Our 2024-2025 volunteer year is off to a great start! Many chapters have installed new officers, fall meeting dates are being announced, and we have begun onboarding chapters to the new banking platform (Crowded). We also had another successful ACE take place June 10-13 in Reno, NV. ACE brought many members, vendors, and industry colleagues together to learn about employee recruitment, networking, DEI, mental health, and other industry challenges (and solutions). Chapter leaders were presented additional opportunities to network with colleagues, learn new chapter best practices, and celebrate their successes as well. Read more about the highlights from 2024 ACE below.
Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon – We kicked off ACE with our annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. Volunteers networked over lunch and received small tokens of appreciation. Outgoing board members (ANFP, CBDM & NFEF) were recognized for their hard work and chapters were awarded their annual chapter awards, including our Diamond Award nominees (Florida ANFP, Georgia ANFP, Illinois ANFP, Indiana ANFP, Iowa ANFP, Kansas ANFP, Maryland, DE, DC ANFP, Minnesota ANFP, South Dakota ANFP, Texas ANFP, Wisconsin ANFP, Wyoming ANFP). Congratulations to all our chapters! (For a full list of chapter awards, see our next issue of Edge magazine.)
Chapter Best Practices – Chapter leaders joined our group of panelists for an early morning discussion about using membership satisfaction surveys to improve member engagement and satisfaction. The panel explained how they used surveys to gain a better understanding of members needs, how to better serve our members, and how they applied the data from surveys to chapter management. Thank you to our panelists, Tracy Cotner – IL ANFP President, Scott Schuld – WI ANFP President, Mel Kern – WI Newsletter Editor, Jean Siegel – IL ANFP President-elect, Jessica Weisbrich – MN ANFP President, and Jeff Wuolett – MN ANFP President-elect, for sharing their experiences and best practices.
Crowded Q & A – Chapter leaders were also able ask questions during our session dedicated to the new banking platform, Crowded. Additionally, Maggie Rowlands of the IN ANFP chapter was able to demo the functionality via the Crowded app and answer many of the questions as the chapter has been using the platform exclusively since February.
Diamonds and Denim at the Honors Gala – Attendees were dressed in their best denim and diamonds and treated to a fun night of dinner, dancing, and awards. ACE award recipients were honored during the gala for their achievements and contributions to the nutrition and foodservice industry. Additionally, the IA ANFP chapter was awarded the coveted Diamond award. To view our award recipients’ profile videos, go to ANFPtv and read more about them in our next issue of Edge magazine. Congratulations to all our winners!