Virtual Pork Congress is a First For Farm Shows

The Ontario Pork Congress (OPC) is forging ahead with a virtual event that may be the first of its kind in the province

by Frances Anderson – Ontario Farmer

“Our main focus is to try to connect everyone: our exhibitors, producers, and industry partners, during these difficult times,” said 2020 OPC president Meghan Kirkpatrick.

The OPC had contracted with the U.S-based company, Map Your Show (MYS), to set up on-line booking for exhibitors for the 2020 Congress. “They provided us the opportunity to go virtual,” said Kirkpatrick, who is a customer service manager for Sharpe Farm Supplies in Guelph.

“We’ve refunded every penny of booth space to promote the “virtual show” we’re really relying on our sponsors”

 

At the time the decision to ‘go virtual’ was made, in mid-April, no one knew what a virtual show would look like. The MYS company didn’t even have an example of a ‘virtual exhibitor’s booth’ on its own website. So, Kirk McLean, who is a long-standing OPC exhibitor, as well as past president, set up an example for Stubbe’s Pre-Cast which is his employer. It includes a listing under new products and a show special.

The cost of virtual service is being covered by the Congress, and virtual exhibit space is being offered free of charge to existing exhibitors, (a value of $300) and includes one video upload. The exhibitors can upgrade to a promotion package for $250.

McLean said the virtual booths will remain on-line until December and he thinks it’s cheap advertising.

“We’ve refunded every penny of booth space,” said McLean. So, “to promote the “virtual show” we’re really relying on our sponsors.”

Kirkpatrick declined to discuss the details of budget and financing for the 2020 OPC. However, the 2019 OPC generated a profit of $40,000, so there is some money in its coffers.

As of the end of May, about 50 of the 135 exhibitors were set up online, for the OPC virtual exhibition, which was aiming to go live on June 1.

Not all the aspects of the OPC will be as easy to translate into cyberspace.

For example, the Taste the Best competition will rely more heavily on “eating with your eyes”.

Typically, congress visitors have had a chance to taste and compare a number of pork-based foods. This year, the participating restaurants are being asked to submit a video, showing preparation of a simple pork dish, accompanied by the recipe for families to try at home.

And, instead of specifying a particular cut of pork, “because everybody has been quarantined, it’s whatever pork you have in your freezer,” McLean said. He has confirmed that The Bruce, and The Commons restaurants in Stratford, will be participating, as well as the 1909 Culinary Academy, in Ayr, which is a new chef’s school that combines training in food prep, with growing food.

Kirkpatrick said there are about 65 young people signed up for the Bacon Maker Classic, which incorporates showing pigs with a carcass competition. OPC organizers debated asking the competitors to videotape themselves leading their live hog, but some participants don’t live on the farm where their pig is housed, so that didn’t seem practical.

“Our plan is to have an embedded video, hosted by Craig Hebert, to show kids how to show a pig, along with the dos and don’ts,” said Kirkpatrick. They are also hoping to have a video conference so parents, kids and judges can connect in real time.

A highlight of the OPC is the beer tent, and so organizers are also trying to figure out the logistics of a “zoom room” for OPC’s virtual visitors.

“We just really want to do something that keeps the Pork Congress going, brings people together, and is something positive,” Kirkpatrick told Ontario Farmer.