench into those plans. So, instead of holding a three-day, in-person conference here, the 27th annual International Agriculture Conference was an online, worldwide, one-day event last week.
This virtual event addressed agricultural challenges, personal experiences, and strategies for improving the lives of millions who daily face food insecurity, something that has sharply increased since the pandemic hit the world.
Past conferences were held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Fort Myers, with delegates coming midday to the farm on Durrance Road for live workshops and hands-on demonstrations over the course of three days.
The payback, however, is that the virtual format allows for more people to attend and learn, said Danielle Flood, communications director at ECHO.
“Being COVID safe has not lessened the need to fight hunger, and in fact the world has gotten more challenging to feed families,” Flood said prior to the event. “Instead of the 200 who have come to the live conference, we expect more than 700.”
Since 1994, ECHO has brought together networks of people worldwide, devoted to eradicating hunger and improving lives through agriculture and community development. That happened Thursday, albeit with a new format.
While the hands-on aspect at the farm is gone, the event included numerous recorded presentations, as well as lightning talks, a new element, which is a five-minute presentation on technology, certain skills or hands-on activity for people to experience.
“We will also have time for networking, as in years past through an app so people can join rooms, meet each other and discuss different topics,” Flood said. “We will also have live local breakout sessions with people in expert knowledge areas and let people worldwide ask questions and participate.”
Flood said there is no replicating what ECHO did with the live conferences, but the virtual aspect is something she believes will become a permanent fixture.
“Moving forward, the ability to share experiences and knowledge with people across the globe is something we are thankful for,” Flood said, adding they could potentially do both a live and virtual conference or a hybrid of both blended into one.
Flood said there are more people who are hungry than this time last year as supply chains, businesses have closed and people have lost their livelihoods. ECHO saw things slow down in regards to helping others, but it didn’t stop them.