Education programs, amenities to enhance NAFEM confab

Nation's Restaurant News,  Sept 24, 2007  

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ATLANTA -- The organizers of The NAFEM Show 2007 say this year's event will continue the tradition of focusing exclusively on equipment and supplies, while offering an educational program keyed to major business issues like food safety and "green" initiatives, and attendee services.

Staged biennially by the Chicago-based North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers, the NAFEM Show regularly is attended by approximately 20,000 industry professionals.

This year's event, which will be held Oct. 11-13 at the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta, is co-located with the FS/TEC foodservice technology conference produced by Nation's Restaurant News and Robert Grimes of Accuvia.

Along with the education program, the NAFEM Show features exhibits by more than 600 foodservice equipment and supplies manufacturers and multiple social functions.

"This is the only show that truly focuses on foodservice equipment and supplies with no distractions from food and beverage [exhibits]," says NAFEM trade show advisory council chairman Denny Romer, commenting on why the event is important to foodservice buyers and executives.

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Romer is vice president of hospitality and foodservice for PuriCore/Sterilox Food Safety of Malvern, Penn. He also says the FS/TEC co-location agreement is "huge for us" because it broadens the scope of information and exhibits available to attendees and aids operators who are "looking to stay current."

Adds NAFEM president Carol P. Wallace, "Bringing equipment, supplies and foodservice-related technology under one roof helps us showcase all that the manufacturing community has to offer our customers."

Wallace is president and chief executive of Cooper-Atkins Corp. of Middlefield, Conn.

"In this business climate we're hearing so much about food safety and about contamination," Romer says. "A lot of the exhibitors are focusing on this."

Exhibit hall hours run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

The NAFEM representative explains that food safety, personnel matters, and issues related to energy and water efficiency and other environmentally friendly subjects are among the topics being covered by this year's education program. Three concurrent education presentations run from 8 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. daily.

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The NAFEM Show 2007 features two "spotlight presentations." Inc. Magazine senior consultant Steven S. Little will address, "The Future of Opportunity: a 20/20 Vision of Your Success," Oct. 12, and The Culinary Institute of America master chefs Run DeSantis and Victor Gielisse offer up "The Future of Kitchen Technology," Oct. 13.

Education presentations this year are divided into five tracks. In addition to the food safety and personnel tracks, there are others tied to "overhead" and "quality," as well as a catchall "general" category.

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Among the education presentation titles are "Developing a Sanitation Accountability System for Foodservice Personnel," "Reducing Labor Costs: Engineering Unit-Level Operations for Efficiency and Productivity," "Six Steps Toward Successful Facility Design," "Why Go Green?" and "Accelerate Your Profits and Customer Satisfaction with Speed Cooking." Also included are "Building a Customer Service Power Team: What is the Soul of Your Organization?" "New Tools for Equipment and Facility Management," and "Time, Temperature and Technology."

NAFEM's Romer says operators attending the event can leverage their time there by using the association's free "ShowConnect" tool.

Registrants can use the online ShowConnect system to create profiles that, among other things, outline the types of goods or services being sought while at the show. ShowConnect then suggests relevant matches with exhibitors who have created profiles to facilitate meetings or correspondence, if desired, which can be arranged via built-in e-mail functions and scheduled with an incorporated calendar program.

As another service to attendees, this year's NAFEM Show features a "Consultant Services Center" providing free advice from members of the Foodservice Consultants Society International, or FCSI. Showgoers can consult with a trio of FCSI members specializing in a variety of services, from facilities design to strategic planning, daily from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

NAFEM officials say the Consultant Service Center is in keeping with the show's tradition of providing a complete venue for education, networking and collaboration.

Another ancillary activity in keeping with that tradition at this year's show involves ServSafe Food Safety Training courses. Instructors from the Georgia Restaurant Association will present a half-day course based on materials from the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation Oct. 10 and Oct. 11.