When strategy fails and results fall short, leaders often grasp at straws. Some turn to their go-to persuasion tactics, others a poorly designed incentive, and many begin tinkering with processes and procedures to try and salvage success. But policies and persuasion are not enough — and they aren’t leadership. Rather, leadership success is a product of influencing human behavior.

Learning Session + Live Q & A

Influence isn’t about saying the right thing; it’s about knowing when to speak, when to pause, and how to position yourself so others choose alignment. Tactical Influence™ reveals how leaders shape decisions, build buy-in, and guide outcomes through intentional communication, credibility, and trust.

Every day, leaders are expected to influence decisions without authority, navigate competing priorities, and lead conversations amid emotions, risk, and uncertainty. Yet most influence breaks down, and decisions stall, not because leaders lack expertise, but because they misread the moment.

In Tactical Influence™, Pamela shows leaders how influence actually works in real-world environments where outcomes matter. Drawing from years of undercover work, federal prosecution, and behavioral research, she reveals how subtle communication signals shape trust, resistance, and decision-making in real time.

This webinar will equip leaders with practical strategies to guide conversations, reduce friction, and create the conditions for decisive action, without pressure, manipulation, or over-explaining. The result: clearer decisions, stronger alignment, and trust that becomes a measurable competitive advantage.

Learning Session + Live Q & A

Learning Objectives:

1. Position Yourself for Influence Before Decisions Are Made: Understand how credibility, authority, and trust are established through timing, presence, and behavioral signals so you can enter conversations with established credibility.

2. Guide Conversations Toward Timely, Confident Decisions: Learn how to recognize hesitation, resistance, and alignment in real time and adjust communication to prevent stalling, escalation, or second-guessing.

3. Turn Trust Into a Measurable Competitive Advantage: Apply practical strategies that reduce friction, strengthen buy-in, and improve execution without pressure, manipulation, or over-explaining.

Executive Leadership Webinar Series 2026: 

This three-part Executive Leadership Webinar Series explores different dimensions of influence essential to senior leaders in collegiate dining and auxiliary services. Explore the skills executives need to strengthen partnerships, increase credibility, and turn influence into meaningful and lasting results. Each session offers practical strategies leaders can apply to strengthen their institutional influence and organizational effectiveness.

_____

Webinar 1: Influence, Coalitions, and Partnerships 

Steve Swafford, EdD., IOM, CEO Leadership Outfitters

Friday, November 20th, at 2 pm ET 

_____

Webinar 2: Tactical Influence™: Shape Outcomes with Ease

Pamela Barnum, M.P.A., J.D., Former Undercover Police Officer, Federal Prosecutor, and Trust Expert

Tuesday, December 1st at  2 pm ET

_____

Webinar 3: Creating Lasting Behavior Change

Scott Robley – VP of Learning at Crucial Conversations 

Thursday, December 10th at 11 am ET

Leadership happens through influence, and not by authority alone. It is built through the coalitions and partnerships around you, both inside and outside your organization. Yet influencing people you don't directly manage takes a different skill set than managing a direct report. Explore the five essential elements of influence — openness, trustworthiness, self-awareness, adaptability, and negotiation — and how they shift when managing up, laterally, and beyond your walls. Participants will leave with a repeatable framework for turning those relationships into lasting influence.

Learning Session + Live Q & A

Learning Objectives:

1. Describe five essential elements of influence and how they contribute to leadership skills.
2. Discuss how influence might be used differently when working with higher-level executives, peers, and those outside their organization.

The NACUFS Financial Management Workshop is for anyone looking to advance their skills in the financial management of collegiate dining operations. It will take place on November 11–13, 2026, at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

This workshop will help you take your financial management skills to the next level! 

• Grow your skills in person, capitalizing on opportunities for networking and in-depth sharing

• Learn how to effectively communicate your operation's financial status to your team and university administration

• Develop dining plans to maximize revenue

• Identify opportunities to increase revenue and decrease expenses

• Strategically plan for equipment replacement and renovations

• Utilize the InSights Operating Ratios Study by NACUFS to enhance your operation

• Prepare a cost/benefit analysis using data from the InSights Operating Ratios Study by NACUFS

• Create a training plan for your staff to use financial data in decision-making

• Enhance your skills in understanding and creating reports and dashboards

"Strong financial management skills are vital to the successful management of foodservice operations.  NACUFS is bringing together leaders in the industry to learn and share ideas on financial management best practices in the Financial Management Workshop. This collaborative gathering will provide the opportunity to learn financial strategies to better serve students and our universities and colleges.”  -- Rich Neumann, M.S., FMP

** We recommend completing the online NACUFS Financial Management for Foodservice course, available on NACUFS Learn, before attending the workshop, or having the equivalent experience. Contact [email protected] with questions. **

NACUFS 2026 Financial Management Workshop  Agenda 

Wednesday, November 11

4:00 pm – Optional Campus Dining Tour

5:30 – 6:30 pm – Attendee Networking Engagement Reception 

Thursday, November 12 

9:00 am – 5:00 pm – Financial Management Workshop (Day 1) 

Friday, November 13 

9:00 am – 12:00 pm – Financial Management Workshop (Day 2) 

Hotel Options

Hampton Inn & Suites Madison Downtown  

440 W. Johnson St., Madison, WI 53703 

Rate: $139 per night plus taxes and fees 

Reserve your room here

Or call the hotel directly at 608-255-0360 and mention NACUFS 2026 to book directly under the group block. 

Conveniently located .2 miles from the Fluno Center. Rate includes a complimentary hot breakfast. 

Reserve your room by October 10, 2026 to secure the NACUFS rate. 

Fluno Center  

Rate: $160 per night plus taxes and fees 

Reserve your room here 

Or call toll-free +1-877-773-5866 or local +1-608-441-7117. Note NACUFS Fall Workshops for the NACUFS rate. 

Rate includes a hot breakfast buffet. 

Additional information will be sent to registrants as we get closer to the event date. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].  

We look forward to having you join us at the University of Wisconsin - Madison in November! 

At NACUFS' Engaging People Workshop, you'll spend two immersive days with your peers at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, gaining fresh perspectives on leadership, management, and employee retention. Whether you're an aspiring manager, new to management, or an experienced leader, the workshop offers practical tactics and valuable insights on motivation, conflict resolution, teamwork, recruitment, and more. 

This interactive course encourages collaboration among participants as you explore big-picture strategies and develop a comprehensive framework to manage your team effectively!

Unlock your full potential as a leader with these learning outcomes:

• Expand your professional network with individuals in collegiate foodservice who face similar challenges.

• Recognize how your preferred work style and the various styles within your team can serve as advantages through an informal personality profile.

• Understand the power of knowledge sharing to empower your staff, manage your time efficiently, and prioritize competing tasks effectively.

• Learn valuable tips for building professional relationships with peers, direct reports, and leaders.

• Develop confidence in handling difficult employee conversations and applying corrective actions by using attentive listening and feedback skills.

• Increase your awareness of how your communication style can influence your team, retain talent, attract new employees, and boost engagement. 

• Explore opportunities for self-reflection, practicing new skills, and developing action plans.

What are your peers saying about the workshop?

“This workshop is great for anyone who manages people, whether new in their leadership role or doing it for many years.”

“I thought that this workshop was wonderful, and I would love for more of my colleagues to take this workshop.”

“I can apply what I learned and immediately put it into execution. Most importantly, it enabled me to become and see myself as a better leader.”

“My biggest takeaway was how to show appreciation to others.”

“Jodi provided me specific direction around employee skill set development opportunities for my organization. I plan on presenting these ideas to my manager.”

“Attending the Engaging People Workshop was an eye-opening experience for me and changed my perspective on how I lead others. I plan to enroll all managers from my own team in the workshop!”

___

NACUFS 2026 Engaging People Workshop Agenda 

Tuesday, November 10

2:00 to 4:00 pm - Registration

3:00 pm – Optional Campus Dining Tour

Wednesday, November 11

7:45 am to 5 pm - Registration 

9:00 am to 5:00 pm – Engaging People Workshop (Day 1) 

5:30 to 6:30 pm – Attendee Networking Engagement Reception 

Thursday, November 12 

9:00 am to 5:00 pm – Engaging People Workshop (Day 2) 

Hotel and travel information is available on the NACUFS website. Additional information will be sent to registrants as we get closer to the event date. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].  

What happens when you blend the warmth of Friendsgiving with the expertise of campus dietitians and nutrition students? You get Viv—a research-based dining program fostering connection through shared, family-style meals. 

Webinar attendees will discover how dietitians and nutrition students turned a pop-culture holiday into a public health initiative, drawing on research linking communal meals to better physical health, mental well-being, and satisfaction. Launched with a Friendsgiving-themed event and shared Thanksgiving menu in an all-you-care-to-eat dining room, Viv invites students to put down their phones and connect through collaborative ordering, portioned platters, and intentional presentation. 

Presenters will outline the program’s journey from concept to launch, including collaboration, logistics, communication, aesthetics, and student roles in menu creation, surveys, marketing, and logo design. Survey results show strong participation, increased connection, and attendance beyond expectations, with more data coming as Viv wraps up its second year. This webinar offers practical takeaways for campuses eager to blend culinary creativity, nutrition research, and community engagement.

In today’s campus dining environment, effective leadership doesn’t happen by accident. What managers say, do, tolerate, and prioritize has a direct impact on their teams, workplace culture, and ultimately the guest experience. The challenge is that great managers don’t automatically become great leaders.

This interactive session will explore practical strategies for teaching, training, coaching, and developing managers into confident, effective leaders. Participants will examine the challenges of managing managers, identify the leadership behaviors that have the greatest organizational impact, and explore ways to create accountability while continuing to develop their people.

Participants will leave with practical tools and strategies they can use immediately to strengthen their managers, build stronger teams, and create a culture where effective leadership becomes the standard—not the exception.

Learning Session + Live Q&A

In this recorded Virtual Town Hall, you will hear from four dining directors as they respond to audience questions, share insights into their diverse meal plan offerings, and explore trends, innovation, structure, and design. The panel discusses their programs, policies, current challenges, guidance on implementing changes, and best practices for launching new initiatives.

Moderator: 

Kory Samuels, Associate Vice President, Auxiliary Services, Finance and Administration at the Rochester Institute of Technology

Panelists:

Garett DiStefano, Director, Dining Services, University of Massachusetts

Eric Blackledge, Executive Director for Campus Dining & Shops, University at Buffalo

Jeffrey Palmer, Director of Dining at the University of California - San Diego

When trauma affects a college campus, dining professionals often play a crucial role in the response, experiencing the impact both personally and as a team. This microlearning course, developed by NACUFS in collaboration with Riverside Trauma Center, provides strategies for recognizing stress reactions, creating a supportive workplace, and building resilience in yourself and your colleagues. 

Learn how to establish stability, communicate with compassion, and promote well-being following difficult events. This will enable you and your team to recover together and continue making a positive difference.