The IFMA Education Foundation is committed to giving support to qualified culinary, marketing, sales, supply chain and food science students. One of the initiates is to have students join us in attendance at IFMA events, giving them an inside look into the foodservice industry.
In November, the Education Foundation brought 5 students to IFMA’s 2018 Presidents Conference. Here they gained knowledge by watching all of the content filled conference sessions, participated at the Education Foundation Silent Auction, and had the opportunity to network with Presidents, CEOs and Executives from many of the top companies in the industry.
Hear what the students had to say about their experience at Presidents Conference:
“Presidents Conference was a lifetime experience filled with networking and learning. As I develop in my career, I look forward to attending more conferences and becoming a more influential member of the foodservice industry.”
- Jamie Burroughs University of Illinois
“I had the honor of representing the Pennsylvania State University at the 2018 Presidents Conference. I had such a fantastic experience attending the various sessions, networking with distinguished individuals in the foodservice industry, and assisting the conference committee with tasks throughout the weekend.
IFMA provided me the opportunity to attend interesting sessions, meet influential CEO’s and other distinguished leaders. This conference was such an amazing opportunity for me to grow my career. It truly was an honor for me to attend this conference.”
- Derrick Collins, Pennsylvania State University
“As a student of hospitality, we are taught from day one that relationships are the foundation of our industry. Whether it’s curated for professional development, customer satisfaction, or industrial cooperation, relationships are how we better ourselves and make the lives of the people that surround us better. IFMA connects us to ideas, companies, and people that can make “better” a reality, and this conference was an experience worth sharing with the up-and-coming students in this field.”
- Bryan Tishmack, Purdue University
“My IFMA Presidents Conference experience was nothing short of amazing. During the first part of the afternoon, the students were able to mingle with each other, as well as arriving IFMA members. As soon as these prestigious individuals saw that our name tags read “Student”, they immediately struck conversation and were very interested in what we had to say; this continued throughout the entire trip. Within an hour of arriving at the IFMA Conference, I knew this was going to be the experience of a lifetime. Everyone around us gave such a warm welcome and it allowed my nervousness to quickly diminish.”
- Nicole Harker, Pennsylvania State University
If you would like to learn more about the IFMA Education Foundation or contribute to the next generation of foodservice leaders, click here.