August/September 2010
 

Dear NACE Member,
 

The Spirit of NACE

I recently returned from our NACE Experience conference in Austin, Texas and what an amazing time everyone had. First I'd like to thank the Austin chapter for hosting the event, they did such a fantastic job! Kudos to co-chairs Michele Edison and Michelle Morris, they worked very hard over the past year with all of their committees getting donations and putting together great themes and programs for all of us to enjoy.

Whenever I return from Experience I am so energized not just by what I learned at sessions, at the events or breaks but by the Spirit of NACE that surrounds us at these gatherings. I remember my first conference in Seattle many years ago and the excitement, the energy, that Spirit that I was surrounded by; I was quickly hooked. When we gather together you see the love that all of our members have for our industry, for their jobs and for NACE as a way of promoting what we do and giving back to our communities. We have members throughout the country who believe in NACE and continue to contribute their time and money to make our association an even better place.

I recently read the book In Defense of Food and the author Michael Pollan wrote "Food is about pleasure, about community, about family and spirituality, about our relationship to the natural world and about expressing identity. As long as humans have been taking meals together, eating has been as much about culture as it has been about biology." This is what we as NACE members have known for many years, and what the Spirit of NACE is all about. We do more than just serve food. We create celebrations, assist clients in expressing themselves, build community and please people.

We play an important role in our society and we LOVE doing it!