2010 Highlights

Posing for the camera Organic Landscape Alliance helping homes be chemical free Heifer helping and representing farmers across the globe

Featured Presentations from the 2010 Conference

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Workshops

Conference proposals.

We got an overwhelming response in March (2010) with at least 25 separate workshops proposed + dozens of other ideas which we can use. Thanks to everyone who submitted an idea.

WORKSHOP SUBMISSIONS FOR 2011 ARE CLOSED… although you can still send your ideas along in case we get a cancellation later this autumn.

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LOOKING VERY FAR AHEAD

Workshop Proposals for 2012 must be mailed by the deadline to Conference, Box 116, Collingwood, ON, L9Y 3Z4. Or, FAX the proposal to FAX (705) 444-0380. Or E-Mail the proposal to organix@georgian.net – with any workshop submission, be sure to include your full contact info including address and phone #.

It is important to submit by the March 15, 2011 deadline because the Committee needs these for its annual spring planning meeting. At that meeting (early April/11) about 90% of the 2012 workshop program will be decided:

This is the format/explanation on how to propose or offer a workshop for the 31st Annual, 2012 Guelph Conference program – held late January, 2012 at the U of Guelph.

We’d appreciate the BASICS from you before considering the proposal.

  1. Name of workshop (or a choice of 2 or 3 names – please keep it simple, creative & interesting)
  2. Suggested speaker (or speakers) – (A) is it a single person presenting, or is it (B) a 2-person talk or (C) a larger panel. If it’s a larger panel, who
    are the other suggested panelists? – we need those names because you must know who they are!
  3. Duration – 1.0-hour, 1.5-hour, 2.0-hour or longer, i.e. 3.0-hour or is it a major seminar which might run for greater than a 1/2-day program (limited space for this)
  4. Difficulty or involvement level of the subject you are proposing – e.g……. is it only for novices, or is it introduction, intermediate, advanced, expert, etc.
  5. Description – try to describe your proposed presentation in 25-50 words (100 maximum). Provide the 5W’s – who what where why when.
  6. Target – is it ‘certified organic growers,’ or urban consumers, market gardeners, crop researchers, media, student WWOOFers, suburban 10-acre landholders, 500-acre transitional growers, herbalism students, or who? Or is the target “general” – which would appeal to all Conference guests?
  7. Does your proposal fit into a ” theme ” of workshops? If so, give the ‘proposed titles only’ of the other 2 or 3 workshops which might fit into the theme.
  8. Please provide any other comments on why your proposed workshop is necessary, significant, important or that it provides a new focus or will generate new interest at the Conference. The proposal must be clear vs. vague.
  9. Final note : we don’t want to do promotions for products, businesses or particular belief systems without offering opposing or contrary views. If the Guelph Conference Committee likes your idea but feels that it is too specific to your personal business or enterprise, we may propose a panel containing differing views to yours, or install a moderator who may direct the discussion in a different direction.

Keep in mind that the Guelph Conference gets literally hundreds of workshop ideas every year. Most of what we receive are just loose concepts or barely formed snippets without any structure or strategy behind them. This makes it difficult for the Conference organizers to put a solid title onto the workshop or to even try slotting it into a coherent 2-workshop or 3-workshop theme. Thus, if you can propose a catchy title and a solid speaker, this is seen as superior and more likely to be chosen. Please respond as soon as possible: right after the 2011 event, we will be in ‘workshop selection mode’ for the short-listed selections for the 2012 workshop program.

Latest proposal date: March 15, 2011.

SUGGESTION: attend the 2011 Guelph Conference and write down all your ideas for topics which you did not see covered. Then right after the end of the Conference, lay out your best workshop idea and send it in to the Conference Manager by mid-March, 2011. Literally anyone can propose a workshop for this Conference and have it accepted as long as it’s novel, timely and interesting !