Welcome Letter
all of my colleagues and foodservice professionals, to The Society for Foodservice Management’s 30th National Conference in San Francisco, CA. The Conference will take place September 29th - October 2nd, 2009 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel located in the heart of the city.
What better setting than the city known for its iconic Golden Gate Bridge for this year’s conference theme, “Building Bridges, Competitive Strategies for Today and Tomorrow.” This theme reflects the task our industry has before us and I can’t recall a bigger need to gather new information which will help develop and redefine our business plans for now and the years ahead.
The 2009 National Conference Planning Committee has done a fantastic job setting up this year’s event. Education and development programs support three main categories, Business Building Strategies, Career and Personal Development and Innovative Culinary Ideas. Keynote session and workshops focus on leadership, innovative technology to reach new customers, re-engineering foodservice contracts to win/win, finding hidden catering sales, motivating a multicultural workforce, and culinary sessions on flavors and unique dining options presented by The Culinary Institute of America and much more. Even with all of these programs, we scheduled time for our members to have customer business meetings.
Complimenting the conference are opportunities for everyone to tour San Francisco including a scheduled restaurant dine around, a Walk for Hunger Awareness across the Golden Gate Bridge, and a memorial dinner to honor one of SFM founding members and one of on-site dining’s most influential leaders, Richard Ysmael.
I look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new colleagues in September!
Owen Moore
2009 SFM Preisdent