General FAQs
The event will run from Sunday, July 14 through Tuesday, July 16. Pre-conference workshops will take place on Saturday, July 13. The exhibit hall will be held over two days, Monday, July 15 and Tuesday, July 16.
The Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in Boston (BCEC), Massachusetts. Information on things to do and see in Boston, places to eat, and even special offers and discounts specifically for #ANC24 attendees can be found here: SNA Annual National Conference (meetboston.com)
Top-tier keynote speakers, a diverse offering of 120+ education sessions featuring the hottest topics in school nutrition led by experts, the largest exhibit hall in K-12 foodservice with 900 booths representing about 300 companies, networking events and closing event entertainment. We project about 3,500 school nutrition operators will attend.
In anticipation of high demand for hotel rooms, SNA secured room blocks at 13 hotels near the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
SNA is projecting about 7,000 attendees at the conference in July and has secured 80% of the 790 rooms at the HQ hotel, the Westin Seaport. Unfortunately, it is impossible to accommodate all attendees at this hotel. As we have done every year, SNA has worked with our housing company (Conference Direct) to get as many rooms as possible in different hotels and at different price points.
SNA meticulously assigns a percentage of rooms for operators/attendees and exhibitors based on the inventory provided by each hotel. We limit the number of rooms available to each type of attendee so we can ensure there is a balanced and positive experience for both operators and exhibitors. By focusing on equal access, providing a variety of options, and distance from the convention center, we strive to provide you with hotel options that meet the needs of all attendees.
Each hotel in our block has something unique to offer, ensuring a pleasant stay. For those hotels that are a bit farther away, we provide complimentary bussing to/from the convention center each day.
The Boston Convention & Exhibition Center is ADA compliant. SNA is committed to enabling access to all meeting activities, including dietary restrictions, to the extent reasonably possible and as required by law. To discuss or notify SNA about your access needs, please email meetings@schoolnutrition.org no later than June 17, 2024.
If you are in need of a scooter while onsite, we recommend you secure one ahead of time by reaching out to one of the following providers:
- Belmont Medical Supply: https://www.belmontmedical.com/ 617-484-3888.
- Scootaround: https://scootaround.com/en/boston.
For Nursing Mothers, the BCEC has a Mamava Pod on the Level 1 SE Side of the building.
Yes, the Center will have some concession areas open during ANC. View the BCEC navigation guide. Food options are also available near the Center’s location.
SNA will provide a Baggage Check on Tuesday, July 16 from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm. SNA is happy to offer this complimentary service to all attendees and exhibitors. SNA is not liable for bags left anywhere else.
Literature displays are confined to booths in the Exhibit Hall. If you are not an exhibitor, you are not permitted to distribute literature to our attendees. We will confiscate it if we see it in an unauthorized location.
With print and digital advertising opportunities from SNA, including our official ANC publications, you can easily increase your company’s brand awareness and generate new leads. Additionally, our advertising sales partners from MCI, Dan Kaste and Christina Kardon, will be on-site at #ANC24 and available to meet with you.
This is an unauthorized publication produced by an outside source. They are not associated in any way with SNA. Copies left in the BCEC or SNA hotels will be confiscated and discarded. We have also observed that most attendees do not read this publication when handed to them in public areas and they typically go into the trash.
To report an emergency, please call 617.954.2222. This telephone number is a direct line to the BCEC Public Safety Command Center (PSCC), which is staffed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and is the BCEC's emergency communications hub.
When reporting an emergency, please give the following information:
- The location
- The nature of the emergency
- Number of persons involved
- Nature and extent of injuries if any
- Any other pertinent information that may help respond to emergency crews.
Please call the BCEC Public Safety Command Center at 617.954.2222 to report all emergencies. The Command Center is in direct contact with all local emergency services and will call 911 on your behalf. If you choose to contact 911 on your own, please notify the Command Center immediately afterward so they can assist the first responders in locating where you are in the building. Failure to contact the Command Center may result in a significant delay in emergency personnel's response time.
In the case of an evacuation, an announcement will be made over the speaker system, and security officers and convention center staff will provide additional instructions.
During event operating hours, lost and found is located at the Public Safety desk on Level 1 (North Lobby) at the Summer Street entrance. After event hours, lost and found items are stored in the Public Safety Command Center. To inquire about a lost item or report a found item, contact 617.954.2222 or go to the following internet link: www.signatureboston.com/attend/lost-and-found.
Registration FAQs
Complete registration includes access to all education sessions, the exhibit hall, SNA networking events, and closing event entertainment. Early bird discounts are available.
Members are eligible to receive a $25 discount per full registration when three (3) or more individuals from their school district register through one transaction. The option to register a group will be offered when you go through the registration process just before submitting payment.
The number of people who can be trained at these sessions is limited and the accompanying materials and necessary planning can be costly to produce. Pre-registration and payment save you time during the conference and helps SNA conduct the pre-conference workshops more efficiently.
Fees vary depending on the length of the workshop.
We are expecting between 6,500 – 7,000 school nutrition professionals and industry representatives.
Exhibitors and Sponsors FAQs
Your benefits include non-competing exhibit hall time in our two-day tradeshow with pipe and drape for your booth, exclusive exhibit hall time with school nutrition directors, five or more complimentary hall badges for your staff (depending on booth size), access to education sessions, use of the ANC 2024 conference logo for marketing, and much more. See becoming an exhibitor for more details.
A wide range of opportunities are available, from providing attendee tote bag inserts to sponsoring networking events. See Sponsorship Opportunities for more information.
For sponsorship opportunities, please email Nita Artis, Senior Corporate Sales, Industry Success & Patron Program Specialist, at nartis@schoolnutrition.org. For exhibitor opportunities, please email Crystal Harper-Pierre, Senior Corporate Sales & Industry Specialist, at charper@schoolnutrition.org.
Education & Professional Development FAQs
We are excited to announce our two keynote speakers are Andrew Zimmern and José Hernández.
Participants will earn 13 CEUs for the live event. Additional CEUs can be earned for those who pre-register for pre-conference workshops on Saturday, July 13.
Every education session at ANC falls under one of four Key Areas. These are designed to help you choose training that best meets your professional needs. In 2015, USDA established minimum Professional Standards for annual training for school nutrition professionals, which must be in any, some, or all 4 of the Key Areas.
Your supervisor or manager should determine a specific education/professional development plan and suggested areas of concentration. If you and your manager agree on what sessions you will attend, you should be able to meet your annual training hours for 2024-2025 at ANC.
Yes, all sessions with a code on the training tracker grid count for professional standards AND the SNA Certificate and Credentialing programs. Both programs are aligned with USDA Professional Standards.
An electronic version is available on the #ANC24 Conference App – under SNA Resources.
The #ANC24 Conference App (search for “SNA Events” in the app store) can help you find sessions on specific topics. Use the filter tool.
SNA is committed to targeting information, programs, and services to the needs of our members. All SNA members are assigned to a “section” based on their job and membership category. The section meetings have been designed to bring a key topic to the forefront for ANC attendees in that section. The Employee/Manager Section meeting has always been popular and well attended and the Major City Directors/Supervisors, District Directors/Supervisors, and State Agency section meetings will also include time for discussion on current priorities. We encourage all ANC attendees to attend the section meeting that is relevant to them.
Attendees are welcome to attend any section meeting that aligns with their interests. However, only State Agency employees are permitted to attend the State Agency section meeting.
District Directors/Supervisors Section Meeting
Sunday, July 14th, 8:00 am – 9:00 am
Topic: District Directors Meet-Ups by District Size
Room(s):
Less than 3,499 students: 104ABC
3,500 to 9,999 Students: 153ABC
10,000 to 24,999 students: 56ABC
25,000 to 99,999 Students:157ABC
100,000+ Students: 252AB
Major City Directors/Supervisors Section Meeting
Sunday, July 14th, 9:15 am – 10:15 am
Room(s): 205ABC
State Agency Section Meeting/USDA Workshop
Monday, July 15th, 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Room(s): 254AB
Employee/Manager Section Meeting
Tuesday, July 11th, 9:45 am – 10:45 am
Room(s): Ballroom East and West
SNA updates each person’s CEU (Continuing Education Units) record with the preapproved number of CEUs for this meeting after the conference ends. Individuals will see the number of CEUs earned and recorded in SNA’s database by going to SNA’s website www.schoolnutrition.org and logging into My Account and going to My Record. The number of preapproved CEUs that will be awarded for #ANC24 is 13. This exceeds the number of annual training hours required for Professional Standards.
We do not provide certificates of completion for SNA sessions. It will, however, appear on your online transcript in approximately six weeks. For your records, you can also use the ANC 2024 training tracker grid to track any pre-conference sessions you attended. RDNs and NDTRs can no longer pick up their certificates from the member services booth. According to the Commission of Dietetic Registration, the electronic training tracker grid is sufficient evidence for RDNs/NDTRs’ Activity Log.
The call for proposals for ANC 2025 will open in July 2024. At that time, visit www.schoolnutrition.org/CFP to fill out the proposal form.
Evaluation FAQs
Sessions can be evaluated during the conference through the ANC24 Conference App. Please ensure you add the sessions you attend to ‘My Schedule’ in the app. You do this by clicking the ‘+’ sign to the bottom right of the session in the ‘All Sessions’ tab in the Schedule section of the app. After the sessions have concluded, click on the ‘Profile’ icon on the bottom of your screen (the icon is an outline of a person) and then click on ‘Surveys.’ There will also be notifications in the app periodically throughout the conference that will link to this page for your convenience. SNA will also send you an overall evaluation survey after the conference. If you have questions about the app, please stop by the App booth, located at Registration.
To be eligible for the drawing to win an all-expense paid trip to #ANC25, you need to evaluate at least one education session using the #ANC24 Conference App while you are at the conference. There is no separate entry form. The random drawing will occur by Monday, July 29th and SNA will contact the winner via email within five (5) business days. If you have questions on how to evaluate an education session you attend, visit the App booth next to ANC24 Registration. The staff there will be happy to help you.
No, your name is only entered in the drawing once. However, we encourage you to evaluate all education sessions you attend. Your feedback is useful to SNA and helps us determine the types of sessions for webinars and future conferences.
Exhibit Hall FAQs
Over 300 companies are exhibiting in 900 booth spaces.
Rolling carts are a safety hazard to others who could trip and fall over them.
Children under 16 cannot be allowed in the exhibit hall for liability reasons (large equipment, cooking, etc.). This is a policy common at many food shows and is for the safety of the children. NO EXCEPTIONS--STRICTLY ENFORCED. This information was stated on the registration form and in the exhibitor rules and regulations.
You can look up a person to contact via their organization name on the #ANC24 Conference App. Once you have located the person you want to talk to, you can send him/her a private message.
Please check your Exhibit Hall Map, which can be found at “locator kiosks” in the Exhibit Hall, or search on the ANC app.
There will be a bulletin board in the Main Aisle where exhibitors can post winners' names, or you can return to the particular booth to award the prize. SNA reminds all attendees that they should check with their school and district to ensure that prizes do not exceed the allowable gift amount and should benefit the school nutrition program.
This is scheduled for Tuesday morning, 9:45 am-12:30 pm. You must have a Director-type membership category to gain access. State Agency members will also be allowed access. Badges will be checked for admittance. You may bring one manager, but this individual must enter simultaneously.
School Nutrition magazine assembles a group of district/school member volunteers each year to tell us which products on the Exhibit Hall floor were most impressive or intriguing. The results of this peer-to-peer feedback are published in the November/December issue of the magazine. Be on the lookout for more information soon!
Events FAQs
The Star Club Breakfast will be held on Monday, July 15, from 7:45 am to 9:00 am at a location TBD. This breakfast is for membership recruitment appreciation and is invitation-only. No guests are allowed.
This year’s Closing Event features a night of music with Ezra Ray Hart. The Supergroup Ezra Ray Hart features Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray, Kevin Griffin of Better Than Ezra, and Emerson Hart of Tonic. Together, the members of Ezra Ray Hart have sold over 20 million albums in the US and have 18 top ten hit singles on the US charts, including five number-one hits. Some songs you might recognize include: “Good” and “Desperately Wanting” by Better than Ezra; “Someday,” “Every Morning,” and “Fly” by Sugar Ray; and “If You Could Only See,” “You Wanted More,” and “Open Up Your Eyes” by Tonic.
With all this talent together on stage, this supergroup is a triple-threat crowd favorite that delivers hit after hit.
The entire ANC conference registration fee includes a ticket to the event. If you bring a guest who still needs full registration, you can purchase a ticket for them to attend for $100.
Sponsored by PrimeroEdge
Your badge is your “ticket” and will have an icon indicating you are attending the Closing Event. When you arrive, you may present your badge for entry. For additional tickets purchased, those will be printed out with your badge.
School Nutrition Foundation FAQs
The School Nutrition Foundation (SNF) is the charitable arm of the School Nutrition Association. Its independent board of directors is made up of school nutrition directors and industry partners.
OUR MISSION: Advancing school nutrition programs by providing resources to school nutrition professionals.
OUR VISION: Well-nourished students prepared for success.
Supporting School Nutrition Program Sustainability Through collaboration with the School Nutrition Association, allied partners and donors, the School Nutrition Foundation is committed to:
- Identifying and supporting school nutrition research, trends and innovations
- Sharing best practices with the school nutrition community
- Providing scholarships to SNA members for professional development and continuing education
Visit our #ANC24 SNF booth or webpage (schoolnutrition.org/snf) to learn more about our programs and resources.
The SNF Annual Fund provides support to the Foundation to provide education, research, and scholarships for SNA members. Contributions are tax-deductible.
SNA-PAC is a political action committee that supports SNA’s political goals by collecting money from people who share these goals and making contributions to political candidates who support these goals. Contributions to PAC are not tax-deductible.
Note: Information is subject to change. For any additional questions, please email meetings@schoolnutrition.org.
