Personal Chefs Gather in the Windy City

Annual Convention Being Held in Chicago

The Woodlands, Texas - April 3, 2007:  Members of Personal Chefs Network from the United States and Canada will soon be converging near the city of Chicago in Bloomingdale, Illinois.   Personal Chefs Network Convention, held annually since the company’s inception in 2000, will last three days and will be filled with classes and seminars on a wide variety of topics. The 2007 convention will take place from May 9^th through May 11^th, at Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale.  Most members attending the convention will also be attending the 9th Spring Fancy Food Show and All Things Organic Trade Show earlier in the week at the McCormick Place.

Personal Chefs Network has brought the talents of many well-known people in the cooking industry to their conventions and this year is no exception.  The keynote speaker for this year will be Lorna Sass, the cooking industry’s Pressure Cooker Queen, and author of many cookbooks, including Whole Grains Every Day Everyway, Pressure Perfect, and Lorna Sass’ Short-Cut Vegetarian.  Also in attendance will be Chef de Cuisine Denise Vivaldo, author of How to Start a Home-Based Personal Chef Business, who will lead two seminars: “Food Styling for the Personal Chef” and “Catering as a Second Income.”  Jonathan Milo Leal of Milo's Whole Gourmet will be speaking to convention attendees about taking individual products to market.   Each day of the convention is packed with classes and seminars, all created for personal chefs of every skill level and experience.   Some of the topics that will be pursued are interview skills, time saving ideas, marketing, wine and food pairing, knife skills, and taking a personal chef business more avenues such as catering, small dinner parties, and culinary instruction.

Personal Chefs Network currently has over 600 active members.   Each year at the convention, members are awarded for excellence in their business during the Golden Whisk Awards Luncheon, which tops off the week.   Categories include Personal Chef of the Year, Newbie Personal Chef of the Year, Caterer of the Year, Private Chef of the Year, Best Personal Chef Website, and Best Marketing Materials.   Each award winner is chosen based on votes from their peers, and Personal Chefs Network Members are eager to achieve at least one of these awards during their time as a personal chef.  

The Personal Chefs Network convention provides members not only with the latest information about the personal chef industry, but gives them opportunities to network with each other.   Year-round, members have access to online forums that contain a cornucopia of information, but with the exception of chapter meetings in major cities, rarely meet each other in person.   At the convention, members share job opportunities, feedback on marketing methods, and of course, have the opportunity to meet face-to-face.  Nearly all personal chefs are sole proprietors of their business and work entirely alone every day.   Finding an understanding and sympathetic ear to share their daily ups and downs can be a challenge.  The Personal Chefs Network member forums and conventions provide an outlet for chefs to talk about their work.   “Each convention is like a family reunion,” says Sharon Worster, founder and CEO of Personal Chefs Network.  “Many of our members who attend the conventions have become life-long friends.”

To register for the Personal Chefs Network 2007 convention in Chicago, or for more information, please visit http://personalchefsnetwork.com/conventions/2007 or call 1-877-905-CHEF or 1-888-905-CHEF, or send an email to ChefBrent@PersonalChefsNetwork.com or to ChefSharon@PersonalChefsNetwork.com.

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