Together Again: 45th Annual Dixie Crow Symposium

The Dixie Crow Chapter of AOC hosted a successful 45th Annual Symposium in Warner Robins, Georgia, at the Museum of Aviation, Robins AFB, following COVID-19 Safety Guidelines. The sold out exhibit hall offered the opportunity for vendors to emphasize the importance of Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations (EMSO), including Electronic Warfare (EW) systems and the vital role Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C2ISR) provides in protecting our warfighters on today’s modern battlefield.

The Dixie Crow Symposium was the first successful in-person event in 2021 for AOC, the defense industry and Robins AFB, with 660 registered attendees. The exhibit hall was sold out, and several vendors have already pre-registered for the 46th Annual Symposium. This year’s event featured 32 exhibitors and was sponsored by 26 industry partners. Thank you all for bringing this event to life, despite the challenging year we all faced in 2020.

In addition to our sponsors and exhibitors, the Dixie Crow Chapter would like to extend a heartfelt “thank you” to our members, volunteers, attendees, advisors, speakers, planning committee, AFLCMC/WNY, 78 ABW, the Museum of Aviation, JED, AOC and many others for believing in us and in this event! Without all of you, our success would have not been possible!

8th Annual Crows N.E.S.T. (Novel Experiments with Science & Technology)

Designed to inspire students to pursue STEM careers, the Crows N.E.S.T. typically takes place during the in-person event, providing technology demonstrations with local military, government civil service, academia, the defense industry and volunteers.

This year, we saw a need to change our approach. As such, our efforts focused on providing monetary donations to eight local schools to supplement STEM teachers’ classroom budgets (Bonaire Middle, Houston County High, Huntington Middle, Northside High, Perry Middle, Sacred Heart, Veterans High and Warner Robins High). STEM students at these schools also received Crows N.E.S.T. t-shirts with all of the Dixie Crow Chapter Education Foundation industry partner logos displayed proudly on the back.

COVID-19 Guidelines

In order to adhere to COVID-19 safety guidelines, the following procedures were in place throughout the event: masks required, six feet social distancing, temperature checks, monitored attendee in and out traffic (350 capacity), dedicated entrance and exit to building and to exhibit hall floor, arrows on floor to control flow of traffic, contactless badge pick up, QR code onsite registration, individually wrapped snacks, etc. Exhibitors on the show floor were also positioned with a 10 × 10 ft. space between each of them, allowing for additional social distancing and to provide exhibitors with additional opportunity to advertise their products and services.