This blog post will be all about FNCE. FNCE (Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo) this the largest event in the field of nutrition and dietetics. Thousands of dietitians, nutrition professionals, and people in the food industry gather to talk about the latest in research, marketing, Healthcare, education, and much more. This was my first FNCE in person and my first one as an RD. In this post, I'll talk about the first day.
So for me, travel started on Friday traveling to KY to drop Mochi (my dog) off at my moms'. I flew out of Nashville and had a non-stop flight to Denver. Shoutout to my mom who woke up at 5 AM on a Saturday to drive me so I didn't have to park my car at the airport. I get to Denver and take the train from the airport to Union Station. I overheard a few FNCE attendees all trying to figure out if they should walk to the hotel or Uber. I decided to walk because my legs were itching to move and it was about a 15-minute walk. It was an easy walk. I checked in and headed to the convention center to check in and get me and my boyfriend (who was my guest and was coming to join me later). He has no ties to nutrition but I purchased him a guest pass. This pass allowed access to the opening and closing sessions, Member showcase, and the Expo floor for 3 days!
I took the 4-minute walk to the convention center and was already shocked at how large this space would be and soon it was going to be filled with thousands of dietitians and other nutrition professionals. There was excitement and some nerves (who am I kidding I was very nervous). Yes, I am a Registered Dietitian just like many of the attendees. But I am still new, I don't have anything in stone that I do for work related to dietetics yet. Additionally, I gave many interests and ideas of how I will make my mark in the dietetics world, more on that later.
I secured our badges, added some ribbons, and went back to the hotel room. I still had some time before my boyfriend arrived so I painted my nails, this gave me a moment of zen. My boyfriend arrived, and we then headed to the opening session. It was in this rather large theater in the convention center. The president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics spoke. The Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded and then the keynote speaker came to the stage Stedman (Oprah's Man). He talked about identity and leadership. I truly wish Oprah popped out, but she didn't 🤣. After his talk, I headed to the Diversify Dietetics (DD) Meet Up. I was so excited and nervous about this meetup.
This meet-up meant so much to me on so many levels. First I truly owe where I am currently in life to DD. I am a Registered Dietitian and I have a Masters degree. DD has been instrumental in my dietetics career. I know this relationship will continue as I grow into my credentials and hopefully can help other BIPOC RDs-to-be. I was nervous because this meet-up would require me to talk with people I didn't know. Contrary to my numerous Instagram stories and my job teaching kids during the summer for years I am an introvert. I guess you could call me an ambivert. The meet-up was DD's 4TH annual meet-up. Let's first say that being in a room with almost all RDNs of color is so empowering #representationmatters.
After I walked awkwardly around not sure how to just approach new people I picked a high-top table to post up at. As the night went on I talked to many RDs and met some friends I have previously connected with online. I would say even if you're nervous to do something, do it. You can only grow from the experience. Ended the night with dinner at a place called Rock Bottom Brewery, it was pretty good. We walked back to the hotel because it was 4-minutes away. Taking a walk after dinner was a nice reset from a busy day. Recap of the rest of the conference coming soon!
Picture Details- Top: Me after getting our badges asked a lady to take my picture after I took hers.
Bottom: The view from our hotel.
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