2008 Annual Meat Conference to Explore Animal Welfare and Animal Rights Activism and the Changing Labor Market

Timely sessions on animal welfare and animal rights activism and the changing labor market will be featured at 2008 Annual Meat Conference, which will be held on March 9-11, 2008, at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn.

The first session, “Animal Welfare and Activism: What You Need to Know,” will feature speaker J. Philip Lobo, Animal Agriculture Alliance. Lobo will explore the impact and missions of key animal welfare and animal rights groups. Participants will learn how animal rights groups and other special interest groups influence consumers through activism and how these efforts impact the meat, poultry and retail industries. This session will be held at 9 a.m., Monday, March 10.

In “Kids These Days … Recruiting and Retaining Service-Oriented Associates,” speaker Andrea Fredrickson, vice president of operations, American Institute of Management, Inc., will address the challenges of retaining service-focused associates in a changing labor pool. Participants will examine the objectives of entry-level employees and the characteristics of this generation that affect retention, service and long-term labor planning. Attendees will have the opportunity to shed their generational preconceptions and generate new ideas to improve staffing practices. This session will be held at 2:45 p.m., Monday, March 10.

Co-sponsored by the American Meat Institute (AMI) and Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the Annual Meat Conference attracts 700 members of the retail food and meat industries each year. It is considered the leading educational event focusing on meat and poultry marketing developments, merchandising issues and consumer purchasing trends.

Associate sponsors for the conference include the American Lamb Board, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Chicken Council, National Pork Board and the National Turkey Federation.

Advance registration for the conference is $595 per person or $545 for three or more members of the sponsoring associations. On-site registration is $695 per person or $645 for three or more members registering together or $515 when 10 or more retailers/wholesalers register together. Nonmember registration is $1,290 per person.

For program and registration information, visit http://www.MeatConference.com.

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AMI represents the interests of packers and processors of beef, pork, lamb, veal and turkey products and their suppliers throughout North America. Together, AMI's members produce 95 percent of the beef, pork, lamb and veal products and 70 percent of the turkey products in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Institute provides legislative, regulatory, public relations, technical, scientific and educational services to the industry. Its affiliate, the AMI Foundation, is a separate 501(c)3 organization that conducts research, education and information projects for the industry.

Food Marketing Institute (FMI) conducts programs in research, education, industry relations and public affairs on behalf of its 1,500 member companies — food retailers and wholesalers — in the United States and around the world. FMI’s U.S. members operate approximately 26,000 retail food stores with a combined annual sales volume of $680 billion — three-quarters of all retail food store sales in the United States. FMI’s retail membership is composed of large multi-store chains, regional firms and independent supermarkets. Its international membership includes 200 companies from more than 50 countries.