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2002 International Association of Culinary Professionals On Tour--The Successful Professional

by Sally Bernstein

I was one of 37 culinary professionals who attended the San Francisco 2002 IACP On Tour-The Successful Professional event. Held at the California Culinary Academy, this workshop was sponsored by Sutter Home Vineyards and Trinchero Family Estates. This is one of 9 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada planned for the new series. The workshop in various cities is open to all culinary professionals, not limited to IACP members. The remaining workshops are: Philadelphia (April 3), Boston (April 5), Birmingham (April 9), Toronto (May 1) and Minneapolis (May 3).


I invested in my future as I joined other professional culinary colleagues at this one-day interactive workshop of learning and exploration. And am I glad I did! The workshop helped me synthesize my thinking about my future career goals. If these questions apply to you, you too should attend:

Does your culinary career need a jumpstart?
How about just plain getting organized?
Can you project what you'll be doing in five years?


Led by IACP past president and professional career coach Antonia (Toni) Allegra, we learned how to analyze our current careers, focus on the work we want to do, understand basic business practices and translate our value into dollars and cents.

During the networking lunch about 10 of us were able to have a 10-minute coaching mini-session. Through a series of interactive exercises and discussions, the afternoon session addressed assessing our markets, learning to think outside the box, launching ideas to improve our careers, dealing with career pitfalls and negotiating that bottom line. This latter topic was especially helpful to me!

During the course of the day, we each wrote our own "elevator" speech This is a description of your work or career that you might give to a potential employer or client in the course of the 10-20 seconds it takes to get from the ground floor of an elevator ride to your destination floor. We also compared and considered designs for business cards, analyzed our current careers, discussed salaries, business structures, managing paperwork, and interviewing for a position.

Toni sent us home with a 28-page booklet with many in-depth career aids and a long list of suggested reading material. Each participant also received a Certificate of Attendance.

The following comments are from recent attendees:

"Great instructor - Great workshop. Let's have more!"
-Bill Sy, instructor at The Art Institute of Phoenix

"We covered a lot of material. Lots of great ideas!!!"
- Deborah Schneider, Exec. Chef, Hilton, La Jolla

"The IACP day in Phoenix was one of the most worthwhile
professional meetings I have ever attended."
- Madge Griswold, culinary historian

"…It was an information-packed day, refreshing, renewing and worth every
minute."
- Gwen Ashley Walters, food writer and publisher


Registration is $125 (US) per person (can be tax deductible)
and can be paid by check or credit card. Contact the International Association of Culinary Professionals at: 502.581.9786 or 800-928-4227. See:
http://www.iacp.com/events/onTour/ontour2002.html



Note: This information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the businesses in question before making your plans.

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