Ski for Light Event Planning Manual

June 2011

18. Meals Coordinator

Given the "wellness/fitness" emphasis of the program, diet and nutrition are of considerable interest and importance at SFL International. A number of participants come with health issues or medical concerns which require special diet considerations. Approximately 20 percent of participants request pescatarian meals, while most everyone appreciates an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables in their diet.

The Meals Coordinator works primarily with the hotel's food service department, the Application Coordinators, the Registration and Housing Coordinator, the Hotel Function Coordinator, and the Event Chair.

Pre-Event

Planning Meeting

• Depending on travel distance, time and budget constraints, you may be asked to attend the planning meeting. If you do not attend, please ensure your responsibilities are carried out by someone who does.
• The room and board rates will already have been negotiated by the time the Meals Coordinator is identified. However, it is important for the Meals Coordinator to thoroughly understand the per meal costs when charging individuals by the meal. Tickets for extra meals will be sold by the information room. It is also important to understand the various "package" options that typically evolve for some of our instructor/guides.
• Obtain a copy of the hotel contract from the Event Chair to familiarize yourself with meal costs, conditions, etc.
• Meet with hotel representative to discuss menu guidelines, serving details, table set-up, meal times, and monitoring access to dining room. Discuss pre-event meals, their style and location.
• Breakfast times:
  Monday through Saturday 7:30 - 8:30am
  Sunday (day of departure) Arrange a continental breakfast and make available as early as 5:00am or earlier for early departures. This time may be adjusted depending on site location and departure times.
  
• Lunch times:
  Monday through Thursday 11:30 - 1:00pm
  Friday (Ski Tour Picnic) 12:00 - 1:00pm
  Saturday (ski race/rally) 11:30 - 1:30pm
  
• Dinner times:
  Sunday Night 6:30pm (Late arrivals may need a meal upon their arrival. If possible, arrange for an appropriate number of meals to be held if people are known to be arriving without having eaten.)
  Monday through Thursday 6:30 - 7:30pm
  Friday (Norway Night) 6:30 - 7:30pm
  Saturday (Banquet) 6:30 - 7:30pm (This meal is usually preceded by a one-hour cash bar)
  
• Determine nature of the meal for the day of the ski tour. If hotel is to provide meal, discuss with hotel; otherwise, discuss schedule, menu, serving pattern, etc. with organization/establishment providing meal.
• Check with Guide Training Coordinators to determine if box lunches will be needed during any portion of guide training.
• Review contract to determine hotel's policy on meal guarantees. What percentage over the guaranteed number will be served
• How much in advance of each meal must the guarantee be finalized
• Arrange with hotel to have coffee and water available at the morning "sunrise" meetings, 7:00am Saturday through Saturday (usually provided for in hotel contract as a gratis item).
• All dinner service during the seven-day event should be sit-down table service. Meals for the first two pre-event days (Thursday dinner through Saturday lunch) can be served buffet style. During the week, there will be approximately 250 people and usually a few more on Friday/Saturday for Norway night/banquet.
• It is easier for people to get around rectangular tables and they should be of the size to seat 8-10 people/table. There should be at least 36 inches of clearance between tables for maximum accessibility.
• Serve water at every meal.
• Avoid foods that are difficult to cut (i.e. chicken on bones).
• Avoid foods to which many people are allergic, i.e., shellfish, peanuts, etc.
• Serve syrup, salad dressings, and gravies/sauces on side.
• It must be made clear that all functions which serve alcohol must also have non-alcoholic options available. SFL will not pay for the service of any alcohol which is served without SFL authorization.

Menu Guidelines

• All meals are "group" meals, meaning meals with a fixed menu in a location apart from other hotel guests. The first dinner and first breakfast, when numbers are small, are exceptions to this requirement. They may be in a separate area of the main dining room if appropriate.
• All breakfasts are to be a "distributed buffet", with the possible exception of the first and last breakfasts. The first breakfast, when numbers are low, may be plated or part of the hotel's regular breakfast buffet. The last breakfast is to be a continental or box breakfast.
• The Ski for Light "distributed buffet" is a combination of pre-set table items and hot food (staffed) stations. These stations should not be arranged in a continuous buffet style but should be individual serving stations with only one or two items per station. This combination has proven successful in providing menu variety to participants, while at the same time allowing blind guests to independently select the menu item of their choice, without having to call on sighted guests or hotel staff for assistance. The cost of the buffet is kept comparable to that of a served and plated breakfast by recognizing that only a portion of the guests will select any given alternative.
• The pre-set items on each table should include whole grain bread, cottage cheese, low fat yogurt, granola, fresh fruit, hard boiled eggs, peanut butter, butter and jam.
• Typically, four hot food stations have been provided each morning, dispersed throughout the room (two stations have been used during the pre-event weekend when numbers are lower). Two of the four provide a single hot cereal, oatmeal rotating with cream of wheat. The other two stations provide scrambled eggs and a breakfast meat. Pancakes or French toast should be rotated with the scrambled eggs, or provided in addition to scrambled eggs.
• Lunches: Soups, salads, fruits, vegetables and sandwiches make for best lunches. If hot lunches are an option, lunches should be at least a soup/sandwich or a soup/salad combination with cookies, fruit, or other accompaniment on the side.
• Dinners: All dinners are to be plated, served dinners, involving only the two meal options, standard and pescatarian. The Hotel is encouraged to pre-set salads, desserts and other items so as to facilitate a speedy dinner.
• Dinners should always be a hot meal with variety and interest. Avoid especially spicy or strongly ethnic foods.
• Pescatarian Diet: Here is the language which appears on all SFL applications that describes the dietary options.
  Ski for Light aims to provide a healthy, balanced diet which is high in complex carbohydrates derived from fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and dairy products and low in fat. Please indicate which of the following options you prefer:
  · Standard Diet: (includes red meat and poultry)
  · Pescatarian Diet: (includes eggs, dairy products and fish but no red meat or poultry)
• It is important to remember that the pescatarian diet should maintain the same quantity/quality of food as the standard diet. A pescatarian diet is not just dishes of vegetables with occasional fish. Lunches should consist of salads which include tuna, legumes, pasta, eggs, and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables; soups containing cheese, beans, pasta, etc.; sandwiches composed of whole-grain bread, tuna, egg, peanut or other nut butters, veggie melt, etc. Salad lunches should be accompanied by plenty of bread, crackers, or rolls. Dinners should consist of fish, pasta, legumes, soy protein such as tofu, cheese, rice, potatoes, in addition to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. These can be incorporated into such meals as stir-fries, lasagna, burritos, casseroles, pies, etc. Meals should be low in fat, high in carbohydrates, and supply an adequate amount of protein. The pescatarian meal for the banquet should be an equivalent increase in quality and should include high-value items such as fish, mushrooms, imported cheese, etc.
• Actual Menus From A Previous Event (MS Word

December 1

• Consult with Event Chair Coordinator on the development of a menu for Norway night. Food should have a Norwegian flair and may be supplemented with small items donated by importers. In any event, this meal is similar to all others: meal must be a sit-down meal served by hotel staff, hors d'oeuvres, if offered, should be on platters in the middle of each table, etc.
• Finalize menus for standard/pescatarian diets, meal times and set-up and serving arrangements for each meal.
• Finalize plan for the ski tour and picnic.
• Plans for the ski tour should be coordinated with the ski area, hotel, or other local contact. Discuss lunch requirements, location, alternatives due to inclement weather and potential costs for hay bales, portable toilets, etc.
• Coordinate with Registration and Housing Coordinator to ensure that appropriate name tags/meal tickets are being made.
• Meal tickets are typically the name tag which is coded for the different kinds of room/meal packages (i.e. local guides purchasing lunches and banquet only, all meals, and full package consisting of meals and lodging) and the different kinds of diet options (standard and pescatarian).

January 1

• Contact VIP, MIP Instructor/Guide Applications, other attendee, and Registration and Housing Coordinators for special/pescatarian dietary needs. The Applications Coordinators will from time to time receive request for special dietary accommodations. These must be negotiated with the Coordinator, the individual, and the hotel to determine if we can meet their needs. If the request is beyond the scope of what can be provided in a large group setting, the individual should be advised that he/she will need to personally supplement what can be provided by SFL.
• Arrange for Sunday afternoon hospitality snacks.
• The food served on Sunday afternoon during Registration should be of light fare. This is only to tie people over until dinner. This typically includes coffee, juice, fruit, crackers and cheese or muffins.
• Check on the arrangements for the Welcome reception.
• Arrange for box lunches for guide training, if necessary.
• Inquire about the arrangements for the purchase of individual meal tickets for extras and mid-week arrivals.
• Coordinate all pre-event meal plans (i.e. Board of Directors, Guide Trainers, first- and second-year instructor/guides, etc.). Identify numbers, locations, and type of meal service.
• Check on arrangements for complimentary Welcome reception for Monday night. Be sure that the area does not have seating. With people standing, it is easier to mingle. Make sure that non-alcoholic beverages are also available.

One Week Prior to Event

• Finalize guarantee numbers for each meal with Event Chair and either you or Event Chair convey to hotel.
• Coordinate with SFL President and Event Chair for banquet needs.
• Finalize numbers for pre-event meals.
• Finalize the numbers of special/pescatarian diets required.

International Week

Throughout the Week

• For each meal, SFL has "guaranteed" a specific number of meals to be paid for. This number is usually the total number of our group in-house at that particular time. For various reasons, the number of persons eating a particular meal may be somewhat smaller. The hotel will usually serve 5 percent over the guarantee. Therefore, it is a good idea to monitor the meal numbers and adjust the guarantee as needed. The guarantee must usually be received 24-72 hours before the specific meal.
• Resolve all meal-related concerns.
• Confirm the sale of individual meal tickets with hotel and review procedure with SFL Information Room Coordinator.
• Arrangement for purchasing extra tickets for Norway night and the banquet on Saturday night should be very clear and the hotel should understand that there may be up to 10-15 extra people for these meals. These people are often local volunteers, friends, relatives and/or dignitaries.

Friday

• Be sure that the hotel is aware of coffee and water needs for morning "sunrise" meetings.

Saturday

• Attend all morning "sunrise" meetings.

Tuesday

• Confirm the number of extra meal tickets available for Norway night.

Wednesday

• Confirm the number of extra meal tickets available for the banquet.

Post-Event

• Provide meals improvement suggestions to Event Chair.