Good news!
I have been emailing back and forth with Don S. today, convincing him that this will be the best corn get together ever! He already has his hotel booked elsewhere, but I think he will at least come over on Sat. evening. Here is part of his email reply:
"You may say I'll be there. Even if an asteroid hits me, you can drag me in there so people can touch the first corn breeder to succumb to galactic forces. That could put corns on CNN for a change. Now, I hope I don't get hit by an asteroid, cuz people will say I staged it. Ya think? " (Don Soderberg)
I also asked about him giving a little talk, and what suggestions he might have. He suggested that maybe several people might want to just get up and let others ask questions. Here are some excerpts from some emails, after I asked him if that is what he meant, and to expound upon the idea:
"It sounds as though you are suggesting that the speakers will mainly just answer questions, instead of having some topic prepared" (Me - Kathy)
"Right. This way, if the speaker picks a boring subject, they don't have to hear folks snore." Don S.
"After responding to some of the questions, that speaker may want to look to the other breeders and pose "any of you know more about this?" Then, additional (or alternate) opinions from other breeders are offered. Of course, with so many issues about corns being related to other ones, each question will have collateral benefit, by answers to questions having partial application to other aspects of corn husbandry. I think such a forum would entice attendance (and participation). " Don S.
Just some ideas to throw out there. We could do a combination of both, too - somebody can talk about a favorite subject, and then take general questions. The main things are to make it easy on the speaker, interesting for the audience so we can all have fun, get to know each other better, and bring some cohesion to our group.
I think having Don there will be a great draw for others to participate. Now somebody has to convince Rich to drop in for a few minutes, along with Rob and Louise S., and any other well known names that will help draw more participation. I think I already mentioned that Chuck Pritzel and Connie Hurley have already booked a room there.
