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Event Reports
April 18th, 2006 The 28th Annual Supplier's Day of the Great Lakes Section IFT was held on Tuesday, April 18th. A record number of suppliers were present (we're outgrowing our venue!) and the large number of attendees (approximately 150) enjoyed a full afternoon of seminars and exhibits. Dr. Chris Miller or Innovation Focus presented his program "Building the Customer Connection: What Consumers Really Want You to Know and You Forgot to Ask." Following his presentation was Dr. Michele Perchonok of Nasa who talked about "NASA Food Systems: Past, Present and Future." There were many new suppliers exhibiting this year - possibly a growing trend as more companies focus on the smaller regional shows to reach more potential customers. Due to the large number of requests and our limited space, we are negotiating for a larger area next year so that we can accomodate a much larger number of vendors. The traffic of attendees was steady from the opening of the booths at 3:00 to the closing at 6:00. Winner of this year's best decorated booth for our theme of Disney was Gamay Foods. They will get a free booth space next year! Following the exhibits was our 6th Annual Wine and Food Pairing dinner, held again at Yarrow Golf and Conference Center. A record 165 attended this very successful and fun event! Please join us as we make plans to make next year's event even better! 
Feb 23rd, 2005 The section dinner held in the Kellogg Conference Center, MSU. Congratulations to the following award recipients: Lindsey Keskinen was awarded the 2005 Ph.D. Graduate Achievement Award ($500), Adriana Velasquez and Mavis Tan were awarded the 2005 Masters Graduate Achievement Award ($500 each) and Rochelle Vecchio was awarded the 2005 Undergraduate Clifford L. Bedford Scholarship ($1000). Guest speaker from the director of MSU's Department of Packaging, Dr. Sara Risch, gave us an excellent review about "Taste and Flavor: How food changes the way wine tastes". The audience was invited to taste red and white wines with the following food items: Apple slices, lemon slices and salt, to see how such foods affect the way we perceive the flavor of wine. We thank Dr. Risch for sharing a very interesting topic in an interactive way! Student representative, Norm Matella gave away great door prizes such as wines, spices, mugs, gift certificates and gifts donated by various companies such as Kellogg's, Elan Nutrition, Jacobs Engineering, Higgins & White Inc., Country Home Creations, Elite Spice, Ottens Flavors and Ranir Corporation. 
Oct 5th, 2004 Members enjoyed a delicious buffet-styled dinner at Weber's Inn, Ann Arbor and were priviledged with an excellent guest speaker from Kellogg Co., Natalie Schoch on the topic, "Weird and Not-so-Weird Technologies". At the end of the event, student representative, Norm Matella gave out great door prizes including scented candles, mugs, wine and gift certificates! The event was a blast and we look forward to the next section dinner event! 
Aug 3rd, 2004 At Michigan's Newest premier championship golf courses, Yarrow Golf & Conference Center, members had the opportunity to meet new friends or greet old friends during our hospitality party on Tuesday evening, Aug 3rd. Members spent the night in one of their charming guest rooms, joined friends for dinner or lingered around with a beverage and some conversation on one of the decks overlooking the spectacular Ray Hearns designed golf course. The next morning, we start off with registration and a continental breakfast. Members also could take the time to practice on their picturesque driving range, and then get ready for our shotgun start scramble. Following golf, members enjoyed a buffet dinner on one of the decks as we announce our event winners and draw for great prizes. 
April 20th, 2004 At Michigan's Newest premier championship golf courses, Yarrow Golf & Conference Center, members had the opportunity to meet new friends or greet old friends during our hospitality party on Tuesday evening, Aug 3rd. Members spent the night in one of their charming guest rooms, joined friends for dinner or lingered around with a beverage and some conversation on one of the decks overlooking the spectacular Ray Hearns designed golf course. The next morning, we start off with registration and a continental breakfast. Members also could take the time to practice on their picturesque driving range, and then get ready for our shotgun start scramble. Following golf, members enjoyed a buffet dinner on one of the decks as we announce our event winners and draw for great prizes. |
