Posts Tagged ‘International Master Gardener’

Search for Excellence Award Blog Posts (Listing by Project Category)

Monday, February 6th, 2012
IMG Search for Excellence

International Master Gardener Search for Excellence Awards

In early November, Monica David, the 2011 IMGC vice president, announced we would be sharing 18 blog posts about each of the Extension Master Gardener volunteer projects that received a 2011 International Search For Excellence Award. These projects were awarded among six project categories during the 2011 International Master Gardener Conference.

Blog Posts Created New National Recognition and Discussion Opportunities

This year, blogging about these award winning projects helped bring new recognition and understanding of the value of Extension Master Gardener volunteers through pageviews on this blog, shares through our Facebook page, and retweets on Twitter.

Many of these projects received kudos in the blog’s comments section and created opportunities for Extension Master Gardeners from different states to discuss and learn about how local programs are participating in similar or different ways across the United States. To make these blog posts easier to access and find by category, we’ve grouped the 2011 International Master Gardener Search For Excellence award winning blog posts by project category and listed them for you below.

As you work toward new volunteer projects this year, you may want to take another glimpse at these posts, share these with a friend, or perhaps add your insights to the comments sections for a particular project that applies or resonates most with you….or (hint, hint) perhaps these posts will encourage your local program to submit an application for the 2013 International Master Gardener Search for Excellence Awards!

Blog Posts by Project Award Category

Workshop attendees learn how to properly construct their own rain barrels in Macon, County Iowa

The next International Master Gardener Conference and Search for Excellence Awards will take place in 2013.  For more information on the next International Master Gardener conference, see the IMGC 2013 Website or Facebook page.

Karen Jeannette
eXtension Consumer Horticulture Content Coordinator

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Looking Back at the International Master Gardener Conference 2011

Saturday, November 12th, 2011

Master Gardeners gather at IMGC 2011 in Charleston, West Virginia

Master Gardeners gather at IMGC 2011 in Charleston, West Virginia

So, it’s been a few weeks since us folks in the Mountain State of West Virginia bade farewell to our friends from all over the Extension Master Gardening world.  We had right at 970 registered folks (that doesn’t include numerous WV Master Gardeners who volunteered their time and didn’t attend the events) from 45 states, 2 Canadian provinces and South Korea.  New concepts were learned, ideas were shared, friendships were forged and memories were made.

Take a look at the photos from the conference and find the “Top 10 Reasons to Be a Master Gardener” compiled by conference greeter Jessica Walliser at the conference website at http://imgc.ext.wvu.edu

It Takes a Statewide Effort……to Run a Conference

Conference Co-Chair Delores Barber, a Kanawha County Extension Master Gardener, welcomes the gathered crowd of nearly 1000 Extension Master Gardeners.

Well over 150 West Virginia Extension Master Gardeners from all over the state contributed thousands of hours to make sure the conference was a success.  Conference co-directors John Jett (WVU Extension Service’s Consumer Horticulture Specialist and state MG coordinator) and Delores Barber (one of my all-star Master Gardeners in Kanawha County) coordinated volunteers from numerous counties to host a relatively smooth flowing conference.  Each major task was assigned to an individual county, like the silent auction manned by Cabell County, speaker selection manned by Morgan County and entertainment manned by Greenbrier county.  All of these volunteers came together on the first day of their conference, working on their individual tasks to make sure that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.

Relatively Smooth Sailing

Some attendees decided to forgo workshops for tours of nearby attractions.  Groups went shopping at Tamarack, the state’s artist showcase center, visited an exhibition coal mine, took a tour of the state capitol grounds and museum, visited the Blenko glass factory, visited farms and farm museums and more.  Pre- and post- tours were also arranged to give visitors a look all around our great state.

Relatively speaking, we had a relatively smooth running operation (well there was this fire drill that caused a mass evacuation of the event center….luckily we had cover from the pouring rain).  The attendees had fun, the volunteers had fun and the organizers were happy and even happier when everyone went their merry ways.

Mark Your Calendars for the 2013 International Master Gardener Conference!

If you have never had the opportunity to attend an International Master Gardener Conference, I highly suggest it.   They are a great place to meet new people, learn new things and make memories that will last a lifetime.  The next conference will be in September 2013.  The 2013 conference will be special because it will be an Alaskan cruise departing Seattle, WA.

For more information:

Visit the IMGC 2013 Info Page, or Follow IMGC2013 on Facebook

John Porter
WVU Extension Service Kanawha County
Charleston, WV
@WVUgardenguru

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