Throughout the last 20 years of annual EFS System Conferences, there have been many attendees from the cotton industry. Some of these people have attended all or almost all of the Conferences. Frank Garnier, retired Vice President of Fieldcrest Cannon, Inc.; Mike Lewis, Manager of Cotton, Yarn Distribution, and Quality Control for Hanesbrands Inc.; and Emerson Tucker, Consultant/ Engineer for the Plains Cotton Cooperative Association, are three key fi gures who have either attended all or almost all of the EFS System Conferences since the fi rst Conference in 1988.

Frank Garnier has attended nearly all of the EFS System Conferences since 1988. Garnier also was an attendee at the fi rst EFS System Conference in Singapore. He has continued to attend the domestic EFS System Conferences over the years to stay up to date with the latest advances in the software and to network with others in the cotton industry. He says the Conference has become more technical over the years due to the advances in the technology. For this reason, he says that there are “a lot more facts and fi gures than assumptions.” When HVI data was a new concept, Garnier made a presentation at the 3rd Annual EFS System Conference in 1990 to promote the use of government HVI data. At this time, some were saying government data was not reliable. “We should encourage the USDA through industry cooperation to make their data fully acceptable and useful,” Garnier said in his presentation. “The repeated testing of the same fi ber sample is ineffi cient and too costly for our industry to absorb.” Garnier was the 1996 recipient of the Cotton Achievement Award.

Mike Lewis has attended the EFS System Conference every year. He remembers the early days of the conferences when the software had a black and white screen and only allowed users to view 3,000 bales at once. He says that the Conference has become more “streamlined” over the years. The EFS® System Conference is now two days rather than three, allowing attendees to gather more information in a shorter time span. Lewis likes the shorter conference because it allows him to get the information he needs as well as get back to his daily duties more quickly. He enjoys how the EFS System Conference allows him to meet new people in the industry and “exchange ideas.” He enjoys being in the same place with others who have a common goal. Lewis says the presentations at the EFS System Conference always keep him interested, and he enjoys hearing presentations on a wide variety of cotton topics. He also likes to attend the EFS System Conference each year to keep up with the latest advances in the software.

Emerson Tucker also has attended every EFS System Conference. He says that in the beginning, the EFS System Conferences were all about introducing the concept of using computers for mixing. There was a lot of scrutiny about this new method of mixing in mills. Tucker said that the beginning was tough for Charles Chewning, who at that time was Senior Director, Fiber Processing Research, and whose studies led to the design and creation of the Engineered Fiber Selection (EFS) Cotton Management System. Tucker said the fi rst EFS System Conferences were focused more on getting people to listen to this new concept and telling them that this is a way to make their mill processes easier. He said the first Conference had about 50 attendees compared to today’s average of 250.

Attendees in the early days of EFS System Conferences were given a bar code like the ones used on a bale of cotton. The bar code was scanned as they came in to the conference, and they could watch the information display on a computer screen. This allowed the attendees to see what the new technology could do. “If you don’t have Cotton Incorporated’s EFS System, you are not using the latest technology,” Tucker said.

Tucker thinks the introduction of software brochures has been helpful as well. He enjoys returning to the EFS System Conference each year to interface with others about blending cotton in mills and simply to learn new things. He said that one of his most memorable moments at an EFS System Conference was when he gave a presentation, and a buyer approached him afterward to tell him that after hearing the presentation, “‘the lightbulb came on’” in reference to an understanding of HVI properties and the EFS System. Tucker said the best part of the EFS System Conferences is being able to help Charles Chewning and Cotton Incorporated promote HVI.

We appreciate the presence of Frank Garnier, Mike Lewis and Emerson Tucker at the EFS System Conferences and their continued support of the EFS System.

The 2007 Beltwide Cotton Conferences were held Jan. 9- 12 in New Orleans, La. At this year’s conferences, Cotton Incorporated’s presence included two booths, one for the Fiber Competition Department and one for the Agricultural Research Department. Berrye Worsham, Cotton Incorporated’s President and CEO, also gave a presentation on the topic of cotton sustainability.

This year, Cotton Incorporated’s presence was bigger with the coordination of two displays. The Agricultural Research Department display was across from the Fiber Competition display. The Agricultural Research booth’s highlight was the DVD titled “Focus on Sustainability.” Many attendees expressed interest in the DVD. The Fiber Competition display covered all the areas of Fiber Competition including Product Evaluation, Quality Research, Program Development and Cotton Management Software Support. The MYSTERY FABRIC Challenge was a big hit at the Fiber Competition display. Attendees lined up to touch three garments and write down their guesses of what type of fi ber the garments were made. One was 100 percent cotton, one was a 50/50 cotton blend and the other was a “mystery fabric.” Each attendee who entered the challenge also was entered into a drawing to win a miniature Jack DeLoney portrait of the Memphis Belle. Al Hlavin, Manager, Cotton Management Software Services, helped with the MYSTERY FABRIC Challenge and believes it was a huge success for Fiber Competition. “The challenge pointed out that synthetics are U.S. cotton’s main competitors, not international growers,” Hlavin said.

The Beltwide Cotton Conferences included many conferences of interest to the cotton industry. Vikki Martin, Associate Director, Quality Research in Fiber Competition, was the conference chairperson for the Cotton Quality Measurements Conference. Sessions of particular interest in this conference included the sessions on worldwide HVI round trials and the session on the cotton variety spinning trials. The HVI round trials were used to compare the performance of labs around the world. Dr. Jonn Foulk, Mechanical Engineer, USDA-ARS, presented a series of papers on the cotton variety spinning trials: Commercial Cotton Variety Spinning Study Descriptive Statistics and Distributions of Cotton Fiber and Yarn, Commercial Cotton Variety Spinning Study HVI and AFIS Spinning Relationship, Commercial Cotton Variety Spinning Study Exotic/Supplementary Measurement Relationships and Commercial Cotton Variety Spinning Study Quality Indices. The commercial cotton variety spinning trials were a multi-year project with cotton of various varieties grown in several regions. Signifi cant amounts of data on all aspects of fi ber quality and spinning performance has been collected, and these papers are the fi rst comprehensive report on the trial’s fi ndings. Another interesting session in this conference focused on the concept of developing a fi ber quality score or index to calculate one number that can be used to help cotton breeders determine whether a variety is good or bad.

We look forward to another exciting year for Cotton Incorporated at the 2008 Beltwide Cotton Conferences.