Master Gardener College Team Member Thoughts

Normally, the MGCAT meets in Charlottesville as a more central location for its members, who hail from units located all over Virginia. For obvious reasons, the remaining MGCAT meetings were completed by Zoom and teleconference. The two committees responsible for speakers and technology were able to bring their work to fruition, as Master Gardener College (MGC) took place on Zoom and through the Canvas online learning platform on June 25-28, 2020. Each day featured a keynote speaker and a selection of additional lectures designed to focus on specific interests. However, the hospitality, tours and entertainment committees were forced to table their work until 2022. As you all know, IMGC 2021 is slated for September a year from now in Norfolk. As a result, Virginia MGC will not return in any form until 2022.

Here are some facts about the 2020 program you may have received from other sources, but this is a summary: 91.3% of attendees were from Virginia. The remaining 9.7% were from DC, NC, WV, PA, MD, MA, FL, GA, MO, OH, IN, KY, TN, TX, NM, CA, and OR. Kathleen Reed, State Master Gardener Coordinator publicized the event in Extension newsletters, which resulted in the additional attendees.

64% of the attendees were signed up for their first MGC. 35% had attended a Virginia MGC before and 1% had attended a similar program in another state. 

Thursday was the biggest day for live attendees, with 973 listening to the keynote speaker and 804 attending concurrent sessions. Sunday was the lowest, with 690 and 735. The average attendance was 785 for keynote speakers.

The keynote speaker receiving the highest satisfaction score was Barbara Pleasant’s presentation, “Innovative Home Composting” on Saturday, followed closely by Dr. Shawn Dash, “The Mixed Blessing of Garden Insects.” Most popular concurrent sessions were” Birds in Your Virginia Landscape,” “Planting to Preserve,” “Warm Season Lawns” and “Living with the Wild Stuff.”

Survey responders were split in preferring an online program vice a traditional in-person MGC. Understandably, the cost and distance prevent some from attending MGC in Blacksburg. The reasonable cost of this program and the variety of sessions appealed to many responders. In addition, the ability to view additional concurrent sessions is attractive.

At the end of the wrap-up meeting that took place in early July – right before Kathleen and then Dave took their well-earned vacations - Dave Close, Master Gardener Specialist, was asked about a return to traditional MGC. He emphasized that he was aware that the camaraderie of the in-person session was missing as well as the ability to network and share ideas. The collegiality of the on-campus program cannot be replicated online, but at the same time, the success of this program cannot be ignored. My understanding is that MGC 2022 will again be held in Blacksburg, but future programs may include an online portion, an alternate city for MGC or alternate means of presentation in future years. I, for one, will definitely be heading to Blacksburg in 2022 and my car holds six more!