Baking&Snack - December 2016 - 86

Diversity cues the program for BakingTech 2017, to be held
by the American Society of Baking, Feb. 26-28.
by Laurie Gorton
The sculpture Cloud
Gate, a.k.a. "The Bean,"
anchors Chicago's
Millennium Park, a few
blocks up the street
from the Hilton Chicago
where BakingTech 2017
will meet.
Shutterstock

Get ready for another cycle of "The Best Week in
Baking" when BakingTech 2017 meets early next year.
Set for Feb. 26-28 at the Hilton Chicago, the busy
Sunday-through-Tuesday event organized by the American Society of Baking (ASB) is expected to attract 1,300
industry professionals.
Mario Somoza, ASB chairman and president of Pan
Pepin, Inc., Bayamon, PR, chose the 2017 theme to be
"Diversity: It's all in the mix!" Program Chair Clay
Miller of Burford Corp. and his committee have assembled presentations about creativity, endurance, skills,
training and talent retention to coordinate with technical sessions concerning enzymes, grains, flavors, food
safety, equipment design and more.
"Speakers throughout the meeting will illustrate how diversity of thought, products, people and process can help
the baking community exploit the opportunities available
in today's challenging environment," Mr. Somoza said.
"BakingTech provides an exceptional venue with
ample opportunities to network, learn and discuss the
current and future challenges facing our industry," he
added. "No matter if you are a baker or a supplier, or
what your responsibilities are - engineering, sales, production, human resources or any other - you will find
valuable content at BakingTech 2017."
In an always meaningful event, new members

86 Baking & Snack December 2016 / www.bakingandsnack.com

of the Baking Hall of Fame - Albert (Bud) Cason,
Murray and Marvin Lender, and Joseph (Joe) Schwebel
- will be inducted during the opening session on
Feb. 27. Presentation of the Robert A. Fischer Award
for outstanding service to the society is set for the next
morning. Always kept secret from the recipient until announced, this annual award makes for an exciting ceremony. Recognition of members with 50 or more years
of society participation takes place the same day.
The 2017 program committee organized the annual
technical meeting with keynote speakers to open sessions that are followed by networking lunches and technical breakout meetings in the afternoon.
The Feb. 27 keynote speaker is Nathan Myhrvold,
an entrepreneur, inventor, author and founder of The
Cooking Lab. He is followed by Marjorie Hellmer of
Cypress Research, who will update attendees about the
skills gap now facing the baking industry and what's being done to close it.
The general session on Feb. 28 opens with a keynote
about the power of endurance given by Cedric King, US
Army master sergeant. He ran the Boston Marathon just
21 months after losing both legs to an improvised explosive
device during his second tour in Afghanistan.
Breakout sessions begin on Feb. 27 by examining training, ingredients and technology topics. The

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