School Nutrition Industry Conference

Submissions are now closed!

Be a part of our mission to empower and inspire individuals through education at #SNIC24

The School Nutrition Industry Conference (SNIC) is designed to unite K-12 industry leaders and operators, giving them a unique opportunity to connect, collaborate and create valuable partnerships through learning. Previous events have welcomed diverse, distinguished thought leaders and innovators to the stage, sharing their insights and expertise with school districts and businesses and inspiring them to enhance their programs and uncover cutting-edge ideas.

Thank you for your interest in submitting an education session proposal for SNA’s #SNIC24, January 14-16, 2024, in Orlando, Florida.

This conference depends on volunteer speakers for education sessions. This means that chosen speakers have already planned on registering and paying their own way to the conference and would also like to benefit from sharing their expertise with fellow attendees while in attendance.

Overall Criteria for Educational Programming

Due to the smaller size of SNIC, SNA requires fewer education sessions than July’s Annual National Conference. Therefore, the planning team will be particularly selective in choosing sessions.

SNA seeks proposals for education sessions that reflect sound adult learning principles and reveal the best thinking in the school nutrition field, informed by data, research and practical applications.

Preferred Topics List

Speaker Agreement

SNA Code of Ethics

Please use the resources below to help you prepare your best possible submission. SNA is looking for dynamic presentations in the following session formats:

Ideas@Work Sessions: These 30- to 45-minute sessions are focused on singular innovations and are intended to inspire innovation through peer-to-peer learning and engagement. Speakers should be prepared to help attendees replicate their successes by walking through one innovation from concept to implementation and sharing how attendees could apply the idea to their school nutrition programs. SNA will provide a template for the presentation. The requirements for these sessions are as follows:

• Plan to include practical ideas and takeaways so that participants can implement the ideas in their districts.
• Ideally, only one speaker per session, with a maximum of two speakers.
• Include a brief question-and-answer period within the presentation.
• Sessions are set theater-style and typically accommodate 100 to 200 attendees per session.
• An example of Ideas@Work session from a prior conference is available here.

45- to 60-Minute Interactive Discussion Sessions: In these facilitator-led sessions, attendees brainstorm ideas and learn from each other. The goal is to take back practical solutions on hot topics and challenges in school nutrition. The requirements for these sessions are as follows:

• Discussion-based and highly interactive. The session is led by a facilitator who must have expertise in the session topic. Slides may be used; however, facilitator can also bring handouts (or upload an electronic handout to the conference app).
• Sessions will ideally feature polling, Q&A and other interactivity that help crowdsource audience insights. This will enable attendees to share their opinions and drive engagement.
• Attendees are expected to actively participate in interactive discussions, group exercises and/or hands-on learning experiences.
• Sessions are set in rounds and typically accommodate 90 to 200 attendees per session. 

45- to 60-Minute Presentations with Q&A: These sessions are a blend of lecture-based instruction, case studies, peer learning and interaction. The requirements are as follows:

• One to two speakers per session with demonstrated expertise in the subject area presented.
• Include practical ideas and takeaways, so that participants can implement the ideas in their districts.
• Include a brief question-and-answer period within the presentation.
• In the proposal, describe ways you will engage the audience in the session.
• Sessions are set theater-style and typically accommodate 150 to 200 attendees per session. 

Two-Hour “Express” Pre-Conference Workshop on Procurement: The requirements for this pre-conference session are as follows:

• One to two speakers per session with demonstrated procurement expertise.
• Discussion-based. The session is led by a facilitator and attendees are expected to actively participate in discussion to learn from each other and from the facilitator(s).
• Attendees can be encouraged to bring their own laptops. In the proposal, please indicate if this component is critical to the session.
• Sessions are set in round tables and typically accommodate 50 to 100 attendees per session.

Speaker Information

• Speakers agree to be available on any day that SNA assigns the session during the conference.
• Speakers do not need to be SNA members; however, if a proposal is accepted, ALL speakers must register as conference attendees.
  • If the proposal is accepted, the speaker must plan to attend the full conference.They will receive the early bird price for registration and early access to registration and housing.
  • SNA does not provide speaker fees or travel expense reimbursement for pre-conference session and education session speakers.
  • SNA may provide honorarium for specific *approved* non-governmental agency pre-conference session speakers. The honorarium for the pre-conference session speaker is based on the number of hours for the session.
  • Speakers are expected to make their own travel arrangements unless otherwise mutually agreed upon in writing.
• Please note: Pre-Conference and Education Sessions are NOT to be used as a sales or promotional platform for any speaker’s company, products, or services. SNA reserves the right to halt speakers from this practice if the situation arises during their presentation.

Submissions have closed as of August 21, 2023

Proposals must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. ET on August 21, 2023, to be considered.

The individual submitting the proposal is considered the Point of Contact (POC). *The POC must provide contact information for ALL speakers, including name, address, phone number and email address, headshots, bios, and signed speaker agreement packets. The primary contact will be notified of the committee’s decision by October 2023.  View the SNIC 2023 Speaker Agreement Packet. 

Questions? Reach out to education@schoolnutrition.org.

Helpful Hints Before You Begin

Proposals should focus on one of the following key areas:

1. Nutrition
2. Operations
3. Administration
4. Communications & Marketing.

It is strongly encouraged that proposal submitters review the list and consider the topics listed prior to starting the application. View the #SNIC23 Preferred Topics List.

How will sessions be evaluated?

To ensure high-quality presentations, a volunteer committee representing SNA’s various member segments, in addition to a panel of subject matter experts, work together to develop and identify timely topics based on the training needs of SNA members and emerging trends in school nutrition.

To guarantee conference program content that is relevant and targets the attendees’ needs, the committee and subject matter experts review and rate proposals. In addition to looking for sessions on timely topics, program evaluators are looking for speakers’ subject matter expertise on the topic being presented, innovative approaches that have been tried and tested, practical applications and audience engagement.

The committee may supplement programming by inviting speakers to address specific topics as identified.

Submission Timeline

Questions? Reach out to education@schoolnutrition.org.