The Final Stretch at North Dakota (Last Two Weeks)

So since I pretty much failed to post an update about week 7, and week 8 is filled with much much FoodPro, I decided to crunch these last two weeks together. You'll probably read this post as fast as these last two weeks felt like they flew by.

Week Seven - 7/15-7/19
My seventh week at UND went by super quick. I got to sit in on interviews for a Snack Bar Supervisor position dining is looking to fill by the beginning of the year. It was very interesting to be able to sit in on all three and see how different each applicant's responses were. It was also very interesting to be a part of the discussion after the interviews and deliberate on which applicant would be best suited for the position, and weigh the pros and cons of going with whoever we decided would do the best job. There is a lot that goes into deciding on an applicant that is dependent on external factors. These applicants were internal -- already in the UND system of employees -- so they don't have the 6 month window of employment where, if management finds that this person is not the right fit, they can easily let them go. On the contrary, if dining chose one of the internal applicants, it would be very hard to find a replacement for the individual if the position ended up not being the right fit. A lot of our discussion was centered on whether or not we wanted to choose one of these applicants, all of whom we had questions about, or extend the application externally and wait to see if more qualified people would apply. It was definitely a cool experience to be on the other side of the table, and I got to learn things that I think will end up helping me in interviews down the road.

This week, I finally was able to get the residence hall catering menus off of the spreadsheet, into FoodPro, and up on the web! It took some clicking around in FoodPro to figure out which actions had what effect on appearance and organization and so on, but when I finally figured it out, it turned out to be a pretty easy and not-too-technical process. We were able to meet with some of the residence hall directors and RA's to get their feedback on how the menu was organized, what things they liked or didn't like, and some things they'd like to see added, etc. I took the notes from this meeting and continued to work on the menu in FoodPro.

Notes from various meetings

Menus Menus Menus.

Aurora (the company that owns the FoodPro software) will stay in Grand Forks to host a 2-full-day training session for everyone that will be involved with this catering module and teach them how to set it up and eventually use it successfully -- I'll be able to attend this too, so I will know everything there is to know about implementing a residence hall catering module in FoodPro! (Can I put this on my resume?)

Boxes upon boxes of registration bags filled with goodies

The rest of the week was filled with finalizing details for the FoodPro conference, stuffing registration bags, running errands, and all that jazz. I won't spend any more time describing that, since you get to read about the actual event...now!

Opening powerpoint that I whipped together. Kinda proud :)

Week Eight - 7/21-7/26
My last week of interning was jam-packed with activity thanks to the FoodPro Conference actually arriving! I was so excited to be able to see all of our planning and coordinating come to life and meet FoodPro users from universities across the nation! I started on Sunday early in the afternoon, setting up registration/helping with registration. It was great to put faces to the names I had gotten so used to working with in spreadsheets over the summer :)

Our lovely banner that was donated by the CVB. Awesome to see another thing I designed come to life!

I was also able to attend dinner Sunday night, which was catered by the CanadInn. There were lots of delicious things to choose from and everything was very elegant!

Strawberry Avocado Salsa. Oh my gosh. So beautiful.

Some delicious desserts from the Canad Catering. These were gone before I even got to try one!

On Monday, I got up bright and early to welcome the guests to the Memorial Union, where the majority of the conference events would be held. During the day I was able to sit in on a few of the sessions and they were all very interesting -- it was great to have a good handle on FoodPro and actually follow the discussions and understand others' perspectives. Beyond simply making sure the conference ran smoothly and that everyone knew where to go, I really enjoyed networking and talking with the attendees and learning more about other university's foodservices. I was able to meet one of the head chefs from the Wisconsin Union, which was awesome! We joked about UND's Memorial Union and Terrace and how they compared to Madison, and I learned more about how the Union structured it's foodservice department since it is separate from residential dining services.

Dr. Steve Light of UND gave a wonderful keynote about "Leading from the Middle"

Learning about Commissary Food Production in FoodPro

Tuesday was much like Monday, and I was able to attend some more nutrition-focused sessions and hear from registered dietitians at various universities and their experiences with FoodPro. Really, after this entire internship experience and after hearing from dietitians all over, I really think I would enjoy working as a dietitian for a university dining service. I think it would offer the best of all the aspects of nutrition/dietetics that I enjoy -- interacting with people and impacting a large population with education. On Tuesday, I was able to attend the fancy farewell dinner we hosted at the new Alumni Center building on campus. It was absolutely gorgeous and the food was incredible, thanks to UND Catering. I was also able to have another slice of FABulous Pistachio Mascarpone cake from the Cakerie (I'm going to have to remember this company for other events down the road..) We also had some fun with the photobooth :)

Podium set-up at the beautiful Gorecki Alumni Center on dinner Tuesday night. Those gifts are for all of the presenters that held sessions throughout the conference!

Dinner on Tuesday was so beautifully catered!

Cheese Curds from UW Stout -- the hosts of the FoodPro Conference next summer!

Having a bit of fun with the life-size photobooth -- Me, Dustin, and Rosie from the University of Northern Iowa

Wednesday was the last day of the conference, but it was only held at the CanadInn for the morning, and my assistance really wasn't needed at this point any more since most people knew the drill. I got to sleep in just a little before I went back into the office and finished up my nutrition brochure series. Since I have been the one working with the online catering menus and the project is pretty much still in the beginning stages, I showed Laura what I had been doing to input the menus online and all of the tips/tricks I'd figured out so far, since she and Dustin would be the ones handling it once I leave. (Can't I just stay?) Later, Jim from Aurora came to Wilkerson and began the first phase of training for the staff on this module of FoodPro. All day thursday I sat in on the training sessions and rebuilt some of the menus and recipes. Okay, I can truly say that this has been no easy process. We build one type of menu, and then to change  how it appears on the web organizationally, we usually have to start from scratch. Frustration nation! We got a lot accomplished anyway and the website is actually beginning to look nice.

Thursday was also the day of the Retiree's/President's picnic at Wilkerson, and for dinner the whole dining hall was set up differently, with two lines of buffet-style picnic foods for retired University staff and faculty to come eat. I had helped plan the menu earlier in the month and worked with Mara to figure out how the foods would best lay out.

Today, Friday is my last day (tears!) I hate saying goodbye. I have had such a wonderful time here this summer and can honestly look back and say I didn't have any bad days. I enjoyed every single project I worked on, even if some were a bit more challenging and pushed me a bit further than others. Everyone who I worked with was so kind and open and let me really get the full experience this internship is meant to provide, plus more. I will always look back on these 8 weeks with a smile, and who knows, I might be working for one of these Universities some day :)