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During college, I had the opportunity to do an internship at a company called FCSI (Food Service Consultants International Society). This company offers design and management consulting services, specialized in the restaurant and hospitality industry, throughout the world. At FCSI, there are divisions all over the world and here in the States we are known as FCSI Las Americas (includes Canada, USA, Mexico and South America).
While doing these internships, I get to be a part of the Nashville, TN conference and the Denver, CO conference. During these conferences, consulting firms come in and learn about things to come in the food service industry. Or they learn about new resources to help their business grow. They can also enjoy networking events during the evening hours.
Conference planning design
About a year after the conference, all conference staff and planning committee members fly to the conference destination and explore the city. During this time, all members and staff are able to visit offsite locations for networking events on conference nights, as well as having an all-day meeting to decide what topics will be offered for discussion at the Conference the following year. For this topic, we will only be looking at the event that took place in Denver, CO from April 19-21.
the problem arises
It is no coincidence that the conference falls on April 20 and knowing that cannabis is legal in Colorado. The committee thought that since cannabis is an important issue to become legal, many consultants would need to know how to design a kitchen to expand their business. They thought bringing someone in to talk about their kitchen layout and how they prepare things would be an amazing topic for a keynote speaker.
A couple of weeks later, my boss received an email from a member of the board of directors of FCSI Las Américas expressing his concern about the issue of cannabis. She thought it was irrelevant and that the committee was making a mockery of our company because the conference is taking place on 4/20. She also thought that the committee wanted to promote drugs and that any speakers we have bring groceries that they would have ready in said kitchen. My boss informed the staff that this particular board member had a history of cannabis and did not want it interfering with his life again. Still, he was afraid that not everyone would like to hear the track at a main session. Of all the board members, she was the only one who had a problem with this session.
Find a solution
After receiving this email from the board member, my boss scheduled a conference call with the conference planning committee. During this call, he explained the email he received and asked the committee to find a solution. Since his staff was just coordinating the conference, it was up to the committee what they wanted to learn. After talking on the phone for a while, the committee proposed two options.
Remove the theme entirely and find a new keynote
Move the topic of cannabis from a keynote speaker to a breakout session, so people who are uncomfortable with the topic don’t have to attend.
All members of the conference planning committee agreed that the cannabis issue should remain, but they moved on to a breakout session. Doing this gives people the option of whether or not to attend the session. and the speaker will only educate about kitchens and how they should be designed. Many consultants were already creating kitchens for clients. They need to incorporate this topic into the conference. Everyone decided that it was part of the work sessions.
To present their choice to the board, the committee chair wrote a letter explaining why they wanted to keep it and that it would not be geared toward the idea that “drugs are good.”
Conclution
The issue was very childish, but even controversial issues need to be addressed. They need to be presented in the right way, but they need to be talked about if it has to do with your line of work. The conference planning committee did a noble thing by moving the topic of cannabis out of the main space and into a breakout session.