FEATURE STORY 2024 ANNUAL MEETING HIGHLIGHTS By Ann Donahue, Director, Marketing and Communications
Mike & Alicia Joyner (Florida Fruit & Vegetable Assn), Steven Callaham (Dundee Citrus Growers Assn), Lisa & Stuart Woolf (Woolf Enterprises)
The 98th Western Growers Annual Meeting at the JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort & Spa in Arizona attracted a record number of attendees, with more than 500 of the specialty crop industry’s top business leaders participating in dynamic networking events, educational breakout sessions, thought- provoking keynote speakers and Wild West-themed parties amid the beauty of the Sonoran Desert. In recognition of the extraordinary role our record number of sponsors played in supporting the Annual Meeting, every level of sponsor received extensive brand recognition throughout the event, including name or logo placement on signage and in the conference guide and mobile app. In addition, Diamond Sponsors were recognized at each event, and individual event sponsors received mentions in front of their desired key targeted audiences.
The 2024 Annual Meeting began the evening of Sunday, Nov. 3 with a two-hour Welcome Reception at the North Garden, where Western Growers members, industry partners – and Hit Man, the resort’s hawk – mingled and networked at sunset. Even a quick rain shower couldn’t dampen attendee spirits! Monday, Nov. 4, the first full day of the Annual Meeting, featured Laura Ling as the Kickoff Keynote . Laura, an award- winning journalist, author and media executive, spoke movingly of the 140 days she spent in captivity in North Korea when she and a colleague were detained while reporting on the trafficking of women along the country’s border with China. The PAC Lunch focused on a conversation between Western Growers President and CEO Dave Puglia and The Free Press Founder and Editor Bari Weiss. Bari, a winner of the L.A. Press Club’s 2021 Daniel Pearl Award for Courage and
WG Chair Stuart Woolf and wife Lisa Woolf
Neill Callis accepts 80 year Membership recognition for Turlock Fruit Company from Stuart Woolf
16 Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com January | February 2025
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