Weeks 5 & 6 at Kennesaw State & the NACUFS conference!

 (I know I wrote a novel but a lot happened in weeks 5 & 6!)

WEEK 5

On Monday and Tuesday, we primarily made finishing touches on the marketing plan. We also helped write thank you letters to the sponsors of the Moore, Oklahoma benefit dinner. On Wednesday we had a marketing meeting with Jenn, Melissa, and Shana. We finalized plans for fall and also reviewed our marketing plan and bounced ideas off of each other for promotions and advertising.

On Thursday, we had the day off for Fourth of July. I went with Lacie and Shana to Shana’s friend’s house. We grilled burgers and hung out by the pool since it was too rainy to go to Lake Lanier like we originally planned. Once the weather cleared up, we watched some fireworks and watched the patriot. It ended up being a fun day despite 100% chance of rain the entire day!

On Friday, we met with Bethany Constien, R.D. at KSU. She went over requirements for becoming a registered dietician (RD), requirements for becoming licensed in the state which you practice, and the roles and duties of being a dietician in the Center for Health Promotion and Wellness at Kennesaw State. Her main role as an RD in this department is to provide one-on-one nutrition counseling to students involved in athletics and students with eating disorders. Bethany is also involved with a number of committees, workshops and research studies. She is responsible with promoting and planning events, giving presentations, recipe of the month, weekly ritie bite, love your body week, produce patrol (rewards for fruit on your plate!), and daily wise choice meals (which she plans based on the menu for the week and does not include items from more than two stations). She gave us advice for applying to internships (this fall!) as well as steps to take in being successful and staying up to date in the world dietetics and nutrition (including a list of helpful resources.)

WEEK 6

On Monday, we worked on the marketing plan and finalized plans for the NACUFS conference. On Tuesday, we spent a half day at work making finishing touches on the marketing plan and then headed to the Atlanta airport to fly to Minneapolis. Upon arrival, we shared a rental car with Randy and Rob and went to dinner at The Oceanaire. We sampled fried calamari, asparagus with cheese sauce and scalloped potatoes. For my entrée I got shrimp scampi and I managed to save some room for rhubarb crème brulee and peach crisp with blueberry cheesecake ice cream! We talked about the KSU farms (Apple Springs, Harmony Hill and Hickory Hill) and the new greenhouses which will feature hydroponically grown tomatoes. The income to support the new farm will come from tomato sales.  The high costs of tomatoes in the off-season will also be deducted from the current food purchases by The Commons as well. We also learned that there were MBA students from Kennesaw State that began a high quality ice cream business called High Road. The ice cream is made from local dairy products and popular in the area. I will definitely have to try some before our internship is over :)

 

On Wednesday, I registered for the NACUFS conference and got a bunch of goodies. We met up with Rob and Randy and got lunch at Brit’s Pub right in the heart of Minneapolis where I tried the fish tacos. I then attended the first-time conference attendee’s orientation at the Hilton Minneapolis where we networked with other first-timers and experienced NACUFS members. We learned about the history of NACUFS and what to expect during the conference including educational sessions, Showcase, and networking opportunities.  We learned about NACUFS through a trivia game and our team even received two gluten free cookbooks (which will be useful since my roommate for this coming year is celiac). After orientation, we attended the Theodore W. Minah reception and dinner in the ballroom where NACUFS most prestigious award was presented to Samuel A. Bennett from Texas Tech who unfortunately passed away shortly before the conference. Dinner was followed by a customer appreciation party where there was a live band.

On Thursday morning we woke up early to attend Pancakes on the Plaza awards breakfast outside of the convention center. We then headed to the ballroom for presentation of the David R. Prentkowski Distinguished Lifetime Member Award (to honor retired NACUFS members who have supported the organization), the Daryl Van Hook Industry Award (to honor an industry member representing educational support, product innovation, and service to NACUFS), and the Richard Lichtenfelt Award (for outstanding service to NACUFS on a national level). The Sustainability awards (in procurement practice, outreach and education, waste management, energy and water conservation) were announced as well which included member institutions demonstrating outstanding leadership in the promotion and implementation of environmental sustainability as it relates to campus dining operations. KSU student Jett Hattaway was recognized as the 2013 student green champion! Dr. Temple Grandin, the keynote speaker for the conference and scientist/livestock equipment designer, spoke on Animal Welfare and Global Food Issues following the awards presentation. Grandin is autistic and revolutionized animal welfare guidelines for the meat industry. Over half of the cattle in the US and Canada are handled in equipment she designed for meat plants. It was inspiring to see someone who has overcome so many obstacles succeed in what they are passionate about.  Following the keynote speaker, I attended a super session featuring Mai Pham, the founder of Lemon Grass (I’ve eaten there on Purdue campus) and Star Ginger restaurants. The Healthy Asian Kitchen: Innovative Strategies for Campus Dining highlighted the innovative qualities of plant-based dishes that are nutritious, healthy, sustainable, and most importantly desirable to college students. She also presented ideas for increasing whole grains, legumes, nuts, and vegetables in college dining operations. Natalie and I then spent a couple hours walking around the showcase which featured more than 250 exhibitors to visit! We sampled more than enough food for ‘lunch’ including macaroni and cheese bacon fries (one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted) and freshens smoothies and learned about different products and services available for college and university foodservice. Later on in the day we watched six regional culinary challenge winners from around the country compete in the 13^th Annual Culinary Challenge. The competitors had one hour to prepare four portions of their original recipe using the mandatory ingredient of duck.  We caught the end of the Industry Reception dinner following the competition and ate some pasta. 

Friday kicked off with a regional breakfast (for the southern region!) KSU won the Loyal E. Horton Silver award for residential dining concepts which Rob accepted. Natalie and I were also recognized as NACUFS interns (we were the only interns at the conference)! We then attended a general session called Going Beyond Food Services with speaker Joe pine who is best known for his book The Experience Economy: Work is Theatre & Every Business a Stage. He explained the importance of going beyond goods and services to provide consumers with experiences, memorable events that engage each person in an inherently personal way. I opted out of the showcase today because we saw most all of the exhibits on Thursday (and I needed to go back to the hotel to finish my online homework :/).  I then attended two interest sessions. The first was titled “On Trend”: fresh Ways with Ancient Whole Grains. Two dieticians and a chef led the session on how to incorporate whole-grains into college foodservice in practical and cost-effective ways with broad appeal. A cooking demo featured a Tri-Color Quinoa Stir-Fry with Brown Rice that we were able to sample. In marketing whole grains (particularly to college students) I learned that it is useful to incorporate ‘ancient’, ‘protein-rich’ and location name into the item description/name and to stay away from ‘healthy’, ‘diet’, ‘light’, etc.  The latter descriptions are irrelevant and unappealing to college students and give the impression that the dish will not be filling or taste good. Geographic (i.e. southwest), nostalgic (i.e. heirloom), sensory (i.e. hearty), and comforting (i.e. lumberjack chili) descriptions are all useful to market a dish. A second interest session titled Nutrition Programming as Easy as 1, 2, 3 featured ways to use a limited budget and limited resources to create and implement health, wellness, and nutrition programs. The biggest thing I came away with from this session was that implementing ‘meatless Mondays’ in college dining venues is not a great idea. I ended the day eating some pho at the local Vietnamese restaurant Lotus with Rob and Natalie and walking around a pond at the local park on the edge of the city.                          

On Saturday, we had breakfast at the Hilton Minneapolis. I then attended a nutrition forum headed by NACUFS nutrition committee chair Robin Allen as well as Gina Guiducci (both administrative dieticians on their campuses). Many dieticians participated in a roundtable discussion on the latest news, trends, and resources in health, wellness, and nutrition. The major topics of interest were nutrition labeling, allergies and special dietary needs. I then attended a hot topic session for Successful Food Allergy Practices for which Carrie Anderson (a nutritional specialist at Purdue) was one of the speakers. The session highlighted recent rulings in the Leslie case and speakers shared their experiences in creating operating and redefining food allergy programs. The following general session Inspiring Lessons, Hard-won Insights, and Other Acts of Entrepreneurial Daring featured Steven Schussler, the entrepreneur who started the Rainforest café and writer of the autobiography It’s a Jungle in There. Over a period of five years, Schussler invested over $400,000 to transform his suburban home into a tropical rainforest prototype to sell the concept of the Rainforest café. We ate lunch at Barrios with Randy and Rob and I tried beef tongue tacos (which were surprisingly good once I convinced myself that I was just eating ‘beef’). I also tried tequila lime tacos and we shared chips with guacamole and hot sauce. The closing event (Great Minnesota Get-Together) was at Nicollet Island Pavillion across the bridge. There was a lumberjack show featuring axe-throwing, obstacle pole, speed climb (with a 50’ free fall), and logrolling competitions between two lumberjacks. There was also an inflatable log roll simulation, trout pond for fishing, lots of delicious food, and The Johnny Holm Band played. We met some of the foodservice staff from Villanova as well as West Virginia. On Sunday, we said farewell to Minnesota and flew back Atlanta. After unpacking and finishing homework I turned in early. It was an impactful and insightful week at the NACUFS conference!

Already half done at Kennesaw State!! weeks 3 & 4

In WEEKs THREE & FOUR most of our time was spent working on the marketing plan for Spring 2014. We are using the SWOT analysis to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the meal plan program from 2013. The marketing plan includes an executive summary, situational analysis, basic SWOT analysis, plan objectives, action plan, and appendix. Our objectives are to increase total meal upgrades by at least 15%, upgrades to 3 square and unlimited meal plans, percentage of residential students upgrading (from 15.4% to 20%), percentage of commuter students upgrading (from 4.8% to 6%), and percentage of optional plans sold (from 7.2% to 10% of sales). We created an events calendar and brainstormed specific ways to achieve each of our objectives. We also began designing promotions for meal plan upgrades. I enjoyed the marketing side of things and using pinterest and the internet to find ideas for advertising.

 

On Tuesday, we had a benefit dinner for Moore county Oklahoma which was hit hard by the tornadoes. We handed out t-shirts and meal tickets, direct people, and set up the A-frame and balloons. There was also a prize drawing, DJ, banner to sign, and t-shirts (see pic) that come with meal purchase. The event  ended up being pretty successful especially considering it is summer.

On Wednesday we went to a meeting with Nathan the web concept designer and presented our ideas to make the website easier and more efficient to use for parents and students. We were able to see the draft of the new website format. The web designer is going to implement some of our ideas when updating the website. Also, KSU culinary & hospitality services was in the newspaper for their big culinary sustainability award (see pic).

On Friday we had new student and parent orientation. We went with Rob to set up a drink cart at the Bailey performance center where the parents were offered cold beverages when they exited. We worked on the marketing plan a little afterwards before we headed to the entrance of The Commons and handed out fliers to parents and students about the two new culinary classes that will be offered in the fall along with the new culinary sustainability major. We then headed upstairs to the Culinary & Hospitality table to answer questions from parents about meal plans. At the end of the day we met with Rob about our marketing plan and went over what we have done so far and what else we need to do to accomplish our goals. I also tried craw fish for lunch (definitely a different taste than lobster!) (see pics)

On Monday of WEEK FOUR Rob gave me an alternative assignment to design a weekend cook-to-order menu so I could spend time with my sister who came down from Tennessee and has a break from Sunday through Tuesday every other week. My mom was down from Ohio for the weekend as well (see pic before from before our adventures to Kennesaw Mt.) and took Monica and I to brunch before she left. Monica and I went floating on the Chattahoochee River (aka shoot the hooch) and went to dinner. 

On Tuesday we went to house 48 (the auxiliary services office) with Rob for a meeting with the furniture company sponsors supplying for the new sushi restaurant. Gary, Randy, and Rob picked out mostly red and black tables and chairs. I think the style they picked out will look great in a sushi restaurant where most people will get food to go and there is limited seating. After the meeting we participated in a Freshens panel to test out a new line of crepe wraps that they are adding to their menu. The Freshens at KSU will open sometime in the early fall semester. We tasted and evaluated each wrap as well as a couple other menu items. It was exciting to be a part of the process. Because Freshens is out of Atlanta the menu is largely determined by the feedback of KSU students, staff, and faculty. We have a Freshens at Purdue as well so it will be interesting to see what the new menu looks like when I go back in fall. The rest of the day we continued work on the marketing plan; specifically determining the cost of promotional items as well as events and staffing. 

On Wednesday we had the make-up orientation for the group of students and parents that were supposed to visit KSU on the Friday when there was no power because of the two tornadoes. Natalie and I helped Rob with setting up a table (we did not use the cart that we did last week) with soda (aka coke in the south) and water for the parents when they came out of a session in the Bailey Performance center. When we got back to The Commons we helped Shana set up chairs upstairs for parent break-out sessions. We then marked off and clicked in the parents and students. We helped answer questions from parents about meal plans at the Culinary & Hospitality table upstairs with Haley and ended the day working on promotional posters for fall meal plans. 

We found out from Rob on Thursday that we are officially going to the NACUFS conference in Minneapolis, MN from the 9^th through the 14^th! I am so excited J We began filling out forms and making travel arrangements. The rest of the day we worked on advertising for the fall meal plans. We have gotten a lot of positive feedback on our “keep calm and meal plan” design for posters, t-shirts, napkin holders, and flyers and found out they are going to use the design for fall promotions instead of spring. We also worked on a “keep calm and carry out” poster to inform students that there is now an optional take out option for their meals for an extra $5 per semester. Check out the posters that Natalie and I designed (below). It was exciting to see our hard work paying off! We also worked on a second ad that will be a poster and possible floor sticker in the student center and The Commons. It says “It’s as easy as 1,2,3… upgrade your meal plan today.” It has a picture of hopscotch and three easy steps for meal plan upgrade. If we purchase the floor sticker, it will be life size so that people can actually jump on the spaces. At the end of the day we got to try the hot sauce that we prepared a couple of weeks ago and Chef Billy gave us a jar of it to take back to our apartment (see pic)!  It was really good especially with eggs.

By Friday, the plans to go to Minneapolis, MN for the NACUFS conference are finalized! We have our hotel and plane tickets booked and Natalie and I will travel with Rob from July 9^th through the 14^th. In the morning, I booked my plane ticket and then we went to building 48 and met with Elaine who helped us register for the NACUFS conference. We also worked a little bit on advertising for the fall meal plans (see pics). I finished the napkin holders. I can’t believe that we are already halfway through our time at KSU!!