Submissions Open: Present at AHF 2025 in New Orleans
The Association for Healthcare Foodservice (AHF) invites those interested in presenting at the 2025 National Conference in New Orleans to submit a proposal for review by the Conference Planning Committee. The deadline to submit your proposal is Wednesday, December 18th.
Conference Dates: August 21 – 23, 2025
Conference Location: Hyatt Regency New Orleans
Educational Content
Operations
- Eco-friendly practices: Sessions on sustainable menu design, purchasing, and operations to reduce the carbon footprint in healthcare foodservice.
- Sustainability and plant-forward operations: Emphasis on environmentally responsible practices, including equipment electrification and sustainable packaging.
- AI and robotics: Increased focus on AI, robotics, and smart kitchen equipment, with distinctions between practical tech and futuristic innovations.
- Patient engagement tech: Discussions on how technology can improve patient meal selection and service. Technology in operations: Exploring the use of AI, autonomous equipment, and other tools for efficiency and labor savings.
- Food product innovation: Exploration of new food products and how manufacturers can support operators.
- Pediatrics & senior living: Sessions on pediatrics and senior dining, with practical strategies to prevent chronic disease.
- Culinary demos: Live cooking demos, especially incorporating local cuisine such as Cajun/Creole.
Team & Talent
- Staff engagement & retention: Strategies for recruiting, retaining, and engaging a diverse workforce, and addressing language barriers.
- Labor defense: Guidance on justifying labor costs and improving productivity metrics.
- Recruitment and retention: Focus on staffing challenges, engaging unmotivated workers, and creative ways to do more with less.
- Ethics: Ethical practices in the workplace and sessions to fulfill RD CEU requirements.
Regulatory & Safety
- Regulation updates: Insights on new regulations like FSMA 204, food traceability, and healthcare specific rules impacting operations.
Finance & Efficiency
- Financial stewardship: Improving quality metrics for patient satisfaction and budget strategies.
- Business of Foodservice 101: Understanding the numbers behind foodservice operations.
Personal & Professional Development
- Leadership skills and time management: Sessions on fostering highly functioning teams, time management, emotional intelligence, and leadership fundamentals.
- Work-life balance: Topics on balancing personal and professional lives while staying engaged.
Promoting Self-Op Success
- Acute care & long-term care collaboration: Focus on improving the transition from patients to residents to enhance care during a significant life change.
- Small hospital operations: Case studies on how smaller hospitals are navigating challenges, such as avoiding contract management.
Additional Topics:
- Supply Chain Management
- Menu Innovation & Menu Cross-Utilization
- Clinical Nutrition, Functional Nutrition, & Culinary Medicine
- Catering, Retail, & Non-Patient/Resident Operations
- Food Safety, Specialty Diets, & Allergens
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Multiple Submissions
Individuals are welcome to submit up to two (2) proposals; please submit each proposal separately through the online form. No more than two (2) proposals will be considered from any one speaker and/or organization.
Session Length
Our sessions are typically 1-hour, 1.5-hours, or 2-hours. Here are the session types you can submit under: 1-hour mainstage or concurrent session, 1.5-2-hour Pre-conference workshop/deep dive. In some cases we will provide a 1.5 hour mainstage session. You can also submit a 15 minute FISH Talk topic for consideration.
Speaker Fees and Honorariums
If selected, Operator Members will be provided with free conference registration and a $650 travel stipend.
For professional speakers, AHF does not typically provide honorariums for pre-conference and concurrent sessions. If you are seeking an honorarium, please indicate this desire clearly in your submitted proposal. For each selected proposal, AHF will contact the individual who submitted the proposal to provide detailed information regarding scholarships and/or speaker honorariums based on the AHF Policies and Procedures.
If you indicate that you are requesting an honorarium, you are indicating that you are either not an operator member or that you are requesting payment above and beyond standard conference attendance and travel stipend.
If requesting an honorarium, please be prepared to provide details for each presenter in your proposal; specify the honorarium details, including whether it’s a flat fee and if travel expenses are requested.
Selection Criteria
Session proposals will be evaluated based on overall quality, relevance to the healthcare foodservice and senior dining industries, practical applications of the content, timeliness of the topic, and speaker qualifications. Materials submitted must be the speaker’s original work and properly reference all external sources. Presentations, whenever possible, should be in a format that encourages active participation by attendees.
If selected, AHF will use the information provided in the RFP for promotion in print and online as well as through other marketing campaigns.
Suggestions for Submitting a Successful Speaker Proposal
- Clear and Exciting Title: Compose a clear, exciting, industry-specific title that captivates attention while steering clear of clichés or overly generic wording. Aim for uniqueness and relevance to your topic. AHF may make adjustments to your presentation title if you are selected to speak.
- Unique Perspective: Highlight what distinguishes your presentation. Clarify why your perspective or approach is unique and valuable, including the idea that valuable lessons often stem from failures that offer valuable insights.
- Include Evidence-Based Content: Ensure that your content is accessible and replicable in attendees’ operations. Whenever feasible, substantiate your proposal with data, research, or real-world examples that illustrate the effectiveness of your topic.
- Well-Defined Objectives: Include a minimum of two (2), ideally three (3), clearly stated learning objectives or key takeaways attendees can expect from your session. Well defined learning objectives answer the following questions:
- What will the attendee know after attending your session that they did not know before attending your session? (i.e., be able to: explain, identify, discuss, define, etc.)
- What will the attendee be able to apply to their operations after attending your session? (i.e., be able to: demonstrate, implement, use, develop, etc.)
- What will the attendee be able to analyze/evaluate after attending your session? (i.e., appraise, compare, organize, interpret, critique, verify, mentor, recommend, etc.)
- What will the attendee be able to create/develop after attending your session? (i.e., argue, justify, budget, design, predict, etc.)
- Compelling Description / Abstract: Your session abstract will tell Conference Attendees why they should attend your session. To be effective and create interest, it should provide a brief, clear, and concise reflection of your presentation’s content. If your presentation pertains to a specific segment of our industry, such as senior living, be sure to include that information in your abstract. The abstract should only be one paragraph this is no more than 200 words in length but should contain sufficient detail so that a reader can easily identify what key takeaways they might gain from attending the session.
- Highlight Speaker Expertise: Showcase your expertise and credentials related to the topic. Include your professional background, certifications, and notable accomplishments. If applicable, include video clips from previous speaking engagements to provide a tangible demonstration of your presentation skills and expertise.
- Audience Interaction: Describe how you plan to foster audience participation, questions, and discussions during your session. It’s worth noting that AHF attendees are an engaged group who value hands-on opportunities, as well as active involvement in discussions and participation.
- Business Partner / Operator Opportunities: At AHF’s National Conference, while we highly value partnership between operators and business partners, we have limited space for sales proposals beyond the opportunities outlined in our prospectus prospectus. To ensure your proposal aligns with our event’s educational focus, we recommend maintaining an educational approach. Collaborate with operator partner(s) to create a presentation centered around addressing industry challenges, trends, and solutions that your product or service may address rather than promoting your specific product or service.
We cherish the special relationships between operators and vendors and encourage joint presentations, but our overarching goal is to offer a diverse range of content, rather than to fill the stage with sales pitches. Your unique insights and expertise can still shine in an educational context. Ideally, attendees would leave a session armed with new industry knowledge and head to Exhibit Hall ready to hear how your product and service can help! Learn more about Sponsoring
Questions?
Contact AHF Staff at Info@HealthcareFoodservice.org
Submit Your Proposal
Please submit your request below to present at the 2025 AHF National Conference!