{"id":21833,"date":"2022-07-27T15:26:40","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T05:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/?page_id=21833"},"modified":"2024-03-18T14:58:11","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T03:58:11","slug":"2023-conference-summary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/termite-professional-conference\/2023-conference-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Conference Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Termite Professional Conference 2023 \u2013 The Wrap!<\/strong><\/h1>

According to reports from attendees, it\u2019s fair to say the inaugural Termite Professional Conference was a success, and an event that exceeded expectations. The feedback from delegates, exhibitors and speakers alike has been overwhelmingly positive.<\/p>

Held in the first week of July, the conference hosted 212 delegates and saw exactly 300 attendees overall (delegates, speakers, exhibitors and partners for the gala dinner). With such high attendee numbers for an inaugural event, it demonstrates the demand for quality, educational events, with pest managers keen to hear from the experts \u2013 world class scientists involved termite and pest control research.<\/p>

The Maroochy RSL Events Centre on the Sunshine Coast proved a great hit from a venue point of view, creating a friendly atmosphere and offering good food. With a single stream of talks, the main theatre was packed for each presentation, and it ensured delegates didn\u2019t miss out and had plenty to talk about during breaks.<\/p>

Let\u2019s take a closer look at the various sessions\u2026<\/p>

An Evening with Prof. Dini Miller<\/strong><\/h2>

The pre-conference event took on a different format to the standard welcome drinks at most conferences. \u201cAn Evening with Prof. Dini Miller\u201d combined a high-quality educational event with some drinks, nibbles and the chance to socialise. We were very fortunate to have Prof. Dini Miller<\/strong> present on German Cockroaches and Assessment Based Pest Management. Prof. Miller\u2019s presentation was not only informative and thought provoking, but very engaging \u2013 a great way to start the conference. We would like to thank Syngenta for sponsoring this pre-conference event.<\/p>

\"Prof
Prof Dini Miller talking about German cockroaches and Assessment Based Pest Management<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Day 1 \u2013 Termite Biology and Behaviour<\/strong><\/h2>

The first day of the conference was focused on termite biology and behaviour \u2013 know your enemy! The key presentations for the day were from Ass. Prof. Thomas Chouvenc<\/strong> from the University of Florida who spoke about basic termite biology and Ass. Prof. Theo Evans<\/strong> from the University of Western Australia who discussed termite distribution and potential changes in termite distribution and behaviour in the coming years as the climate changes, as well as a short presentation on the nesting habits of Australian termite species. The afternoon session included a session on drywood termites (Chris Fitzgerald <\/strong>from DAF, QLD and Ass. Prof. Chouvenc), Scott Kleinschmidt <\/strong>having a closer look at termite foraging and timber susceptibility and Prof. Nathan Lo<\/strong> providing a virtual presentation on all-female termite colonies and the microbes in termite guts. The day finished with a Q&A session with the expert panel. A rewarding day for delegates with a lot of information to increase their understanding of termites.<\/p>

\"KeynoteLeft to right: Theo Evans, Thomas Chouvenc, Scott Kleinschmidt and Phil Ridley<\/p><\/div>

<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Full Full theatre at the Termite Professional Conference
<\/figcaption>

WIPM Breakfast<\/strong><\/p><\/figure>

The Women in Pest Management team hosted the conference breakfast, prior to the start of the second day of the conference. The breakfast (which was open to both men and women) was a great start to the day, with nearly 150 attendees. Those present couldn\u2019t help but be moved by the talk from speaker Amanda<\/strong> Stevens<\/strong>; engaging, amusing and emotional. The take-out message \u2013 \u201cWhen shit happens, turn it into fertilizer!\u201d \u2013 provided a great approach to deal with adverse events.<\/p>

\"Termite Delegates getting ready for Amanda Stevens at the WIPM breakfast<\/figure>
<\/figure>

\"Amanda<\/p>

Day 2 \u2013 Termite Management<\/strong><\/h2>

Day 2 of the conference focused on termite management. The day started with a virtual presentation from Anna Berry<\/strong> (B&G) on termiticide application followed by Ass. Prof. Chouvenc\u2019s well-received presentation exploring how termite treatments (baits and soil treatments) actually work. With further presentations on best practice termite treatments (Dr Phil Ridley<\/strong>), a history of pre-construction (Peter Brigden<\/strong>, Termseal), termite inspections (Jay<\/strong> Turner<\/strong>, Laguna Pest Control) and moisture meters (Keith<\/strong> Farrow<\/strong>, Work Ready Training), the program covered many of the key elements of termite management. The last session of the day focusing on the liability issues around termite inspections and treatments proved very popular. With the theatre still full, it demonstrated that the program retained the interest of delegates to the end. Belinda Smith<\/strong> (Rapid Solutions) and James Wallace <\/strong>(Wymark) presented and fielded a range of questions. The day finished with a prize draw before departing to prepare for the gala dinner.<\/p>

Gala Dinner<\/strong><\/h2>

The conference atmosphere continued at the gala dinner \u2013 a friendly, relaxed and inclusive environment. The evening included the Pest Technician of the Year award<\/a> and WIPM Recognition Awards<\/a>, with award winners warmly received by their peers. Diners were kept entertained with a roving magician and Ellen Briggs<\/strong>, the engaging and funny MC and comedian. Maroochy RSL continued its great support with excellent food and plenty of drink for all.<\/p>

\"Termite<\/p>

\"Termite<\/p>

\"Ellen
Ellen Briggs – MC and Comedian – had the audience in stitches<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"WIPM
The WIPM Award Winners 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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\"Pest
Josh Thompson \u2013 Pest Technician of the Year 2023 (left) with Phil Ridley (director, Professional Pest Manager magazine)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Trade Exhibit<\/strong><\/h2>

Of course, conferences need the support of sponsors and exhibitors, and we are very grateful for the support of our main sponsors, Greenzone and Syngenta, as well as our exhibitors, Agserv, Formitize, Rapid Solutions, Sherwood Chemical, Silvan, Termseal and Wymark.<\/p>

\"Termite<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cWe really appreciated the support from delegates, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors alike, without which, events like this simply can\u2019t happen,\u201d said Dr Phil Ridley<\/strong>, director at Professional Pest Manager.<\/p>

\u201cProfessional Pest Manager will continue to provide high quality educational events for pest managers, after all, as our tagline says, we are Your Pest Control Knowledge Centre<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Termite Professional Conference 2023 \u2013 The Wrap! According to reports from attendees, it\u2019s fair to say the inaugural Termite Professional Conference was a success, and an event that exceeded expectations. The feedback from delegates, exhibitors and speakers alike has been overwhelmingly positive. Held in the first week of July, the conference hosted 212 delegates and saw exactly 300 attendees overall (delegates, speakers, exhibitors and partners for the gala dinner). With such high attendee numbers for an inaugural event, it demonstrates […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":29494,"parent":22561,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_header_footer","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Check out the summary and photos from the inaugural Termite Professional Conference (2023) on the Sunshine Coast.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"Termite Professional Conference","_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21833","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","wpbf-post"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21833\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/professionalpestmanager.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}