The Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education (CAFÉ) has designed an event that will help attendees anticipate and embrace “What’s Next” in branding their products, themselves and their organizations.

CAFÉ’s “Food & the Media Arts,” hosted by Metro State University in Denver, September 30—October 2, will begin with a presentation by Adam Schlegel, co-owner of and consigliere for Snooze: an A.M. Eatery, which operates units in Colorado, California, and Arizona. Snooze’s innovative model integrates and relies on community, environmental sustainability and scrupulous business values to drive its success—an operating philosophy that earned the multiunit restaurant company the distinction of Best New Business in 2007 by the Downtown Denver Partnership.

Other presenters include publicists, bloggers, food photographers, trade editors and web designers. Attendees will discover branding ideas and hear case studies of struggles and successes, as well as what’s on the horizon to enhance effective communication.

Since its founding in 2002, CAFÉ has worked with industry and foodservice classrooms to encourage working together in future planning. According to Mary Petersen, president of CAFÉ and editor of “The Gold Medal Classroom”—the first online magazine for foodservice educators—this event will help attendees understand the learning curve and prepare for ways to communicate before and during the ideation and

“CAFÉ is excited to explore new communication tools that look beyond fads and weave the principles of building an image into not only our daily operations, but also future business development,” Petersen says. “This workshop will help all of us in the industry plan our next steps in embracing advances in the media arts to stay ahead of the curve.”