This is week 6 of my 8-week internship in Georgia, making me 75% done :-( I've had such an amazing experience the past five weeks! I've learned so much about the foodservice industry while having tons of fun and meeting great people! This week was spent mostly in Maryland at a conference, so stay tuned for all the deets! ;-)
We left for the conference on Wednesday, so Monday and Tuesday we worked in the office with Melissa and learned about the marketing aspect of a foodservice operation.
On Monday, we spent most of the day updating the marketing calendars for the 2014 school year; we updated the schedules for The Commons and the Farmer's Market. We used an excel spreadsheet to update the information. It was a fairly simple task, but very meticulous. After we were done, we spent the last leg of the day watering the herb garden, since we were going to be gone for a week. On Tuesday, Syd and I worked on finishing the Camp Green Cuisine re-cap and the press release. After that, we went to Hickory Grove to get a rain barrel that is going to be used in the herb garden as an all-natural watering system! Watering the plants manually is a very long and inefficient process, so Melissa, Syd and I decided that creating a self-sustained watering system would be the best way to keep the plants constantly hydrated, thus increasing their life span. When we returned form the farm, we spent the rest of the day organizing the garden, collecting the tools, removing the trash, and weeding.
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| Delicious vegan entree ;-) |
Wednesday was the big day...BALTIMORE! As interns, we are fortunate enough to be invited to the NACUFS National Foodservice Conference, which this year was held in Baltimore, MD from July 9th-July 12th! We flew to MD, so as you can imagine most of Wednesday morning/afternoon consisted of getting to the airport, flying to Baltimore, and settling into the hotel (which had amazing views, btw!) Our first event for the evening was the Theodore W. Minah Reception, Dinner, and Award Presentation. It was held in a huge ballroom, with a beautifully catered meal. After the dinner, everyone went over to the Holiday Ballroom for the Schwan's Customer Appreciation Party, where we all chatted and danced from 9:30PM to midnight!
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| Culinary Challenge |
Thursday began with the awards breakfast around 7:30AM. The awards given were to recognize and honor member institutions that demonstrated leadership in the promotion and implementation of environmental sustainability, specifically in the campus dining operations. The four main categories were: waste management, procurement practices, outreach and education, and materials and resources. After breakfast, we went the the showcase, which was held in the Baltimore Convention Center from 12:30PM - 5:00PM. The showcase was WAY bigger than I had expected. Once I arrived, I understood why everyone was telling us to go on an empty stomach! There were hundreds of vendors up and down aisles promoting various products, both food and non-food products. I knew a good bit of the vendors, ie. Kelloggs, Sbarro, Freshens, etc..but there were also vendors I've never heard of before. Most vendors, if not all, gave away free samples of their products! Everyone was so friendly and willing to answer any questions anyone had about their products. It was an amazing experience and am totally thankful I got the opportunity to be exposed to this kind of foodservice marketing! After the showcase, we went to the Culinary Challenge, which was essentially NACUFS' version of iron chef! We ended the night at the Industry Appreciation Reception drinking and connecting with fellow foodservice foodies :-)
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| Most of the free stuff from the showcase! |
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| The showcase! |
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| The field view from our seats! |
We started Friday off attending the Regional Breakfast. Afterwards we went back to the showcase to finish visiting the rest of the vendors that we weren't able to reach on Thursday. Since many vendors fly over to the conference from their hometowns, they usually give away TONS of free product because they can't bring it with them on the plane. Therefore, me and Syd were given a whole bunch of free products ranging from soups to teas to granola bars, and the list goes on! After the showcase, there were 20+ interest sessions that we pick from to attend. We sat in on two sessions; one was titled "Creating a Memorable Dining Experience Through Marketing Communications"and the other was "Healthy Marketing for Healthy Student Bodies". They were both awesome sessions and I took away a lot of helpful tips from both! After a day filled of networking and learning, we ended the day attending the Yankees and Orioles baseball game at Camden Yards! It was an amazing stadium and the stands were packed! It was a great game and a great way to end our Friday night :-)
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| Rob, Syd & I @ the game |
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| Syd and I being completely normal .... ;-) |
Saturday was our last day at the conference. After the continental breakfast, there were various interest sessions that ran all morning into the afternoon. The interest sessions covered a large variety of topics regarding foodservice: nutrition, gluten-free, meal plans, culinary, allergens, sustainability, manager training, financials, and advertising. I went to couple different sessions and took notes. I also attended the General Session which was a motivational speaker. The woman (Wendy Booker, author of The Three S's) talked about her life journey suffering with MS and the obstacles she overcame as well as the goals she achieved by never giving up. It was a moving session and was very grateful I had the opportunity to hear her story. After that, I went to a few more sessions until the Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards Luncheon. After the luncheon, we went to the TailGreat at the Ravens Stadium, which was located on the other side of Camden Yards. It was a celebration for all the NACUFS attendees. It consisted of a live band, catered food, games, and green screen picture taking!
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| The Awards Luncheon |
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| Our goofy green screen pic ;-P |
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| Ravens Stadium |
Sunday was spent packing up all of our things and flying back to good ol' Kennesaw! After a hectic morning in the airport racing against the clock, we safely arrived back to KSU! As a result of our looong and busy week, we took it easy on Sunday and just hung out and listened to music.
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