CHICAGO — The American Society of Baking (ASB) has historically held its annual BakingTECH conference in Chicago, but next year’s event is seeing a change in venue beyond hotel. BakingTECH 2025 will be held in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 15-18, 2025.
At the IFT FIRST 2024 event in Chicago, Kristen Spriggs, executive director, ASB, shared with Baking & Snack the latest updates on BakingTECH 2025 planning.
The change in location has offered ASB the opportunity to make some changes to the conference itself.
“Moving out of the Hilton gave us a chance to completely reimagine the experience for attendees,” Spriggs said.
The hotel with its atrium offers a centralized meeting area for people to congregate as they enter the hotel, much like the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile, where BakingTECH has been held previously. This central atrium will provide a space for BakingTECH to kick off with an earlier reception on the opening day, welcoming people to the conference as they enter the hotel.
The area designated for the Marketplace is also larger, which has afforded the BakingTECH planning committee to offer more points of connection than the traditional tabletops. While tabletops will still be available for companies, the space will also host the BakeTalk stage, and new features such as student posters, Bakers’ Row and Innovation Station. To reflect the expanded offerings, ASB has changed the name of Marketplace to Formulation Floor.
“We wanted it to be something that’s more indicative of the collaboration and partnership and innovation that happens at BakingTECH,” Spriggs explained. “It’s all about how you can make those connections to learn about new products and solutions and talk to your partners about your business.”
Bakers Row will be an interactive part of Formulation Floor, with QR codes that attendees scan to learn more about each process of commercial baking. Those QR codes will be available for supplier companies to sponsor to demonstrate how their equipment, ingredients and services play a part in those processes.
Innovation Station will showcase the latest technologies in equipment, ingredients, software and more. Companies wanting to secureone of the 10 spots available in Innovation Station will submit their innovation, which will then be scored by a panel of bakers who will choose the top 10 most innovative technologies.
To attract more student attendees, ASB is spotlighting student posters on Formulation Floor for the first time. Previously, the only posters featured were those from the National Honey Board-sponsored Product Development Competition, which will still be taking place. This year’s competition will focus on grab-and-go foods and every submission must feature honey as an ingredient. Preliminary proposals are due Nov. 8.
Programming will still be baker-focused with a baker offering their perspective in every technical session.
“A part of our strategic outreach to universities, culinary schools and trade schools is to grow our student population, which will help incubate new talent for the baking industry’s workforce,” Spriggs explained.
Rising Baker and the Baking Hall of Fame will also remain fixtures of ASB BakingTECH. The deadline for Hall of Fame submissions is Sept. 1.
The event will end not with Casino Night but an outdoor games celebration, another benefit of being South in February.
“We’re expanding beyond casino games to include group activities such as corn hole,” Spriggs said. “We want to get out and enjoy the Florida weather and the resort setting, which is a first for ASB.”
Last year also saw an influx of first-time attendees with 250. With membership growth a strategic goal of ASB, the organization is working hard to recruit hundreds of ambassadors who can connect with first-time attendees and make their inaugural BakingTECH experience a positive one. Ambassadors are expected to reach out to their first timers a few days ahead of BakingTECH and help them navigate the conference and network.
“One of the best things about community is the connection that people feel to it,” Spriggs said. “But one of the downsides is that tight-knit community can feel like a clique for a first-time attendees and be hard to break into. Our whole goal is to break that down because we never want anyone to leave BakingTECH and feel like they never broke into the community.”
Registration for BakingTech opens Aug. 18, and because of the new location, ASB extended the discounted hotel rates to the three days before and after the conference for those wishing to extend their stay in Orlando. For more information about BakingTech and to register, visit ASB’s website.
