Summit in Full Swing!

The first day of the Summit is in full swing. The morning master classes on Chocolate & Confectionaries, Artisan Cheese, Gullah Culture & History, and the Hog, the Whole Hog and Nothing but the Hog were well attended and those taking them said they enjoyed them and learned a great deal as a result.

The students of the Charleston Culinary Institute put on a great luncheon buffet with roast duck, wild rice, roasted vegetables, and assorted desserts; all washed down with the traditional southern sweet tea. Yum.

The Clemson panel in the afternoon was an opportunity for attendees to learn about the science that underpins what we do in culinary arts and ultimately hospitality education. The stand up presentations delivered thus far by Richard Ghiselli, John Antun, Colin Roche, and Michael Wray were well attended and provided new insights on teaching culinary arts and hospitality education. I am sure the presentations to follow by John Drysdale and Cynthia Deahle will also be excellent.

While writing this blog post there is also a master class on putting together a blog. I have granted them access to this blog and am asking that they share the sights and sounds of the Summit in their own words. I hope that you are looking as forward to their commentary as I am.

There is also a master class being taught right now on Cooking Southern BBQ and the aroma of smoked pork bbq and sauces is in the air. The best part is that the students in that class are preparing the food for this evening's opening reception that will be enjoyed by all in attendance! Yum!

Stay tuned, more on the Summit to come!

Your Classroom Awaits!

Michael Carmel, Jami Yanoski, and I (Mick La Lopa) have put the final touches on our plans to host our first Summit. To see final agenda remember to visit summit tab at http://www.fooded.org/. We have already met some of our attendees who have signed up to take morning master classes on Thursday including southern cooking, wild American shrimp, developing a curriculum around artisan breads, and sous vide. The afternoon classes will include the second half of the wild American shrimp class, exploring what makes for a great teacher, math made easy, and the farm to restaurant connection.

The day will culminate in a dine around at three top Charleston restaurants all within a block of the host hotel include Coast and Rue de Jean! The weather will also be perfect and expected to be in the high 60's and low 70's to help melt away your cabin fever if living in the great white northern parts of this great country of ours.

I will be sure to update members and others on the Summit happenings to provide a glimpse of the experience for those who could not attend this year and whet your appetite for the next one in beautiful Charleston, SC, at the state of the art Charleston Culinary Academy!

FELC Summit Dream Coming True in Charleston, SC

It is hard to believe that the dream of launching the Foodservice Educators Learning Community in July 2008 and hosting its first Summit is about to come true. Jami, Michael and I met today to make sure that this Summit will be one of the best that culinary arts and hospitality educators ever attended, especially with a budget friendly registration fee. We are working hard to make sure that registration will be a breeze, the master classes and sessions will be stellar, and the social functions will be a place where educators will join in an engaging conversation about how to challenge ourselves to be better teachers while enjoying great food and beverages supplied by sponsors and prepared by culinary students at the school and in the city. We also cannot thank our many sponsors enough for the role they played in making this dream come true; you can find them all listed on http://www.fooded.org/ under the sponsors tab.

As we had hoped, the city of Charleston is an excellent city to host our first Summit. The restaurants, bars, and shops that are a short walking distance from our host hotel, the Hampton Inn, in a mild coastal climate only add to the education and entertainment we hope to bring those in attendance. For example, Jami, Michael and I walked a short two blocks to enjoy an excellent sampling of tapas served up at Char! The dine around on Thursday night is expected to be another excellent dining experience and a chance for those who have joined our learning community to share their passion for fine food and quality teaching.

Throughout this week I will submit posts to the blog to share what is going on with those who were unable to join us this time and paint a picture of what our second annual Summit will be like next year in Charleston at the brand new culinary arts facility at Trident College. I am hoping that those taking the master class on blogging will also try their hand at adding posts to this blog, too.

Stay posted!

Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria

Lodging magazine reported that Ted Turner announced the world's first global sustainable tourism criteria at the IUCN World Conservation Congress held in Barcelona, Spain. The criteria establish a minimum requirement upon which any tourism business should pursue to be called sustainable. The Partnership for Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria established the criteria, which is comprised of the Rainforest Alliance, United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Foundation, and United Nations World Tourism Organization.

The criteria are available for review at: www.SustainableTourismCriteria.org. The four critical areas the criteria cover include: maximizing social and economic benefits to host communities, reducing negative impacts on the host communities culture, reducing ecological damage, and planning for sustainability. The program will provide greater benefits for all concerned in the not too distant future so keep checking their website.

See you in Charleston, SC for the Summit!!!

FELC Summit Program Set!

The final program for the Foodservice Educators Learning Community (FELC) first annual Summit is now set. To see the list of master classes (and when they are taught), as well as see all the free classes you can attend as part of your registration, not to mention the Ultimate Teaching Competition, visit http://www.fooded.org/annualconf.html. We hope you will agree that our first annual Summit is one that will provide attendees with plenty of opportunities to learn ways to better teach culinary arts and hospitality education as part of our faculty learning community.

If interested, it is still not too late to register for the Summit and join all of those who have already registered to attend from as far away as Alaska.

Also note that for those who are unable to attend the first FELC Summit, we will be sharing the highlights of the event through the blog, and may get others who are in attendance to get involved, too.

See you in Charleston, South Carolina, real soon!

Mick, Michael, Jami