UMBA Convention, '08
April 5th and 6th, 2008
Click here for a look at the schedule, page 1
page 2

Click here for a few pictures from the event.

Click here for a list of awards

 The theme chosen for the 2008 Upper Midwest Bakery Association Convention, “The Show Goes On” proved to be true. The 2007 Convention was stormed out. Participants could not arrive or had to leave early due to 21“of snow. This year’s show proved to be a great rebound. Over 550 people gathered for the show. They came from the states of Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin with guests from around the country. The Hollywood scene created great enthusiasm and a celebrative atmosphere. The vendor floor show was opened at 11:00 Saturday by a ribbon cutting event with vendors present and anxious people to get on the floor. The honor was done by Joe Mazan reporter for channel 5 News. The ribbon was made out of cup cakes that fit in with the national focus of - National Cup Cake Week.
 
The show included a broad spectrum of activities. The show floor had 35 vendors. Local community colleges with baking programs, associations including the Restaurant and Hospitality of Minnesota were also present. There a great variety including the major distributors in our area, cake decorating products, packaging companies, large machinery , flour companies, a uniform company, a coffee company and
 
Educational sessions are essential to the show. The General Session featured a nationally known speaker, Kathi Dvorin from Zingerman’s Zing Training. “How We Treat Customers Like Royality – The Art of Great Service,” was the topic. The cake demonstration track featured six sessions. Three business track sessions addressed managing sales and profit in difficult times. Saturday morning there was a pre-conference Sanitation Session.
 
Contests are also of high priority. The winner of the “American Bakery Expo Challenge,” Michelle Hillman from Fargo, ND, will advance on to the National Competition in Atlantic City. The Cake Deco contests demonstrated exquisite decorating. Fifty decorators walked away with gold, silver and bronze awards. The Bakery Foods Contest attracted more entrants than in the past.
 
For the early birds as bakers tend to be, Saturday morning featured a bus tour to two of the local bakeries: Grandma’s and St. Agnes Bakery. This proved to be a success to repeat.
 
The UMBA association honors individuals with the “Life Time Achievement Award,” in the Hall of Fame.  This year’s inductees were Carrol Westenberg, Jim Wuollet and Ben Wuollet.
Two scholarships of $500.00 each were awarded to Kelsey Stang and Charles Elhard

The child centered event provided for the children to visit the Minnesota Science Museum and participate in a Pizza party during the banquet.
 
The banquet on Saturday evening hosted over 350 guests. It included the Comedy Sportz players  for entertainment and the Preston and Paulzine Band to dance to. The program honored the gold winners in Bakery Foods and Deco Cake contests, the “Hall of Fame,” recipients and the new chair of the RBA – Lynn Schurman – one of our own. Many RBA Board Members were in participation. 
As “The Show Goes On,” we look forward to next years show at the same location – the Crowne Plaza, downtown St. Paul, MN.