Food For Thought - Conference Nutrition: Planning essentials to keep your audience energized - Calgary Event Planner

Food For Thought – Conference Nutrition: Planning essentials to keep your audience energized

New year. New you! That’s right it’s resolution season folks! That time of year where everyone starts to reevaluate their habits and do their best to make adjustments that will hopefully improve their overall well-being. As cliché as these annual rituals may seem, the one goal that never seems to fade is healthy eating. The clean eating, whole eating, better eating lifestyle has truly taken hold – and for good reason!

Food sensitivities are far more common, awareness around harmful additives and preservatives is more commonplace and the overall desire to lead a healthier lifestyle is no longer just trendy but a conscious and necessary lifestyle choice for a growing segment of the population.

Earlier this month we talked about what attendees can do to make better meal decisions in a conference or trade show environment in our blog post: Conference Nutrition: 6 Expert Tips to keep your energy up during long conference days, but it’s now 2020 and long past due that those of us in the event industry take note of these demands as well and begin catering our menus to include, cleaner, healthier options. A single vegetarian choice doesn’t come close to cutting it anymore and if we truly want our guests to enjoy every aspect of our events, we need to start reevaluating what we’re offing from a health and well-being perspective.

This week, were going to chat once again with our powerhouse nutritionist Angie Olson from the Bliss Project: Active Education (link) about what we can do as planners to help elevate the experience of our attendees through thoughtful and strategic planning.

Menu Considerations

When it comes to menu options, it’s hard to please everyone! Accommodating all the varying dietary requirements – Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy Free etc – can be difficult and not always cost effective but simply bulking up on the veggies can go a long way in meeting everyone’s needs. Vegetables are a great source of carbohydrates and will help increase energy and boost engagement throughout the day.

 Offering meats and cheeses will also help attendees feel satisfied after a meal and less likely to require more snacks. However, if snack tables are a must consider skipping the pastries and opt for bagged nuts instead as they’re a great source of fats which helps increase brain function and keeps everyone more alert.

Beverage Choices

Water is key – and lots of it! Providing a bottle for everyone and clearly identifying refill stations will keep attendees well hydrated and energized. No one wants a room full of dehydrated zombies nodding off!

Breaks

Incorporating breaks into your day is essential. Just 10 minutes of movement can drastically improve anyone’s attention span. If longer breaks threaten to disrupt your schedule consider incorporating a moment of movement throughout your presentations where attendees are encouraged to get up and stretch or even shake it out to a bit of lively music! This doesn’t just help with energy but can set the tone for a more interactive event.

In every conference, it’s important to set your audience up for success and provide them with all the tools they need to make it through those long days of learning. Offering Healthy snacks, scheduling time to move and ensuring everyone is well hydrated can help elevate the entire experience and ensure everyone walks away motivated inside and out.

To learn more about Angie and how she helps her clients gain confidence, lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle click here or visit her on facebook.  And to chat about how we can energize your next event contact Jennifer James info@jenniferjamesevents.com

 

 

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