General Sessions

Virtual SNIC Education Sessions

Sunday, January 16

Erica Dhawan: Opening Keynote

Leading Authority on 21st Century Teamwork
8:30 am–10:00 am

Collaborate Faster and Further Together

Erica Dhawan is an internationally recognized leading authority, speaker, and advisor on 21st century teamwork, collaboration and innovation. Named by Thinkers50 as the “Oprah of Management Thinkers”, she is the author of two books Get Big Things Done: The Power of Connectional Intelligence and Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance and frequently appears in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and The Wall Street Journal. 

“Collaborate Faster and FurtherTogether”

We all leave a digital impression on each other. For example, if someone doesn’t text back for hours, do you think they are being rude? Or is using an emoji or an acronym like “LOL” unprofessional? Or is t maybe creating a human connection with your team? Whether your team works on separate floors, in separate buildings or even in different states, you often have to use written communication to collaborate. What impression does your boss, team, or colleague get from your communication style? Written misunderstandings happen all the time and are regrettably reducing employee engagement morale, and team performance.  

In this keynote presentation, learn new rules and nuances of Digital Body Language, a  fresh  approach  to collaborate faster and further together. Erica Dhawan will use cutting-edge research, real-world examples and dynamic visuals to guide participants to start applying these breakthrough principles today.  

Dhawan will also share how to pinpoint your collaboration style and understand what digital body language signals you are broadcasting (even if you don’t intend to!). Additionally, she’ll help you create cultures of  clarity in email, phone, IM, text, video mediums and even live meetings in today’s new normal— all with a focus on how to develop a collaboration strategy to create the highest performing teams and relationships. Sponsored by TITAN-A LINQ Solution

Town Hall-Supply Chain Solutions
3:00 pm-4:15 pm

Facilitator: Sara Gasiorowski, SNS
Panelists: Carole Erb; Stephanie Ewing, RD; Susan Maffe, MS, RD, SNS; Aaron Smith; Lena Wilson, MS, RD, SNS  

Supply-chain disruptions are undermining our mission of advancing the accessibility and quality of school nutrition programs. As school nutrition programs continue to experience inconsistent or reduced inventories and product delays, we could all benefit from hearing what other programs are doing to remain resilient. This Town Hall will bring together operation and industry thought leaders who will share what they are currently experiencing in the field, and what they see on the horizon. They will provide invaluable insights into how we can tackle staffing, product, and transportation issues moving forward. Sponsored by inTEAM and TITAN-A LINQ Solution  

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Monday, January 17

Ron Hetrick: Keynote

Director of Staffing Product and Data, Emsi 
8:45 am–9:45 am

The Demographic Drought: How a Lack of People will Change How We Look At Labor

The U.S. is suffering the beginning stages of a “sansdemic”: a lack of people to do all the work that needs to be done. Did you know that between 2011 and 2021, nearly every county in the U.S. saw declines in its working-age population?  In fact, the 2020 census shows that 16 states saw net population decline over the past years—the worst numbers since the Great Depression.   

Employers are already feeling the pain, but the people shortage is only projected to get worse. So how did we get here? What are the economic ramifications? And is there anything we can do about it? 

As lead author of The Demographic Drought, Ron Hetrick answers these questions by analyzing past, present and future workforces. From baby boomers to millennials to the 2020 Baby Bust, Hetrick will  track the rise and fall of America’s population and labor force participation rate.  

Guided by Hetrick’s research and understanding of future workforce demographics, take part in facilitated breakout groups, to develop  specific solutions for school nutrition. Sponsored by PrimeroEdge.

School Nutrition Partner Updates 
3:45 pm–4:30 pm

Speaker(s): Aleshia Hall-Campbell, Ph.D., M.P.H.; Patti Montague, FASAE, CAE; Beth Wallace, MBA, SNS; Katie Wilson, PhD, SNS; Lena Wilson, MS, RD, SNS; USDA Representatives 

From advocacy to regulatory updates and exciting professional development opportunities, learn about a host of new resources available to you from SNA, the School Nutrition Foundation, USDA, ACDA, USFSA and the ICN.

Tuesday, January 18

What’s Still Keeping You Up at Night? 
10:30 am–11:45 am

Close out SNIC22 with a final opportunity to share ideas and brainstorm together. This facilitated session will encourage operators, industry and state agency representatives to share the dilemmas they are facing and use their combined brain power to find a better way forward. In fact, maybe if we come together and problem solve common issues, we can collectively catch more ZZZZ’s.

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