On the road again

Conference season has hit its stride, and the frequent flyer miles are piling up. ASHFSA, NACUFS, HFM, SFM and more are on my agenda, but none of them are as fascinating as the week I just spent at the University of Massachusetts.

The event was the 15th annual Taste of the World culinary conference, a five-day food fest with more than 150 college and university chefs. It is unique in the non-commercial foodservice industry, a series of seminars and workshops aimed at the leaders of campus kitchens around the country.

I have attended seven Taste of the World conferences, the last four consecutively, and I never fail to come away with a wealth of information, not only about foods from around the world but also college trends in general.

Ken Toong, executive director of UMass Dining, puts together an amazing line-up of presenters. This year the speaker list included Martin Yan and Mark Miller, two of the most influential chefs of the last 30 years, and Roland Mesnier, the White House pastry chef under five presidents. The supporting cast included chefs such as Joyce Goldstein, John Ash, Jet Tila, Chai Siriyarn, Roberto Santibanez and Mario Ferro, people who have worked in restaurants around the world and are eager to share all that they know and have learned. And the chefs eat it up—literally as well as figuratively; the attendees prepare as well as learn about global cuisines, and no one goes hungry.

The first couple of days resemble a three-ring circus, as a parade of chefs came on stage to do mini-demonstrations, whetting attendees’ appetites for the workshops to follow. This year’s theme was World Street Foods, Local Flavors, and the foods prepared came from Colombia and Peru, Greece and Morocco, China and Vietnam and more.

The number in attendance this year is perhaps the most telling note of the conference’s appeal; universities whose travel has been limited still found the resources to send two or three or more chefs. And the chefs themselves beg to return. One chef approached me during a lull in the action and said, “You’re going to do a big write-up on this, aren’t you? I need to convince my boss that we have to come back next year.”

This is out-of-the-box thinking. A conference devoted to one vital segment of your operation can still draw attendees, even in a tight economy. It is an approach other market segments might want to emulate; if chefs are increasingly important in healthcare, for instance, wouldn’t seminars devoted to their skill sets be equally valuable? Just a thought.

In the next few days we will post photos from Taste of the World on our Web site, under People and Places. Be sure to come back to see what you missed, or what might be possible for your market.