As he got older, and especially after he retired from teaching English and social studies in public schools for 35-plus years, my dad always made it a point to connect with people 20 or 30 years younger than him.

“I don’t want to be around a bunch of old people,” he would joke.

My siblings always mused at how many of our adult friends bonded with him, and many maintained friendships with him well after we had moved out and moved away. As one of the first people to build a house in the neighborhood where I grew up, he was quick to make friends with new, younger neighbors moving onto our street and maintained those friendships for decades. Well into his 60s, my dad pitched on the slow-pitch softball team started by my brother, competing with and against many players that were half his age.

“It makes me feel young,” he’d say.

Having not attended an American Meat Science Association’s (AMSA) Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC) in more than 20 years, I found myself channeling my dad after four days at the 77th Annual conference in Oklahoma City this last month. An estimated 1,055 people attended the event, including almost 400 undergraduate and graduate students representing meat and poultry science departments from universities all across the country. Alongside them were longtime and new AMSA members, rookie and seasoned researchers, industry suppliers, faculty members and agriculture extension agents from the most prominent meat science colleges and universities in the country, and meat processing industry supplier representatives.

Seeing the easy and open interactions between the younger students and their more seasoned meat scientist counterparts punctuated the importance of one generation sharing their wisdom and investing time and energy in the next generation. Plus, I couldn’t help but think that working and networking with the students, keeps them feeling a bit younger too.

“The RMC marks the beginning of a philosophical and science-based knowledge transformational journey for some and a continuation and revitalization for so many others,” said Jeff Sindelar, PhD, professor and meat extension specialist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and this year’s RMC chair, in his welcome.

Having not attended since the event was held at the University of Missouri in 2003, there were aspects about this year’s event I hadn’t recognized before. For starters, 2024 just happened to be AMSA’s 60th anniversary, which meant there was one more thing to celebrate and acknowledge.

But what I also appreciated was the energy that surrounded the event and the pride and competitive spirit among the students. It makes sense, then, that event organizers always include a full schedule of contests and competitions, which included testing students’ culinary skills in an Iron Chef event; a meat judging contest; a student quiz competition and a student research ePoster competition. After Day 1 of the event, attendees young and old gathered at a nearby sprawling park where at least two kickball games ensued, cold drinks were served and a bevy of food trucks were ready to offer a variety of cuisine. The evening also included a t-shirt auction for shirts designed by each school for the event, as eager alums and/or professors bid each other up for a worthy cause.

Of course the event was jam-packed with educational and informative sessions, which included four keynote sessions, six concurrent sessions, 20 tech talks, 38 reciprocation sessions, 36 supplier innovation exhibits, a career fair with 61 companies recruiting prospects and even a community service/volunteer event.

Events like the RMC shine a light on the success of previous generations and remind us of the promise of the future. As AMSA says: “Imagine that.”