Well… its over.
The best time of the year and the most fun event put on by School Nutrition Association, the Annual National Conference has come to a close.
This year, the conference was held at the Denver Convention Center in Denver, Colorado. The theme and tagline, “Reach Higher” was a fitting phrase for the mile high city. With thousands of exhibitors and participants in this conference sharing and gaining their knowledge on improving the lives of our future generation through nutrition and technology advancement, the goal of reaching high was on everyone’s mind.
If you are unfamiliar with the school nutrition scene, the School Nutrition Association (SNA) is a wonderful organization that empowers and supports 50,000+ school nutrition professionals in advancing the accessibility, quality and integrity of school nutrition programs to the advancement of well-nourished students, prepared to succeed. Their vision is that every student has access to nutritious meals at school, ensuring their optimal health and well-being. Now that is a mission that can not be met with any argument! Each of the 50 states have their own SNA organization overseeing the grand vision of student nutrition and each division is oversaw by the national SNA organization.
Every summer, the national SNA organization puts on the biggest school nutrition event of the year at an extravagant convention center in a historic city. They organize speakers, exhibitors, and vendors with the goal of providing our food service professionals with a whole toolset of knowledge to bring into their schools’ lunchroom in the fall.
Hands down, everyone’s favorite part of the conference, is the vendor exhibit hall. This hall is filled with hundreds of different vendors presenting and sampling out their products to schools. Everything from pizza to software, lunch trays to beverages, technology to food. You can find it all here with more than a handful of fun along the way!
This whole exciting event is ended with an even more exciting, huge, music filled party that you would regret missing. This year was an 80s themed dance party with the Spazmatics covering all of the 80s favorite hits. Everyone was decked out in 80s gear hit the dance floor with vigor!
As always, the SNA ANC was a huge success. Denver was a welcoming city with plenty of entertainment, food and culture for all of us to enjoy. The convention center was beautiful and filled with friendly, smiling faces. With this conference in the books, the next conference is in Boston, Massachusetts and is sure to exceed expectations. We are so looking forward to it and are counting down the days! Will you be there to meet us?