13th Annual ICCA Summit In Portland, Maine from June 14 – 17, 2015

The 13th Annual ICCA Summit will take place in Portland, Maine from June 14th to June 17th at the Westin Portland Harborview Hotel.  This historic hotel reopened in last December after a more than $50 million renovation. It is basically a brand new hotel; in an historic shell.   The hotel sits in the middle of the arts district and is just blocks away from the numerous award winning restaurants and the Old Port. After your night dining in the creative restaurants that has given Portland the title, “America’s Foodiest Small Town” by Bon Appetit Magazine, you can treat yourself to panoramic views of Portland and Casco Bay from the iconic Top of the East rooftop lounge in our hotel. We are very excited to announce our detailed ICCA 13th Annual Summit Final Agenda that includes a deep dive into the lobster industry including the opportunity to board a lobster boat and actually pull traps to find the new shell lobsters available during the summer months, these are harvested after molting when meat is sweet and moist. Our opening Keynote Speaker is Linda Bean, one of Maine’s largest lobster processors and restaurateur including locations at the LL Bean Compound and airports and malls.  Our closing Keynote Speaker is also a Maine native. Barton Seaver; Chef; Author; and Director, Sustainable Seafood and Health Initiative Harvard School of Public Health. In this role, Barton spearheads initiatives to inform consumers and institutions about how our choices for diet and menus can promote healthier people, more secure food supplies, and thriving communities. We have secured some of the leading speakers in the nation on trends including Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic and Suzy Badaracco, president of Culinary Tides. We also have Hunt Shipman, a Washington DC expert on legislative topics that affect our industry.  Dr. Rita Schenck from the Institute for Environmental Research and Education will offer solutions for your brand to get more involved in sustainability and how your customers will give you credit for the effort. A panel of experts will discuss how operators and manufacturers can work together to create a win-win partnership.  The ICCA Summit is a unique opportunity for the nation’s leading menu developers to network with each other and meet some of the leading food/beverage manufacturers, commodity boards and trend experts. Of course we will also learn from the award winning chefs in the region about their unique style of cuisine and why Portland has become a true culinary destination. You will not want to miss our Monday Culinary Road Trips where you will visit the most amazing farms that support this farm-to-table chef community, plus Portland is one of the best microbrew and microdistillery cities in America.  Beyond Shipyard and Allagash, whom I think is one of the best breweries in the country, there are ten more world-class craft beer producers in this small city of less than 70,000 residents.  Remember all receptions and our annual dinner is complimentary for your spouse to attend along with a special spouse tour on Monday. The ICCA Board has approved a 50 percent discount for ICCA members who register in advance. The normal costs of the Summit is $595.00, but when paid with the membership fee of $395.00, you pay only $495.00 for both. In other words the Summit only costs you an additional $100.00. It is a $990.00 value for only $495.00. Here is the membership form ICCA membership form 2015 and invoice ICCA Membership-Summit Discount 2015 or you can pay using PayPal. The Westin Portland Harborview Hotel, our headquarters hotel, has offered us a great room rate of only $199.00 per night. Here is the link to make your hotel reservation. Just email the ICCA National Headquarters at iccamember@earthlink.net for more information. We look forward to seeing you in Portland in June!