On Friday, April 16, the ADSA Board of Directors has voted to hold our annual meeting in July as a virtual meeting. This was not an easy decision. We had 1,200 responses to our survey, with demographics that matched those of our association. Our members were split on what we should do (55% favored hybrid, 45% favored virtual), and some were fervent in their opinion; the board had voices representing all views. However, in the end, the board voted to hold the meeting virtually on the planned dates in July because (1) many members would not be able to attend either in-person date in the fall, (2) summer is the normal time for our meetings, and (3) there were too many conflicts with other meetings in the fall.
We know that some of our members will disagree with this decision, but we hope you will understand that there simply were no good options. Although we might disagree on the plan, we must go forward working together. We have a common mission: to promote the dissemination and exchange of knowledge that will improve the global dairy sector. Our common goal is to have a great meeting in 2021 that will achieve this mission. It will be virtual, but we will think creatively about how to make it successful. Our plan is to have recorded talks and live discussions at various times throughout the day. Some symposia will be converted to webinars that we will hold in the fall. If you have ideas to improve our meetings, please do not hesitate to contact us at ADSA@assochq.org.
Mike VandeHaar, Overall Program Chair
Rich Erdman, President of the ADSA Board of Directors