ADA's FNCE 2009 Denver: My Highlights

I recently attend the annual American Dietetic Association Food and Nutrition Conference (FNCE) in Denver, Colorado. This conference brings together thousands of dietitians from around the country to learn about the latest research in nutrition, network and schmooze with other like-minded professionals, and of course taste hundreds of new food products on the market from bars to gluten-free baked goods. This is my third time attending FNCE and I always leave the conference inspired, excited, jazzed up about my profession with a long list of “to-dos” and enough ideas to last me to the next conference.

This year I was invited to attend the conference to have a face-to-face meeting with ADA’s Member Value Committee. I am one of the new members of this passionate committee and Chair the New Member Sub-Committee with other fantastic dietitians.

My days in Denver were jam-packed with so many exciting events and happenings, but here are some of my personal highlights:

• Reunion! The best part about these annual conferences is that it’s a built-in reunion with some of my best friends from my graduate program at Tufts University. It’s nice to see old classmates who are in different parts of the country in exciting nutrition jobs.

• Our opening speaker was finance guru Suze Orman. I’ve read Suze’s books, watched her TV show and laughed at the SNL skit of her and her jackets (yes, she donned a snazzy leather jacket when she spoke). Suze was one of the most powerful, influential speakers I’ve ever heard. She made all of us think twice about our finances, from 401ks to paying off credit cards, buying houses, and how to feel financially secure. I loved that ADA chose a speaker who is not in the nutrition field, but whose information can apply to all dietitians.
• I went to the Nutrition Entrepreneurs and Dietitians in Business and Communications networking event Saturday night. I get daily emails from the Nutrition Entrepreneurs group and am always encouraged and inspired by some of the nutrition big-wigs who contribute to the group. I was giddy as I found myself sharing a table with the Nutrition Twins Tammy and Lyssie who I’ve admired for years once I learned of them when I was in college. They were so upbeat and friendly and let me gush about their new book and Good Morning America appearances. They gave me some great tips about approaching the media, which is something I need to do more of.
• I was star-struck when Ellie Krieger walked into the room. Remember my recent post about her recipe I made and the last time I met her at FNCE? I was even more excited this time and made my friends come with me for moral support so I could talk to her again! I let Ellie know that my blog post that day was about her and her recipe! It’s likely she thought I was a weirdo stalker, but she was so friendly and nice enough to ask me how I liked her recipe and what I thought of the mandolin-zucchini-slicing technique (I gave her some of my own tips!).
• The expo was an exciting place to be and as soon as the doors opened, I headed to the POM Wonderful booth to meet some of the enthusiastic POM peeps. Why POM? I was recently brought on as a writer for the website (stay tuned for some of my articles!) and would be heading to California from Colorado for the first ever POM Blogger Harvest Tour (blog posts about that to come too) in just a few days. I met Martin from POM who I hope to collaborate with in the future on many POM endeavors.
• The Member Value Committee met face-to-face for the first time and it was an active, proactive group. It was one of the most productive 2-hour meetings I’ve ever been in and I’m excited about all of the new projects we have on board to improve ADA’s membership and increase member satisfaction.
• I attended the Speakers Sub-Group meeting Sunday evening and was so glad I did. Marilyn Jess, a dietitian and well known speaker lead the session and gave us great tips for landing speaking roles and coming up with (and following through with) a “big idea” related to speaking. I’ve been home for less than 12 hours and I’ve already contacted three local Toastmasters groups in the Boston area that I’m considering joining. I love public speaking and would like to do it for a living, so this is a great way for me to improve my speaking skills. I’ve considered Toastmasters before, but this meeting gave me the nudge I needed to take action. I was in a room full of well-known dietitians, including Eating Disorders guru Jessica Setnick , speaker/author/dietitian Cindy Heroux, Christine Palumbo who is frequently seen in the media and gave great presentations at the Mass Dietetic Association conference (where she also told me I had a great TV-worthy outfit…love her!) and Jean Caton, dietitian, career, business and life coach who speaks for a living and was kind enough to let me pick her brain after the session about going into the field of speaking and setting appropriate fees and rates. The energy in that session was encouraging and I can’t wait to put the tips into action.
• I met up with friends at Rialto, a popular Denver restaurant, where I ordered a four-piece dish of vegetarian cuisine. It was delicious and a nice change from the bits and pieces we tasted at the expo! There are only so many nuts, yogurts, berries, bars, and wheat-free foods you can sample.
• Monday’s session on Blogging and Beyond presented by a favorite RD of mine, Liz Weiss, as well as Janet Helm and others was the most-attended session I went to. Everyone is so curious about the trend of blogging and twitter! I was happy to see I was ahead of the curve as an avid twitterer (???) and growing blogger. But I got some great new networking ideas and blog improvements I want to look into and will hopefully upgrade my social media and networking involvement.

Overall, this FNCE was the best one I’ve attended. Aside from the chapped lips, dry skin, and huffing and puffing I experienced as I walked around from the thin, mile-high air, I had a fabulous, exciting and inspiring ti
me at FNCE and will look forward to the 2010 conference in Boston! Until then, time to put all these great tips and ideas into action.