Common scab disease is the greatest economic contraint facing the Australian French potato processing industry and an important disease worldwide wherever potatoes are grown. Between 1 and 5 December 2003, the 13th International Symposium on the Biology of Actinomycetes was held in Melbourne. This project aimed to take advantage of this meeting and hosted two industry workshops immediately following the Melbourne symposium where international and local research specialists working with this disease presented their knowledge to the industry audiences.