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IPMA Conference Review                               holding our first virtual conference.


               ‘Unprecedented’ is one of the most                   On Friday, November 13, 190 pest
            overused words of 2020. ‘Unprecedented,’             control owners, managers, and technicians
            however, was not chosen as the 2020                  participated in the virtual IPMA Conference
            word-of-the-year. That honor went to                 held on a Zoom Video conference. We
            “pandemic,” beating out other words that             were enthused by the participation and
            describe the year, including “lockdown,”             effective use of technology to accomplish
            “mail-in,” “malarkey,’ “kraken,” and others.         professional education during these
                                                                 difficult times. Our speakers and topics
               This year was unlike any other for pest           this year were:
            control and IPMA, and ‘unprecedented’
            describes our experiences and activities             •  Mosquito Management. Nicky Gallagher,
            this year. The continuing and ongoing                  Syngenta Professional Pest Management
            pandemic forced customers to spend                   •  Termite Treatment Options. Daniel Dye,
            more time at home, leading to increased                Florida Pest Control Training Coordinator
            business for home remodeling and                     •  Iowa Laws and Regulations. Jeni Lara,
            decorating companies, home office                      IDALS
            furniture sales, and residential pest                •  Rabies and Other Occupational
            control. IPMA members have reported                    Hazards and Stored Product Pests.
            that it was “a very good year” despite the             Mike Merchant, Texas A&M University
            inconvenience of adding face coverings                 (retired)
            to the usual PPE worn by pesticide
            applicators. For more about COVID-related            •  Bed Bug Management. Mark
            actions, see updates and resources from                VanderWerp, Rose Pest Solutions
            NPMA.                                                   The IPMA virtual conference was

               The coronavirus changed how IPMA                  made possible by essential collaboration
            operated, especially for the annual                  and support from several partners,
            conference and trade show that has been              especially the Iowa Department of
            mission-critical to IPMA for over 80 years.          Agriculture and Land Stewardship Pesticide
            The IPMA Board of Directors started                  Bureau. Regulatory cooperation and
            planning for the fall conference over a              accommodation made it possible for our
            year ago. The switch from our traditional            conference to be the first commercial
            face-to-face conference to an online                 pesticide applicator VIRTUAL recertification
            experience was a difficult decision. We all          meeting in the state. We were able to
            long prefer to be together, talk directly            verify participant attendance by the
            to vendors, handle the latest equipment              Zoom login record, and engagement
            and products, and visit with each other to           was documented by requiring sign-in
            share challenges and ideas over coffee and           to Zoom Chat at the beginning, middle,
            donuts. However, concern for the health              and end of the meeting. Attendees were
            and safety of applicators, their families,           permitted to participate as a group
            and customers, the vendors and speakers              at their office or other location. When
            prevailed, and planning switched to                  more than one person participated at
                                                                 a login site, an additional sign-in sheet
                                                                                                 (Continued on Page 12)
            Page 4                                                                  IPMA Connection • 4th Quarter, 2020
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