This year, annual state School Nutrition Association (SNA) tradeshows across the country have gone digital and taken the form of online expos for showcasing to School Nutrition professionals all of the industry’s top innovations.
In 2020, many things we once thought were vitally important no longer are; however, these tradeshows are not among them. In fact, the decision by state SNAs to pivot and adapt are making all the difference for School Food Service Directors and frontline School Nutrition employees.
Why?
According to Jason LeBlanc, National Sales Representative for Harris School Solutions’ (HSS) School Nutrition business unit,
“The men and women working in School Lunch programs across the country are facing complex challenges in 2020. They need to go into their schools and work hard, feeding and supporting the students, but the tools that these School Nutrition professionals previously used to get their jobs done won’t work this year because of the circumstances.”
LeBlanc continues,
“That’s why we all need these virtual shows. For HSS, we have to get the word out that we have the solutions to the real, on-the-ground challenges our clients are seeing in real-time at their schools. And they need to be able to see and discover what tools are out there and available to them.”
HSS, for example, has innovated and created a number of solutions specific to the pandemic. Among those solutions are:
- A curbside pickup function that enables multi-meal entry with a single keystroke.
- Enabled credit card payments conveniently at the point of sale for curbside pickup, thanks in part to browser-based POS technology.
- Expanded Support service with one-call resolution, including options for phone, email, and chat.
Notes LeBlanc,
“We adapted our solutions to meet the real-world needs of our clients and of the industry, but without the effort of all these SNA organizations to put on these shows, it would’ve been a bit like the tree that falls in the woods with no one around to hear it.”
LeBlanc concludes,
“We truly appreciate these SNAs — especially NYSNA and CalSNA, who lead the way — and what they’ve done to bring the shows together now, in 2020, when the industry needs it the most.”
Harris School Solutions’ virtual booths are open from now until the end of the year.
Click below to visit our NYSNA or CalSNA virtual booth and see these and other innovations.
[button link=”http://www.calsnashow.org/virtual/exhibitBooth.php?BID=55″]CalSNA Booth[/button]
[button link=”https://www.nyschoolnutrition.org/from-the-show-floor”]NYSNA Booth[/button]
Not in NY or CA? Visit your state’s SNA page and log in to see our booth in your state!
