It’s no secret that people are interested in food now more than ever, making expectations higher that events will be inspiring culinary experiences. Meals, from breakfasts to receptions, have become events in their own right. Food has the power to set the tone for events, offers networking opportunities and helps keep guests energized through unique presentations.

At Disney, we’re cooking up new ways to leverage food for meetings and events, which is not only fun—but also tasty! We recently hosted Elliott Masie’s Learning 2014  for one such event. Masie, the Chair and CEO of The MASIE Center, sees culinary activities as great content to educate and engage attendees during his events. Listen to what he has to say about it here:

Interaction, food and fun—what more could you ask for?

Video Transcript

Elliott Masie:

Hi! My name is Elliott Masie. I am the Chair and CEO of Learning 2014. We decided that cooking is content – it’s entertainment. People love watching shows about cooking and cooking competitions. So we started off by inviting Chef Bobby Flay to come and to do a wonderful keynote opportunity. We then reached out through Disney to our culinary staff here, who ended up putting together two fascinating cooking demonstrations in which they cooked, did some education and then gave samples for our attendees.

Chef Bill Brown:

During the Learning Conference 2014 we did three soup culinary demonstrations live for our guests. We showed them how to make a hot soup, a cold soup and a new culinary trend using the Vitamix blender.

Elliott Masie:

Learning events that make a difference have an element of personalization, where you feel touched. It was very powerful to take the Disney chefs, to not only do a demonstration, but then to become very available to the participants – to ask questions, to look at the food, to taste it. It was a connection moment that was rare and added real value to our program and to their experience. I bring my meeting to Disney because I want to create a seamless, total experience for my participants. From the moment they come into my conference I want to engage them, I want to educate them, I want to entertain them and I want them to be here in a way  that they are fully, fully involved. This is the magic of Disney and they brought the magic to my meeting.

We're eager to help you create the perfect meeting or private event for any size group, theme and objective. To speak with a Disney Meetings representative about our pricing and options available at our Disney Parks & Resorts destinations in Florida, California, Hawaii or at our international destinations, please Contact Us or Submit a Request for Proposal. Or, Sign Up to stay in touch and continue learning more about Disney Meetings.