Chalk up yet another successful event for the Wild Bird Feeding Insitute. This time, they flocked to Clearwater Beach, FL for the 2022 Wild Bird Feeding Institute Annual Meeting. Thanks to some incredible sponsors and a lot of hard work, this was the most-attended event since 2019 and arguably one of the best WBFI events to date.

Throughout the event, the WBFI staff, consisting of Emily Hrabik and Emma Bennett, and the EPC Committee proudly found ways to incorporate as many avenues of wild bird feeding as possible in hopes that all attendees would gain some valuable insight. We started each day with a brilliant keynote speaker session. The first was from Ari Gunzburg, who taught us his 5 simple keys to unlocking our individual greatness. Day two started with a fantastic keynote speaker session from Gene Marks on a post-pandemic workplace and how business owners can continue to grow and profit. From there, we brought in experts from all over the bird-feeding spectrum. The discussion topics over the two days consisted of the benefits of birding on your mental health, gaining credibility in the industry, a Nyjer seed consumption study, #FeedSmart practices, a commodities update, and the winter finch migration impact on seed sales.

In addition to the session speakers, each day we wanted to get creative and hear from the many wild bird experts in the crowd by offering RoundTable discussions. During these sessions, we hand-picked qualified members to share their knowledge, expertise, and experiences with attendees. Our marketing experts shared what they see as trending and best practices and our longstanding members discussed how to maximize the value of the WBFI membership.

We also know the importance of networking and spending quality time with colleagues, so each day we had plenty of time to catch up and meet new people with designated networking times. And of course, this was a wild bird group, so each day included a guided bird tour. We ended each night with some beautiful beachside receptions, a gorgeous rooftop beach experience, and a few brave attendees even learned how to hula!