Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting: The business meeting was chaired by David Froman using the following outline: (1) a thanks to Dan Satterlee, (2) leadership options within S1020, (3) the importance of participation in annual meetings, (4) the need to draft a new multistate project should there be a consensus to do so, (5) S1020 annual report, and (6) options for the location of the 2008 annual meeting. Dr. Dan Satterlee was thanked for his finding a lively venue for the 2008 annual meeting. With respect to leadership, the chair once again inquired as to whether any other member was interested in such service. Doug Rhoads (S1020 secretary) questioned his further participation. Doug is not recognized as a formal participant by the Arkansas Experiment Station and therefore receives no compensation for his attending the annual meeting. Whereas the position of S1020 secretary was not resolved, David Froman agreed to continue as S1020 chair. In view of the impending project rewrite, the chair reiterated the importance of responding to email in a timely fashion. This form of communication enables the project to operate. With respect to annual reports, Mark Mirando encouraged each member to condense annual reports sent to the S1020 chair. Specifically, members were asked to be sure to distinguish between accomplishments and impact statements and then format these items as well as publications using language and style consistent with NIMSS website. Once again, the importance of each participants effort in this regard was reinforced remarks from both Winston Hagler and Mark Mirando. The S1020 chair is requesting input no later than December 5th in this regard. The chair read a prepared statement drafted prior to the annual business meeting. This statement follows: S1020 may be viewed as either the reinvention or remnant of a long-existing project that addressed turkey reproduction. The change in the projects scope, i.e. poultry rather than turkey reproduction, enabled long-term participants to continue and new participants to join. One of the groups challenges 4 to 5 years ago was loss of critical mass. While some gains were made  most noticeably from the University of Arkansas  this challenge remains a substantive one. One advantage to participation is that our meeting offers more science (in poultry reproduction) than the annual meeting of PSA and more camaraderie (for poultry scientists) than the annual meeting of SSR. Our meetings are short in duration and, on the average, have been held in interesting places. Nonetheless, attendance is a chronic issue. This is felt most keenly by those who stage our annual meeting; for these people are asked to assure that a block of rooms will be filled and asked in a contractual manner. Granted, once this is done, the responsibility is not as burdensome as it first appears, and yet it is a serious commitment that warrants ones attention and effort. As is true for any human group or effort, members of our group can be categorized. We have stalwarts, off-and-ons, and some no-shows, even though their names are listed within the NIMSS websites Appendix E. In short, attendance matters. Our annual roster represents the tip of the ice berg, this ice berg is supposed to be collaboration between Experiment Stations, and whether you embrace global warming or not, our ice berg may be shrinking. We have reached another turning point . . . . Though it was questioned whether a multistate project in poultry reproduction continue, there seemed to be a consensus that an attempt be made to draft a new project. In part, this was based upon the value of the groups efforts as seen by Winston Hagler and Mark Mirando. Consequently, the chair proposed three broad topical areas to be addressed as objectives within a new multistate project: (1) photoperiodicity, (2) gametes, and (3) the neural basis for reproductive behavior. These areas were chosen a priori based upon outstanding problems within the poultry industry, research interests of S1020 participants at large, and the value of poultry species as experimental animals in the field of reproductive biology. With respect to a writing committee, it was agreed that Mohamed El Halawani and Tom Siopes would lead the draft for the first objective. Pat Johnson volunteered to help the chair draft the second objective, and Wayne Kuenzel agreed to lead the draft of the third objective. It was decided that the next annual meeting of S1020 would be held in San Francisco, California. Jim Millam (UC Davis) agreed to host the meeting. Optional dates included the last two weeks in October and the first week in November 2009. This approach was used to allow Jim Millam time to assess local accommodations and minimize scheduling conflicts for participants who must attend other meetings in this time frame.