This was my first time attending FNCE and it was wonderful. Torn between wanting to attend every class possible and visit the expo floor the entire day, difficult choices had to be made. I attended the conference this year with a group of students from my school. My choice to attend was very last minute compared to my fellow students. I’ve wanted to attend since hearing of the conference, but thought I would never be able to as a student. Since I plan on entering into a masters program after graduation I thought making the visit while still working on my undergrad was a good decision. My pocket book did not agree with me. However, an award opportunity has come up that I will be taking advantage of in the near future.
If anyone is interested in helping out with student awards to attend FNCE in Oct. 2014 please let me know. We are hosting a benefit in March 2014. We would love to have attendees, donors, and sponsors!
The entire experience is a bit overwhelming at first, but we all got used to it after a day or two. My fellow professionals are a bit ravenous when it comes to freebies. This is not an exaggeration! I tried to be thoughtful and only take things I felt I could use.
Although I signed up only about a month and a half in advance, the decision to spend the whole five days was made without hesitation. Unlike my travel partners, I was able to accomplish more than one goal on my trip to Houston, TX. A friend of mine lives in Austin and drove down for a visit one of the first evenings. Since I had signed up so late I was unable to be a part of any dinners or early breakfast talks for some of the DPGs. In addition to the visit from my friend I completed a restaurant visit assignment. All of this made me feel a little better due to the fact that I didn’t bring any homework with me and was stressed about it the whole trip.
One of the goals of attending FNCE, other than the initial experience, was to bring back as much information and samples to share with the rest of the nutrition students. A FNCE social was conducted, with bags and nametags to make it a real experience. Free samples of snacks and literature were all gathered in preparation for the social. The students seemed to enjoy it, plus they were introduced to the thought of attending themselves next year. It made the task seem not so hard after seeing that the five of us could do it.
As for the classes I was able to squeeze in, one was completely scientific, but I loved it. The rest were mostly geared towards students and the path to becoming an RD and/or a professional with a few fun ones stuck in the middle. Having had a video project coming up I made sure to make time for the cooking demonstration class and a shortened version of the food photography workshop. I walked away with great information from all that I attended.
Oh and I almost forgot, I entered a contest and won a copy of David Grotto’s book “The Best Things You Can Eat.” A highlight of my trip.
That’s me on the left
Sabrinatalk 