07 Oct IBIE 2019 Insights – IBIEducate At The 2019 IBIE Show

Emily Bowers, Senior Director, Education & Operations

After an outstanding IBIE 2019, we caught up with Emily to get her thoughts about the show, the exhibitors, and the educational opportunities offered throughout the week.

Q: IBIEducate was a big part of the IBIE 2019 show. How do you think it went, overall? 

A: IBIEducate went extremely well!  Attendance was high in the education sessions throughout the show, and participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive.  The dedicated day of education on Saturday prior to the show starting really gave attendees a time to focus on education and professional development prior to the tradeshow start.

Q: The variety of topics be discussed was incredible. Everything from human resources to artificial intelligence in the baking industry. Do you think this variety of educational topics was key in attracting so many participants? 

A: Absolutely! The multiple tracks offered (retail, wholesale management, and artisan) provided a framework that was able to support sessions appealing to multiple audiences. Many attendees commented that there is no where else to gain so much training on so many topics in such a short amount of time.

The line up of speakers and presenters was also impressive! Many professional connections were made via IBIEducate due to the diversity of our attendees and presenters. We had bakers, technicians, Human Resources professionals, and a host of other roles represented at our various sessions.

Q: How many sessions were there this year and what has the response been from the participants? 

A: We hosted over 100 sessions—unique topics, formats, modes of presentation, and duration in length. The size of the education program at IBIE is unmatched in the baking industry. While all participant feedback is important and valued, a conversation does stand out to me.

After facilitating a session, I was wrapping up and speaking with an attendee that owns and manages a successful retail bakery. He commented that he’s been busy “just running the business from day to day for the last 30 years”, and hadn’t known where to go or what kind of training to seek for himself or his staff. He mentioned that if he would have known how good the program was, he would have brought even more of his team.

That type of feedback really speaks to the validity of the programming.

Q: Do you already have your sights set on IBIEducate 2020? What enhancements do you think might be on the horizon for the program?

A: The planning has already begun for IBIEducate 2020, and our sights are set high! We’d like to continue a day of education prior to the tradeshow, and expand even further on the topics offered. As for enhancements, multi-lingual offerings are of interest and would help reach an even wider audience.

Q: For those who weren’t able to attend IBIE 2019 and take advantage of IBIEducation, are there training and educational opportunities that they can take advantage of? 

A: Yes, there are definitely training opportunities within the baking industry!  A portion of the presenters or presenting organizations are educators that provide training in their area of expertise. For example, I facilitate training for BEMA-U on multiple topics (leadership, generations in the workforce, sales effectiveness) that were only briefly touched on during my sessions. One hour sessions are great for awareness, but for skill development and retention, a deeper dive is needed.

Connecting attendees to resources from which they can gain continuing education is an added bonus of participating in IBIEducate.

Connecting attendees to resources from which they can gain continuing education is an added bonus of participating in IBIEducate.

Thanks to Emily for taking a few moments to answer questions about IBIEducate at IBIE 2020. If you have questions about IBIEducate or BEMA-U programs, feel free to reach out to Emily directly at ebowers@bema.org or 913-338-1300.