We’re UMass, Thank You
Last week, we hosted a FoodPro Users Conference at UMass. It was a nice group of software users involved in ordering, inventory, controlling and forecasting for dining services. The attendees were from across the nation and one group that stood out the most was from Penn State. Jim and the Penn State group were so nice and so friendly to talk to; not only did they attend every sessions, but they really enjoyed the conference. During the break for lunch and dinner, they were fond of telling the story of Penn State and how it compares to UMass in terms of the dining program and the volume. In terms of revenues of dining services, Michigan State is first, Penn State ranks second and UMass Dining is third. I liked to tease them that someday, UMass might overtake Penn State since our annual growth rate in revenue is much larger.
One thing that I learned from them is how proud they were to be associated with Penn State. The Penn State Alumni Association has the largest life membership (161,000), as well as total membership, in the world. During the football games, they chant “we are Penn State” constantly to remind the opposing team how much they are behind the team. I think our UMass spirit might be just as good during the hockey game.
I made three presentations about UMass Dining during the conference; everyone seemed to enjoy all of them. In our campus dining business, we love to share success stories and learn from each other. We are not really competing for students; in fact, we all strive to put students first.
According to many delegates, UMass Dining is so innovative and has a rich dining program – we are proud of it and will continue to improve. We believe success is never final. We are UMass, thank you to all our dedicated staff and our wonderful students.
I think the best is yet to come.
This is Ken Toong and thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.
Ken Toong
Director
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu
You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong