Countdown to MenuDirections

This Sunday at noon, we will kick off our ninth annual MenuDirections conference at the Intercontinental Hotel in New Orleans. All of the pieces are falling into place for what could be our best conference ever.

Our registration numbers hint at indications of an economic revival—that or a large number of Yankees are craving the warmth of the southern city. We will have more than 140 operators in attendance, which could set a record. That is heartening, for it suggests that travel restrictions are being eased and operators see the value in the program we’ve put together.

From the moment we kick off, everything will revolve around food, from my opening presentation of our State of the Plate survey, to the popular Dine-Around Sunday night, to the culinary workshops and clinics, to our FSD of the Month/Year banquet. Vendor fairs will ensure that no one will go hungry and many interesting products will be sampled.

To wrap up the conference, we will present the winners of our first Goldies Awards for excellence in volume foodservice. With CIA Associate Dean Brad Barnes doing the honors, it should be an excellent send-off.

If you are coming to the conference, we look forward to greeting you, entertaining you and educating you. If you can’t make it, you can follow along our frequent updates on the Web site and through Twitter (fsdeditor) and Facebook. Whether virtually or in person, we look forward to your participation.