My NGA Convention Experience by Andre Gordillo

Recently, 3 other students and myself had the privilege of being able to participate and represent the U in the National Grocers Association annual convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. As student interns representing the university, we were given a case study in which we studied the relationship between social media and a hypothetical, independent grocery store chain. As a group, we put many hours of work and research into our case study, and the experience we went through working as a group on a real world problem was invaluable.

My participation at the trade show was also a real unique experience. Each one of was paired up with a mentor from the food industry and they showed us around the trade floor and introduced us to other fellow industry professionals. Throughout this session, I met many people throughout so many areas of the grocery industry and was able to establish relationships and network. I never would have imagined how many companies and people play a role in the grocery industry, yet the NGA Convention opened my eyes and further sparked my interest to join such an exciting industry upon my graduation. I'd like to thank The Food Industry Center for the opportunity to participate in such an unmatched experience in my college career!