1. SALARY SURVEY p. 53
$5,000 More
BOOKINGS p. 71
Against College
EDUCON PREVIEW p. 75
Failing Up
PCMAJune2015TheMagazineoftheProfessionalConventionManagementAssociation
Sleep DisorderCMP SERIES
You’re exhausting your attendees — and yourself — with overscheduled programs.
Time to wake up. p. 42

2. PCMA.ORG JUNE 2015 PCMA CONVENE 33
ILLUSTRATIONBYBECIORPIN/THEJACKYWINTERGROUP
f&B
Jennifer N. Dienst
Stations high-
lighted the talents
of local student
culinarians.
BREAKOUT
Chefs in the Making
When attendees walked up to
the dessert table at ChefConnect:
Indy’s welcome reception, they
were greeted by a local culinary
student instead of a hotel staff
member. “It’s really important
to involve students,” said ACF’s
Sam Bhandarkar, who noted that
education is a big part of ACF,
which, in addition to having many
student members, facilitates
apprenticeship programs and
accredits secondary and post-
secondary programs. “We do that
by incorporating action stations
where they are preparing food
on site,” Bhandarkar said, “and
we have a significant number of
students who volunteer and work
as assistants to the presenters or
the venue’s culinary staff.”
ON THE WEB
Learn more about ACF’s
ChefConnect: Indy conference
at convn.org/acf-indy.
F
or Sam Bhandarkar, CMP,
CASE, director of events for the
American Culinary Federation
(ACF), food and beverage is always
top of mind. Among his many duties,
Bhandarkar plans five annual events
for the organization’s more than 17,500
member chefs and culinarians — four-
regional conferences and one National
Convention & Show.
Hosted by Visit Indy, Convene
dropped by ACF’s Central/Western
Regional Conference, ChefConnect:
Indy, held April 12–14 at the Indianapo-
lis Marriott Downtown, to see how to
satisfy such a discriminating collective
palate. Here are three things we learned:
1 PICK THE PERFECT PARTNER
The first and most important step,
Bhandarkar said, is site selection. Chef-
Connect is three days of education and
demonstration sessions, networking
events, and, of course, plenty of oppor-
tunities to eat, from an awards gala din-
ner to numerous breaks and receptions.
“We’re not the kind of group to order
off a standard catering menu,” Bhan-
darkar said, meaning that it’s important
to ensure “that the talent is there at the
property, and then that they have the
resources to deliver on the expectations
of our member chefs.” Check and check:
Indianapolis Marriott Downtown’s
executive chef, Michael R. Vlasich, is an
award-winning ACF member.
Second, and just as important, is
coming up with menus that are both
interesting and impeccable. Although
ACF attendees are discerning, “it’s a fun
audience to work with,” Bhandarkar
said. “[They] are eager to try new
cuisine; they’re also eager to try well-
executed cuisine.”
The partner that ACF picks also
needs to be extremely flexible when
it comes to menus and access to the
kitchen. “Because we are serving chefs,
we have a significant number of part-
ners and sponsors who provide product
that gets incorporated into our culinary
experiences,” Bhandarkar said. “It
really takes a property or venue with
a strong commitment to the success
of the program to facilitate not only
incorporating those products into the
menus but [also] the actual receipt of
the product and the fabrication of the
items on the plate.”
2 MAKE A LOCAL CONNECTION
With chefs from the central and West-
ern states attending ChefConnect: Indy
— until this year ACF offered separate
conferences for the Central, Northeast,
Southeast, and Western regions — Bha-
nadarkar amended the menus to reflect
the event’s newly diverse audience. In
a nod to the Midwest, one grill station
served country-style pork ribs with
peppercorn rub, Indiana spiced-chile
cornbread in iron skillets, and glazed
baby turnips with fiddlehead ferns. The
West Coast was represented by a fresh
ramen station with a miso-ginger-scal-
lion option and a Peking-duck variation
topped with shiitake sauce and West
Coast–caught seafood.
Not only does this preference for
local influences and purveyors add a
fresh new element to ChefConnect’s
menus and programming every year,
it helps spotlight the host city’s culi-
nary scene — which in Indianapolis is
Taste Makers
The American Culinary Federation has one tough audience to
feed at its five annual events — its member chefs. Here’s how the
organization continually impresses the best of the best of the
food world.

3. 34 PCMA CONVENE JUNE 2015 PCMA.ORG
ILLUSTRATIONBYBECIORPIN/THEJACKYWINTERGROUP
f&B
Name Lastname
picking up big time. “Indianapolis is
an urban destination surrounded by
rich agriculture, so naturally we have
a burgeoning culinary scene where it’s
easy for chefs to source the freshest in
local produce and proteins,” said Chris
Gahl, vice president of marketing and
communications at Visit Indy. “Hosting
the conference provided a great oppor-
tunity for our local chefs and culinary
community to share their expertise,
and it gave Indianapolis a chance to
showcase the city’s thriving food scene.”
3 GO WHOLE HOG For ACF, F&B is
integral to every part of the conference
program — especially the education ses-
sions — which can place extra demands
on both the venue and the planning
team. One well-attended session at
ChefConnect was a butchering demon-
stration of a 280-pound hog. To ensure
the packed room could adequately view
the intricate demonstration, a GoPro
camera positioned over the worktable
displayed a bird’s-eye view of the pro-
cess on a large projection screen.
“Our members are much more inter-
ested in what the hands of the presenter
are doing rather than the face is doing,”
said Bhandarkar, who said the cameras,
used for the first time this year, worked
perfectly in magnifying the detail of
what presenters were preparing.
Another hurdle is ensuring that
chef presenters have plenty of space
and time to get ready for their sessions.
Often, chefs come into the venue’s
kitchens a day prior to prep their ingre-
dients, and need at least an hour to set
up the session room. “We don’t have the
time for a quick meeting-room refresh,”
Bhandarkar said, “especially when you
have a whole hog hanging out.” .
Contributing Editor Jennifer N. Dienst
is a writer and editor based in Charleston,
South Carolina.
TRENDING
Would You Like Some
Cheese With That Beer?
P
lanning a cheese tasting for a future
event? Consider swapping the typical
wine pairings for beer. According to
presenters at ChefConnect: Indy’s “Craft Beer
and Artisan Cheese Pairing” session, the
advantages are many, including the fact that
it’s easier and more affordable to pair cheese
with beer instead of wine.
The session, which presented a selection
of cheeses from Wisconsin-based Sartori
Company and brews from Chicago’s Tenth and
Blake Beer Company, highlighted the first and
most important rule for cheese-and-beer mash-ups:
Match flavor intensities. For example, pair a light Parmesan with a pale
German lager, or a rich Gorgonzola with a heavy, creamy stout.
Below are the six pairings we sampled — all of which were delicious:
›› Sarvecchio Parmesan &
Leinenkugel Helles Yeah
›› Sarvecchio Montamore &
Leinenkugel’s Canoe Paddler
›› Sarvecchio Rosemary
and Olive Oil Asiago &
Leinenkugel’s Grapefruit
Shandy
›› Sarvecchio Citrus Ginger
BellaVitano & Leinenkugel’s
Summer Shandy
›› Sarvecchio Dolcina
Gorgonzola &
Big Eddy Russian
Imperial Stout
The ‘Whole Hog
Butchery’ session
was packed.