Every year, the Citrus Expo team convenes in North Fort Myers to produce Florida’s largest agricultural trade show and seminar event. This is the group charged with making sure attendees and exhibitors have the best possible experience at Citrus Expo. The team is excited to meet you in August, but here is a chance to meet the team!
Gary Cooper
- Occupation: Founder and President, AgNet Media
- Where I live: Ocala, FL
- What I’m looking forward to most at the 2018 Citrus Expo: Seeing the vegetable and specialty crop growers from the region join us this year. Be sure to register!
- A unique fact about me: I did my first farm broadcast in Florida 40 years ago.
Robin Loftin
- Occupation: Vice President/Co-owner, AgNet Media
- Where I live: Ocala, FL
- What I’m looking forward to most at the 2018 Citrus Expo: The energy and enthusiasm of the attendees and exhibitors. It is always a thrilling experience.
- A unique fact about me: I’m an avid rescuer of domestic animals and wildlife.
Josh McGill
- Occupation: Citrus Expo Show Director
- Where I live: Gainesville, FL
- What I’m looking forward to most at the 2018 Citrus Expo: I always look forward to the relationships made at Citrus Expo. It’s a great opportunity to make lasting relationships with our clients as well as our grower audience. It also gives our team the opportunity to grow together. AgNet Media’s staff is spread out across three states. Citrus Expo brings us together and allows us to form better working relationships in our team.
- A unique fact about me: I love the ocean. If the weather is good, you can find me out on the gulf fishing or going on a dive.
Taylor Hillman
- Occupation: Operations Manager/Journalist
- Where I live: Clovis, CA
- What I’m looking forward to most at the 2018 Citrus Expo: The integration of the vegetable and specialty crop industries into an established and strong event like Citrus Expo.
- A unique fact about me: I carried a 200+ bowling average for several years and competed in a few professional tournaments.
Ron Linkous
- Occupation: Business Development Manager
- Where I live: Leesburg, FL
- What I’m looking forward to most at the 2018 Citrus Expo: Being able to catch up with exhibitors and attendees.
- A unique fact about me: I used to change the blinking red lights on the water towers in Boynton Beach, FL.
Katie Ard
- Occupation: Business Development Manager
- Where I live: Clarks Hill, SC
- What I’m looking forward to most at the 2018 Citrus Expo: Meeting the great people that come as well as the amazing vendors!
- A unique fact about me: I have been lucky enough to fox hunt in Ireland.
Kelly Linkous
- Occupation: Administrative Assistant
- Where I live: Leesburg, FL
- What I’m looking forward to most at the 2018 Citrus Expo: At Citrus Expo, I get to put a face to a name (I usually only speak to people over the phone or via the internet) and watch everyone looking for new ways to grow their businesses. I also love seeing everything that I can apply to my own garden.
- A unique fact about me: I am an avid organic gardener who could spend all day in my garden.
Abbey Taylor
- Occupation: Multimedia Journalist/Assistant Editor, VSCNews magazine
- Where I live: Gainesville, FL
- What I’m looking forward to most at the 2018 Citrus Expo: Seeing all the citrus growers come out for another year of the Expo. I’m also excited to incorporate vegetable and specialty crop growers into the mix.
- A unique fact about me: I’ve been dancing since I was four years old.
Brian German
- Occupation: Multimedia Journalist
- Where I live: Fresno, CA
- What I’m looking forward to most at the 2018 Citrus Expo: The fellowship and friendly atmosphere full of growers and industry professionals.
- A unique fact about me: I play guitar and bass. (A truly unique fact though is that I can fit an entire sandwich in my mouth.)
Tacy Callies
- Occupation: Editor of Citrus Industry and VSCNews magazines
- Where I live: Orlando, FL
- What I’m looking forward to most at the 2018 Citrus Expo: Visiting with growers and learning what’s new in the field.
- A unique fact about me: I jumped out of an airplane in Australia on my 30th birthday.
Ernie Neff
- Occupation: Senior Correspondent at Large, Citrus Industry and VSCNews magazines
- Where I live: Lakeland, FL
- What I’m looking forward to most at the 2018 Citrus Expo: Seeing citrus industry friends, including growers, production managers, researchers, Extension agents and association representatives.
- A unique fact about me: I walk a lot — at least 7 to 8 miles a day. I’m a walking fool!
Erin Freel
- Occupation: Owner, The Market Place
- Where I live: Weirsdale, FL
- What I’m looking forward to most at the 2018 Citrus Expo: Pulling up electrical cords, kidding. Seeing the Expo Team (most of these great folks I only get to see once a year).
- A unique fact about me: I’m a triathlete and last year I did over 4,200 miles of swimming, biking and running. (One day I did 140.2 miles, also known as an Ironman.)
Rob Mann
- Occupation: Special events coordinator/photographer
- Where I live: Weirsdale, FL
- What I’m looking forward to most at the 2018 Citrus Expo: What I’m looking forward to most at Citrus Expo is the team work and being involved with such a great event.
- A unique fact about me: I was an iron worker for 11 years and the tallest building I worked on was 1,430 feet tall.
The 27th Citrus Expo will take place August 15–16 at the Lee Civic Center in North Fort Myers, Florida. Pre-registration is now open! All pre-registered growers will be eligible for a chance to win a John Deere gun safe, courtesy of Everglades Equipment Group. To pre-register, click here or call 352-671-1909.Due to a staggering amount of support, we are currently sold out of indoor exhibitor space, but there are outdoor booths available. If you would like to exhibit outdoors or if you would like to be added to the waiting list for an indoor space, please fill out a registration form.
Complete details about the Citrus Expo seminar sessions will be available soon. Be sure to mark your calendar for Citrus Expo’s biggest year yet! To learn more about Citrus Expo, including host hotel information, visit CitrusExpo.net.