Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/603228
6 DECEMBER 2015 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com A s we planned our coverage of this year's hort show in Washington State, I was struck by how Good Fruit Grower has told the story of incredible change and adaption in the tree fruit industry. How growers meet challenges and change to solve problems is an underlying theme of this year's 111th annual gathering of the organization now known as the Washington State Tree Fruit Association. Our magazine also deals with change, in people and in technology. Our North Star for managing change is adhering to our mission: providing educational information to growers. We remain essential not only because we produce accurate, in-depth reports, but also because we don't take success for granted. We are constantly looking for ways to better serve readers. That's why I'm excited to announce our Good Fruit Grower app, a new editorial product available at no charge for users of Android or Apple mobile devices. We're roll- ing out the app to coincide with this year's hort show, an event where we present our respected Grower of the Year award and where we deploy editors to provide comprehensive coverage of three days of technical presentations. That many presentations is a lot to absorb. So our editors developed the Good Fruit Grower app to make the hort show simple and complex information more accessible and understandable. Designed for speed and simple navigation, the app connects you to all the event essentials, such as meeting schedules, a map, and updates, but also exclusive Good Fruit Grower content, including session summaries, pho- tos, live tweets and more. To deepen your understanding of topics, the app will connect you to background articles, images and videos, and comments from other growers. No other publication matches Good Fruit Grower's coverage. We put all that in your smartphone at your fi ngertips. The app is fast. Content on the app loads quicker than on a typical web page because pages are simplifi ed and optimized to use less bandwidth. (That's as much as I can explain of the technical stuff. It just works.) Go to www.hortshow.com to get your app. Special thanks to our advertising partner, Wilbur-Ellis, for joining us in this new service. We think the app will be enormously helpful to people attending the hort show, but we have longer-term plans thanks to wizardry by Digital Producer TJ Mullinax. After the show, TJ will fl ip some switches so the app connects users to additional Good Fruit Grower content that will be valuable to growers year round. The app complements our popular website, where we will continue to showcase content such as archives, the Young Grower series, and photo galleries. For people attending the hort show, the app is the ideal pathway to what you need to get the most out of the show. We think you'll love it. Let us know what you think. The new app is not the only change at our magazine. Our longtime editor, Geraldine Warner, reaches her planned retirement at the end of this month. In an essay on page 12, Geraldine refl ects on changes she's seen since starting as a freelancer in 1987 and becoming editor in 1992. Geraldine has done a fi ne job preparing her successor, Shannon Dininny, who was already known to growers as an Associated Press corre- spondent covering agriculture in Washington. Shannon debuted in our November issue and, in this issue, wrote an excellent package of stories on Brenton Roy, the 2015 Grower of the Year. Shannon is off to a great start. In another personnel change, I'm very pleased to announce that Ross Courtney has joined our staff as associate editor. Ross comes to us from the Yakima Herald-Republic, where he served as a highly respected agricultural writer. Ross succeeds Melissa Hansen, a staffer since 1996 who has joined the Washington Wine Commission to manage its research program. We congratulate Melissa on this opportunity. She's a wonderful col- league and a fi ne journalist. I know we'll be seeing a lot of her in her new role. We'll keep working together to serve growers. Change happens. The mission of service to growers goes on. Casey Corr is Managing Editor. You can reach him at casey.corr@goodfruit.com. FIRST BITE O. Casey Corr, Managing Editor Get the app Good Fruit Grower launches a new hort show app and welcomes a new editor. The hort show MADE SIMPLE. Get event locations, schedule updates, session summaries and exclusive reports from Good Fruit Grower editors! Visit www.hortshow.com or scan the QR code to get the new GFG APP for iPHONE and ANDROID. goodfruit.com The essential resource Get the APP! get the new GFG APP for iPHONE and ANDROID. cameronnursery.com 1261 Ringold Rd., PO Box 300 • Eltopia, WA 99330 We ship nationwide, so please call for price and availability! CONTRACTS for 2016 and beyond! 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