Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/602988
December 2015 WINES&VINES 47 UNIFIED PREVIEW wine industry, and a 2:30-3:45 p.m. panel will focus on recruitment and retention. "Across the industry there's recognition that the labor supply is tight, and so the focus is on how to make the best of your efforts for recruiting. It's not enough to just attract good people, you have to have programs that help them develop and work in your business," Collins explained. "The other thing we'll focus on is recruiting and reten- tion efforts across the different parts of the industry: in the cellar, lab, vineyard and administrative as well—so it's a pretty broad-based look at labor issues." Collins conceded that it's not uncom- mon for graduates of winemaking pro- grams to change employers several times "until they find the place for them." For many young people this phenomenon involves the oppor- tunity to work a couple of harvests in the south- ern hemisphere. "Professionally I think it probably does help those winemakers to have seen a variety of styles through their careers," he said. More winemaking and grapegrowing In recent years the guided trade show tours replaced a handful of winemaking and grape- growing sessions at Unified, but attendees let organizers know that they wanted to see these sessions return on the final day of the confer- ence (in 2016, this will be Jan. 28). A full day of Spanish-language sessions also will take place Jan. 28, with Collins reporting that organizers will try out simultaneous trans- lation to include at least one grapevine re- searcher who does not speak Spanish. "We wanted to do it in a way that makes that pre- sentation flow as well as it possibly can," Col- lins said, adding that the audience will use headsets for the session so they can follow along while viticulture researcher Yun Zhang of Washington State University delivers her presentation about irrigation management dur- ing the session "Vineyard Farming Practices for the Fruit Ripening Challenges of the Future." "It's not uncommon to have (simultane- ous translation) when you go to Europe and other parts of the world. I think it's a great opportunity," Collins said. "We want to make sure that track has access to all the speakers they might want to use." The title of that day's general session is the "Industry of Tomor- row." Collins told Wines & Vines, "Last year we focused on some of the challenges facing the industry. It was basically risk-proofing your- self for some of the challenges. "This year we're going to take a different spin on it and look at some of the trends that can help us understand where the industry might be over the next five to 10 years," Collins said, adding that panelists will address multiple parts of the wine and grape business, from marketing to winemaking and grapegrowing. "Instead of challenges, this year we'll be focusing on opportunities and using trends to see where we might be headed." The Unified Wine & Grape Symposium is organized by the American Society for Enology and Viticulture and the California Association of Winegrape Growers. For a full schedule of the 2016 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, visit unifiedsymposium.org. " We want to make sure that track has access to all the speakers they might want to use." —Tom Collins, Unified Program Development Committee chair