Global Food Forums Team

The Global Food Forums Team is composed of people who are dedicated to the food and conference industries. Please click through to individual biographies if you have a question that may be particularly relevant for a staff member.

Claudia Dziuk O’Donnell, Co-owner, has worked in bench- to upper-level management in R&D and QC, and over 20 years in media—covering ingredient, food science and consumer trends and developing conference programs. Past positions include Director QC/QA, Orval Kent Foods (now part of Reser’s Fine Foods); Director R&D/QC, Alex Foods (now a JV between Hormel Foods and Herdez Del Fuerte); and R&D at International Multifoods (product line now part of Oberto Sausage Company). She has a MSc in Food Science and Nutrition (University of Minnesota), a MBA (Northern Illinois University) and a BA in Biology (St. Olaf College).

 

Peter Havens Co-owner, has over 35 years in the business-to-business food, beverage and dietary supplement publishing/media industry. Previously, he was Senior Group Publisher of BNP Media’s Food and Beverage Group. Prior positions include Publisher of Prepared Foods magazine and its in-person events and digital products. Peter’s entrepreneurial spirit and passion for in-person event marketing led him to launch or successfully reinvigorate numerous food industry conferences. He is a graduate of Miami University in Marketing.

 

Jennifer Bogdajewicz Stricker, Conference Manager, has over 15 years in marketing/event planning with companies such as Cahners Publishing and BNP Media. She manages conference preparation and on-site details, speaker relations as well as working with hotel event-planning departments to coordinate facilities and professional activities associated with events. She also assist with social media and digital marketing. Jenny has a BS in Business Administration in Marketing (Northern Illinois University).

 

Paula Frank is Content Manager for Global Food Forums. She has food industry experience in both Quality Management and R&D. Paula began her technical writing career at Food Product Design and also worked as a Food R&D Editor for several other trade magazines, eventually becoming Chief Editor of Baking Management. Paula has a B.S. in Food Science (Purdue University), a MBA (Kent State University) and dual-master’s degrees in Food Science and Technical Communications (North Carolina State University). She lives in Jerusalem with her husband, but still holds out hope for her hometown favorite, the Cleveland Browns.

 

Peter O’Donnell is Art Director for Global Food Forums, Inc. and handles its graphic needs for both print and digital formats. This involves logo development, print and online ads, event signage and website graphics among other duties. He additionally maintains various aspects of the company’s websites. He is also involved in shooting brief film segments during Global Food Forums, Inc.’s in-person events, editing these videos and posting them online. Peter graduated from Illinois State University with a BS in Art with an emphasis on graphic design and glass blowing.

 

Barbara Nessinger is Post-conference Summary Editor for Global Food Forums, Inc. She has over 15 years’ experience in writing, editing, and online and print content management, and is the former Managing Editor of Prepared Foods magazine. Previous to that, she was an English and history teacher in Illinois public schools and presented writing workshops for educators. Barb has BAs in Journalism and English (Saint Xavier University) and Elementary Education certification in Illinois.

 

TSS Advisory Board - illustration of laboratory setting. Global Food Forums’ Technology Snapshot Advisory Board undertakes the important task of evaluating submissions for the Clean Label Conferences’ Technology Snapshot session. In addition, they provide program advice and assist in the search for general session speakers.