IFT Members Assemble for Town Hall Meeting
Interested IFT members gathered late Sunday afternoon, June12, for the Annual IFT Town Hall meeting.
IFT President Bob Gravani welcomed the group. He and IFT Executive Vice President Barbara Byrd Keenan reviewed some of IFT’s highlights of the past year. “We innovated and created value,” said Gravani. Here’s a look at some of the highlights that were shared.
• The IFT Wellness 11 conference in March was the best attended ever.
• IFT’s Food Safety Law Forum and webcast was held just 72 hours after passage of the FDA Food Safety and Modernization Act and attracted 700 participants both in person and online.
• Participation in IFT’s Member-to-Member online community has increased substantially.
• Twelve IFT webcasts took place in the past year.
• The Chinese Institute of Food Technology renewed Global Food Industry – Food Technology magazine for two years.
• IFT partnered with GS1 to address traceability issues.
• IFT’s Food Executive Leadership Forum drew a group of senior food officials, who appeared eager to work with IFT.
• IFT media and consumer outreach efforts led to about 2,500 media placements.
• Membership numbers have stabilized, and retention has improved.
• A total of 1,754 members volunteered in support of IFT activities.
Following the year-in-review presentations, Town Hall meeting attendees divided into three groups for discussion and question-and-answer exchanges. Discussion topics included: 1) Ask the Board of Directors; 2) IFT’s Certification Activities; and 3) Section Engagement. In the course of the latter discussion, IFT’s Director of Membership Sharon Kneebone invited members with ideas on section engagement to e-mail sections@ift.org with their thoughts.
