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<\/a>Cargo Plane at PDX!<\/p><\/div>\n
thoughts on the direction of the industry and what they thought the Port’s biggest strengths and weaknesses were.\u00a0 It gave me the impression that there is a lot of teamwork and collaboration that goes into attracting new carriers, hearing from the community, and acting upon those needs.\u00a0 My second interview was downtown with the Director of the Portland U.S. Export Assistance Center.\u00a0 This was probably my toughest interview, as he was presenting a less hopeful more realistic approach to the issue of shipping seafood.\u00a0 He pointed out that Oregon’s issue is with critical mass.\u00a0 There isn’t enough supply coming from one source to reduce costs, pointing to an economies of scale situation.\u00a0 In Washington, there are bigger producers and the smaller ones go through a freight forwarder and can ship out of SeaTac (Seattle’s airport).\u00a0 He was definitely a lot more intense than other people I spoke with, but I appreciated his view as someone who doesn’t necessarily have a personal stake in the issue.\u00a0 I realized that up until then I had been speaking with people who have a pretty biased opinion about transporting seafood and his was probably the first objective opinion I had received, aside from my own (which is probably a little biased at this point).\u00a0 My third interview was at a coffee shop in NE Portland with a NOAA inspection manager.\u00a0 This was a very casual interview, but I was glad to hear from someone at NOAA about the different issues producers have brought up about the inspection procedure.\u00a0 Even he had a hard time explaining the high cost of inspection and thought the idea of creating some sort of shellfish coalition sounded like it could help reduce those costs.\u00a0 Overall, it was a LONG day of interview, but I felt I had received a lot of information to make my document a lot more well-informed and researched.\u00a0 Also, Diego’s days off were on Wednesday and Thursday, so he was able to join me Tuesday night for the rest of my trip!<\/p>\n
Wednesday- Early Wednesday morning, we saddled up and drove to Seattle.\u00a0 Originally I was set to meet with one freight forwarder at Express NW, but that morning I received an e-mail from someone I had contacted at FedEx Cargo saying that he could meet as well.\u00a0 Once we got to Seattle I gave him a call and hoped to meet before my meeting at Express NW, but as time got close and he didn’t call me back, I wasn’t sure.\u00a0 Finally, he gave me a call and had spoken with someone at Express NW saying that we could have our meeting there.\u00a0 That was really convenient and I was actually able to interview both men at the same time.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>Diego at Pike's Place<\/p><\/div>\n
That created a good conversation with a lot of feedback.\u00a0 In speaking with them, my hope was to see how Washington is involved with Oregon’s seafood industry, but also to get their opinion on why Oregon isn’t doing as much in terms of volume.\u00a0 Again, it came down to 2 major factors — lack of direct flights and lack of volume.\u00a0 When I brought up the idea of creating some sort of shellfish marketing coalition to pool resources and reduce costs, both seemed receptive to the idea.\u00a0 Another thought that came up in a few past interviews that I brought up here was the idea of capitalizing in products that are abundant along the coast, but not marketable in the U.S. (for example: sea cucumbers, gooey ducks, etc.).\u00a0 It was good to get the perspective of other people who have no direct affiliation with Oregon’s seafood transporttion issue, but are well-versed in the industry.\u00a0 After the interviews, Diego and I went down to Pike’s Place Market and grabbed some late lunch, some peaches, and some ice cream! I tried honey lavender, which was delicious.\u00a0 Seattle is a really cool town and I wish we could have spent more time there.<\/p>\n
Thursday- Thursday was left open, hoping to hear back from one more Portland contact.\u00a0 While I didn’t get in touch with him, Diego and I were able to do some personal maintenance in the city before heading back to Newport.\u00a0 My hair needed a trim pretty desperately and Diego’s mullet was out of hand, so we headed to a local barber shop and got some pretty swanky cuts! After lunch and a quick stop at the Goodwill, we drove back to Newport and finished the first half of my book on tape.<\/p>\n
Overall, it was a great trip and now I have all the information I need to finish my publication.\u00a0 I know everyone’s said it, but I can’t believe the program is almost over.\u00a0 I was about to say summer, but I suppose that since I’ve graduated summer is kind of a loaded word.\u00a0 If I don’t get a job, then I could live in an endless summer OR maybe summer really is just a season now, not a time for recharging your batteries before putting on your backpack and heading back to school…maybe I’m getting a little too introspective.\u00a0 Anyways, I’m nervous about putting my work down on paper, but I hope that once I’m done assembling it, it makes sense and is helpful to those who use it.<\/p>\n
This weekend was fun and relaxing, I picked berries with Margaret, watched a lot of movies, exercised (Oregon has inspired me to get fit!), and cooked a lot of blueberry treats (none that I’m overly proud of…the muffins were a little dense!).\u00a0 This week marks the beginning of my outline and writing process, which I can barely get started on.\u00a0 I feel a little overwhelmed, but I know I’ll get it done!<\/p>\n
Also, I’m excited for Zumba with Margaret tonight..your first class at the Newport Rec. Center is free!\u00a0 Gotta take advantage of all the fun stuff in Newport before we head out of here AND if you’re in Corvallis on Wednesday night you should come see Diego play a show at Bombs Away!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As promised, this post will mostly recount the trip I made to Portland and Seattle last week! Monday- First thing I did on Monday was secure and rental car and hotel for my trip.\u00a0 I decided to stay in … Continue reading