Before dinner opening day we heard from Elisabeth Zolch-Balmer, Minister of the Department of Economic Affairs and a member of the government of the Canton of Berne. Elisabeth talked about how the government is working to save and restore small Swiss farms through the use of payments. She said they’ve had a real decline in the number of these small farms but that it has stabilized. The farms are actually important to more than just the agricultural industry. They’re very important to tourism as well.
Swiss Yodeling
Besides the alpine horns we were treated to authentic Swiss yodeling. I didn’t get the name of our yodeler but you can of course listen to her.
The Alpine Horns
I’ve seen these horns before but usually on display. Here at the dinner site we were able to see/hear them in action. These two played them very well.
IFAJ Press Room
The IFAJ main hotel is the Seepark, where I’m staying. I couldn’t get internet access to work in my room but there was an extra DSL cable in the press room. Here you can see two people hard at work. On the left is Diane Johnson, executive director of the Livestock Publications Council and Mariann Back Nielsen, consultant with 2vejs kommunikation.
Reception In Uebeschi
Swiss hospitality! After our city reception in Thun, we went up the mountainside a little ways to Gasthof Weyersbuhl, a beautiful little house/farm for another reception and dinner. We started out with some refreshments which were different fruit juices but not what we in America would call fruit punch. I really don’t know what they were but they were good.
Vice Mayor Of Thun
Next on our program opening night was Ursula Haller, vice mayor of Thun. She described what happened during the recent flooding here and how they’re dealing with it. I interviewed Ursula after she spoke.
Thun City Reception
We’re rocking now. I’m in the IFAJ press room at the Seepark Hotel. Thank goodness for working internet access! We got in yesterday just in time to make it to the opening reception in Thun in a historic old building. We had wine, bread and cheese (Swiss cheese). To get us started at the Rathaus the president of the Swiss Ag Journalists, Adrian Krebs, welcomed us and told us to “stay on time.”
First Post From Thun
Hello from IFAJ Congress 2005 in Thun, Switzerland! What a day. Sorry I don’t have more up yet but our flight out of New York was delayed almost 4 hours. Then when we got here we had to take off for the first activities of the event. I have lots of material that I’ll be putting up tomorrow. It’s after 11pm here now and I’m using a press room computer that’s not set up for the standard english person like me. That means some keys are in different places and hard to find at this time of night if you know what I mean.
IFAJ With Greg Lamp
This might be my last post before heading to the airport on the way to the IFAJ Congress. To get you in the mood I’ve got my interview in the form of a special ZimmCast with Greg Lamp, editor of Corn & Soybean Digest. Greg will be on the trip and is on the IFAJ executive committee, representing the United States.
Onward To Switzerland
Apparently Thun, Switzerland didn’t look this serene last week as the rain was falling. Little did we know that there was serious flooding until getting an email from the IFAJ organizing committee that our hotels aren’t affected.