It's Sunday, 16 March, Day One of Seafood Expo North America 2014, formerly known as the International Boston Seafood Show, and as usual the floor was busy from the moment the doors opened. Here's a summary of what I've been up to:
6:40 a.m. Met with Lynsee Fowler, communications manager for the National Fisheries Institute (NFI). NFI is a major sponsor of the expo, and she and I did a brief interview which you'll be able to see later on SeafoodSource, talking about what NFI is doing Sunday.
7 a.m. Attended the 2014 Future Leaders Orientation breakfast. I'll be attending the annual educational summit, taking part in a series of events throughout the year. This year, we have a class of 44, which I'm told is something of a record. We'll also be going to Alaska in August, which is another first for the program. Very exciting stuff!
9:15 a.m. Met with Dan Diermeier, management professor at Kellogg School of Management. He's delivering this year's keynote address, on reputation management. He and I talked briefly on camera about social media and other new concerns for managing how a company is seen by its buyers, suppliers and customers.
Noon: Attended the lobster Master Class session, which included commentary from Carl Wilson, a biologist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources. We did an interview talking about fresh vs. frozen and other issues buyers will want to know about. Also met the "Kilted chef," aka Alain Bosse, who showed me a few tricks to remember when eating a freshly-steamed lobster.
1:30 p.m.: Attended another Master Class session, this one about wild Alaska salmon, talking about the five different species and learning how to properly filet one. Dan Enos, executive chef at the Oceanaire Seafood Room in Boston, did the fileting, while Randy Rice, technical program director for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, provided commentary.
3:30 p.m.: Chaired a panel on the post-EMS world, how seafood farmers can learn from past biological crises and use sustainable practices to prepare for the next big outbreak, whatever it happens to be.
