Connect 2019: Guest Speakers Announced!

We're excited to announce the guest speakers for our Connect 2019 training conference! From guidance on how to unlock your inner genius to empowering you to advocate for legislative change, these talks are sure to leave you feeling inspired and motivated to tackle any challenge.

Laughter, Gratitude, and Other Secrets to Genius

Dr. Melissa Hughes

We all have the same basic anatomy between our ears, so what separates the best of us from the rest of us? Dr. Melissa Hughes is the author of Happy Hour With Einstein and Happier Hour with Einstein: Another Round, who has dedicated a majority of her career to understanding how our brains work and how we can make them work better.

As a self-proclaimed 'Neuroscience Geek', Melissa speaks passionately about the ways neuroscience can improve how we learn, work, communicate, and collaborate.

In her talk, Melissa will go over the basic understanding of how our brains work and a few simple brain-based strategies that can help you:

• Master your mind for greater productivity, success, and happiness
• Discover factors that help enhance your comprehension and highlight ones that may impede it
• Realize specific cognitive biases (mental shortcuts) that could be leading you to irrational behaviors or inaccurate assumptions

Join us on Thursday morning, as Melissa digs into how our brains work and what we can do to unlock our greatest potential.

Get To Know Melissa >

Your Right to Petition Congress

Barry Sackin

With twenty-five years of lobbying for school nutrition under his belt, Barry Sackin shares some of his experiences working with Congress and empowers you, the foodservice experts, to become citizen lobbyists. 

Join us on Wednesday afternoon for Barry's talk where he'll cover:

• How the constitution guarantees us the right to advocate and how each and every one of us has a responsibility to do so
• Insight into how real world legislation actually happens and how you can have an impact
• That lobby is not a four letter word and Congress truly relies on your years of expertise to ensure they properly tackle legislative issues
  

Barry Sackin is a school nutrition veteran of more than 35 years and started his career on staff at San Diego Unified School District in 1980. While serving on the SNA Board of Directors, Barry was asked to join the staff as VP of Public Policy and has since worked on child nutrition policy.

Learn More About Barry >