Past Newsletters

IFEC NEWSLETTER

July 2008

♦ president's message
Hello, IFEC-ers! It's already past the middle of July and I, for one, am ready for a vacation. So I'm taking one-7 beautiful days in gorgeous Costa Rica! When I get back, we'll be kicking into high gear on conference planning and all that goes along with it.

Meanwhile, all of our magazines are in the thick of the second half of action-packed editorial calendars, so publicists, don't forget to follow up with your favorite editors on ideas discussed last November in Austin (I know it seems like a long time ago!) or get in touch with new opportunities that have come up since then.

Hope you've all got fun plans to enjoy the second half of summer!
--Allison Perlik

♦ rockin' in cleveland, November 3 - 6
Join us for a rocking good time in Cleveland when IFEC holds its annual conference there, November 3 - 6. Conference registration and Office Hours requests will be accepted online in early August. You will be notified by e-mail when registration opens. In the meantime, scroll down to the bottom of this page to see the agenda.

To take advantage of the entire conference, plan to arrive in time for the opening sessions Monday afternoon, November 3, and stay through Thursday morning, November 6. If you are interested in running for a seat on the IFEC Board and you are successful, you will need to attend the first meeting of the 2009 Board on Thursday morning at 8 a.m.

Program highlights
Conference highlights will include author and culinary personality Michael Ruhlman as our keynote speaker, a panel on the "greening" of foodservice and a presentation on umami by David Kasabian, co-author of The Fifth Taste: Cooking with Umami.

Food Tours
Our food tours will take us to Cleveland's historic West Side Market; the new Nestle Professional Culinary Center; Chef's Garden, growers of more than 600 varieties of herbs, micro-greens and vegetables for America's top chefs; a Bon Appetit Farm to Fork dining program at Case Western Reserve University; Tommy's vegetarian restaurant; a novelty and toy shop with an extensive collection of food memorabilia and gifts; and other destinations to be announced.

And, if you want to participate in the first-ever IFEC Institute on Monday morning, you should arrive on Sunday, November 2. Read about the IFEC Institute below.

Link for hotel reservations
Now is the time to secure your accommodations at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel. You will find a link below where you will be directed to the property's home page with the IFEC conference code already entered in the appropriate field. Just enter your arrival date to begin the reservation process.

Click here to make hotel reservations.

While you're in the planning mode, remember to get yourself an absentee ballot. The elections are Tuesday, November 4, when you'll be at the conference.

♦ the ifec institute debuts in cleveland, monday, november 3
The IFEC Institute is an educational initiative to contribute to members' professional development. The first symposium is entitled "Charting the Social Media Landscape: A Roadmap for Success in New Communications." It will take place at 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday, November 3, at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel. The program will feature nationally-known experts sharing insights and strategies for harnessing the power of new communications media in foodservice.

Keynoter Ellen Leanse is an experienced social media strategist, online coach and Web entrepreneur. She will provide background and specific pointers for working with online communities and the social grid; content generation and production for podcasts, blogs and more; and integrating new communications with other efforts to build results.

Other panelists include executives from FohBoh^TM, McCain Foodservice and Fishbowl. FohBoh^TM (short for "Front of House, Back of House) is the first, leading social-business network for the global restaurant industry. Fishbowl is a leader in providing email marketing to the restaurant industry, while McCain has tapped into mom-centric blogs and online communities to inform their R&D and sales/marketing efforts in school foodservice.

The fee for the members-only program, is $55. This includes coffee break and lunch.
You may register for the program along with your conference registration. Program details will be coming soon. In the meantime, if you plan to attend, please let us know so that we can hold a space for you. RSVP to ifec@aol.com.

♦ about people
Linda Duke, Duke Marketing, will give the keynote session at the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Show. Her program, "Four Star Marketing Cookbook -- Recipes for Restaurateurs," takes place Saturday, August 23, at 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. at the LA Convention Center. She'll sign books following the session.

School Nutrition's Patty Fitzgerald and Rita Nolan are thrilled to announce that their magazine received two Gold awards in the 2008 EXCEL competition sponsored by the Society of National Association Publications. The magazine took top honors for General Excellence and its 2008 Media Kit.

Melinda Morgan, Morgan Marketing & Public Relations, has announced the addition of Ann Moreno as account executive. Ann is assisting with public relations campaigns for a number of clients, including Panda Restaurant Group, Mimi's Café and Super Mex.

Longtime IFEC member Betsy Slinkard is now available for freelance writing assignments. She is currently writing for Pizza Marketing Quarterly and has contributed food-related articles for the past few years to Produce Business and Deli Business. You can reach Betsy at betsyslinkard@sbcglobal.net and 831-655-2098. Her website is www.slinkardpr.com.

Congratulations to Ed Hoffman. He recently joined Nation's Restaurant News as the company's new Executive Director, Marketing. In his new role, Ed will oversee all marketing efforts for the print, online and custom programming divisions. You may reach him at 212.756.5253 or ehoffman@nrn.com.

♦ scholarship stars
IFEC scholarship winner Janie Schneider is off to a great start on her career. After receiving a $2,000 IFEC grant last summer, she went on to an internship at Restaurant Business with Pat Cobe. Then she joined us in Austin to help at the conference. Janie graduated from New York University with a Master's in Food Studies and now she has landed a dream job as Assistant to the Director of Sponsorships and Special Events for the James Beard Foundation. "I get to assist in planning Chefs and Champagne in Los Angeles and in the Hamptons, as well as The James Beard Awards," she writes. "I meet so many different chefs and people in the food industry. I work with the best staff - everyone is so dedicated to what they do. The best part about my job is that it really doesn't feel like work...it's so much fun."
A second member of the IFEC scholarship class of 2007 is making her mark on Manhattan as well. Gina Puzzanghera earned her Bachelor's of Science in Food Studies/Nutrition from New York University and has gone on to launch the nonprofit Nourishing Soup Kitchen of NYC, a non-profit set up to provide nutritious and soul-satisfying meals to homeless, low-income and immune-compromised people. Find out more about Gina's mission at www.nycsoup.org.

♦ professional development award pays off
Rita Nolan, senior editor, School Nutrition Association, is one of six IFEC-ers to receive reimbursements from the Professional Development fund to help with continuing education costs not covered by their employers. Here's a note of thanks from Rita:
"Thank you so much for the Professional Development Award toward my HTML course at Fairfax County (Va.) Public Schools. With the cost of virtually everything rising these days, it certainly helped my budget!

"The course helped me to brush up on the basics of creating a webpage, from formatting text to inserting photos and links to making a site more searchable. Then there's that wonderful trick that causes a separate browser window to pop up every time a visitor clicks on an outside link at your website. (But who would ever want to click out of my website anyway??) I received HTML-1 Basic Certification and am looking forward to the next course in the series.

"It's ironic to remember that, in college, I was told we probably would never need our HTML skills because new software would do it all for us in the future. Of course, it hasn't turned out quite that way (even templates require some knowledge of HTML), and I'm glad IFEC provided funding to help me get back into practice. My hope is to be of more assistance with the e-newsletters and websites of the School Nutrition Association and the new Global Child Nutrition Foundation. Check 'em out at www.schoolnutrition.org and www.gcnf.org!"

Applications for 2009 awards are available at www.ifeconline.com.

♦ rockin' auction is announced
IFEC's student scholarships as well as the professional development awards are funded by the proceeds from our annual silent auctions. This year's promises to be every bit as successful as the ones in Austin and Chicago. Here's the word from Auction Chairwoman Melinda Morgan:

"The Bidding Is Open!" The Cleveland IFEC conference is just months away, which means it's time to start thinking about items for the annual scholarship auction. With donor forms soon to be distributed, Cleveland's Rockin' Auction will prove to be the "hit performance" of the conference. This year, items will be divided into eight themed categories:

• "Heart of Gold" - Traditional Member Items
• "Old Time Rock & Roll" - Cleveland 2008
• "Surfin' U.S.A." - San Diego 2009 Conference
• "Johnny B. Goode" - New Orleans 2010 Conference
• "Dance To The Music" - General/Entertainment
• "Shop Around" - Retail
• Raffle Items

And, for the first year ever, the Rockin' Auction will feature a "One-Hit Wonder" table - our very own white elephant section. This category will allow you to donate those off-the-wall items that deserve some "rock star" attention on the bidding table. Be on the lookout for donor forms! Questions? Contact Auction Chair Melinda M. Morgan, at Melinda@mmpr.biz or (949) 261-2216.

There's another way to contribute to the scholarship fund. It's by purchasing gifts customized with the IFEC logo. Go to http://www.cafepress.com/ifec to purchase T-shirts, sweatshirts, baseball caps, coffee mugs and a sweet little bear wearing an IFEC T. Proceeds from sales go straight to the scholarship fund.

♦ last call for product presentations
August 1st is the last day we can accept applications for conference product presentations.
You can download instructions and an application from www.ifeconline.com. Please contact me if you have any questions.

♦ welcome new members
We extend a warm welcome to the folks who have joined us recently:

Joanna Lefebvre, Club & Resort Business, jll@clubandresortbusiness.com
Tricia Heinrich, California Milk Advisory Board, theinrich@cmab.net
Joan Kimball, Quebec Delegation Chicago, Joan.kimball@mri.gouv.gcc.ca
Bob Mullen, Brand Resources Group,
Ronnie Campbell, The Burrell Group, theburrellgroupltd@msn.com
Courtney Babic, Foodmix, cbabic@foodmix.net
Danny Craig, Morgan Marketing, danny@mmpr.biz
Jeff Manning, Cherry Marketing Institute, jeff@gotmanning.com
Theresa Renaldi, Weber Shandwick, trenaldi@webershandwick.com
David Greenberg, John Wiley & Sons, dgreenbe@wiley.com
Emily Negrin, JT Mega, enegrin@jtmega.com
Crystal Meier, Certified Angus Beef, cmeier@certifiedangusbeef.com
Melissa Brewer, Certified Angus Beef, mbrewer@certifiedangusbeef.com
Kristine Andrews, Chartwells, kristine.andrews@compass-usa.com
Patrick Pantano, Saladworks, LLC, ppantano@saladworks.com
Brett Cerf, Weber Shandwick, elisabeth.cerf@webershandwick.com
Dan Curran, Golin Harris, dcurran@golinharris.com
Diane Storey, Golin Harris, dstorey@golinharris.com
Robin Ray, Golin Harris, rray@golinharris.com

♦ conference agenda
Sunday, November 2
Afternoon - Board Meeting
Evening - Alumni of the Board Annual Dinner

Monday, November 3
9:00 a.m IFEC Institute
3:00 p.m. Conference Registration
3:00 p.m. Welcome Refreshments
4:00 p.m. New Member Orientation
5:30 p.m. Keynote Speaker
6:00 p.m. Meet the Press
7:30 p.m. Chef Showcase Reception

Tuesday, November 4 (Election Day - get your absentee ballot in advance)
7:30 a.m. Buffet Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Scholarship Silent Auction
8:00 a.m. Office Hours
10:00 a.m. . Refreshment Break
10:30 a.m. Office Hours
12:45 p.m. Lunch with Panel
2:30 p.m. Office Hours
2:45 p.m. Refreshment Break
3:45 p.m. Workshop/Panel
6:30 p.m. Cocktails &Appetizers Reception
7:30 p.m. The Betty Award Dinner
9:30 p.m. After Hours Party

Wednesday, November 5
8:15 a.m. Annual Business Breakfast Meeting
9:45 a.m. Office Hours
10:30 a.m. Refreshment Break
11:00 a.m. Office Hours
12:45 p.m. Food Tour Departures with Box Lunch
6:30 p.m. Cocktail Reception
Dinner On Your Own

Thursday, November 6
Farewell Continental Breakfast
8:00 a.m. Meeting of 2009 Board

♦ got news? send it to ifec@aol.com today

edited by carol lally
ifec executive director
box 491, hyde park, ny 12538, 845-229-6973 ifec@aol.com, www.ifeconline.com