News

2017 Annual Capital City Food Truck Convention canceled

April 24, 2017

The 2017 Annual Capital City Food Truck Convention, scheduled for June 3 and 4 in Washington, D.C., has been canceled. According to a notice from Samuel Whitfield III, chairman and interim executive director of the DMV Food Truck Association, the board decided it was in the best interest of all stakeholders to cancel the 2017 convention and put its resources into planning for 2018. The 2017 event would have been the third annual convention.

"The Association will work expeditiously through this process so that everyone will receive their funds as soon as possible," Whitfield stated in an email sent to Networld Media Group, publisher of Food Truck Operator. "Our newly formed leadership team is extremely talented, resourceful and energized to deliver not only the Association's, but also the Mobile Food Industry's signature event in 2018. We plan for the convention to be inclusive of seasoned truckers, new truckers, aspiring truckers, government officials, truck builders, service providers and more!"

The convention brochure outlined two days of seminars, workshops, meetings and events. There were 15 speakers confirmed.

One speaker, Joel Paprocki, owner of InsureMyFood, told Food Trucker Operator that he received a notice advising him of the event's cancelation. Paprocki was scheduled to speak on a panel about trademarks, insurance and employment.

The notice Paprocki received said investigation into registration, sponsorships, venue and programming led the board to conclude that the association is not prepared to run a convention at the caliber of the conventions that were successfully held in 2015 and 2016.

"The necessary foundation for a highly impactful convention has not been laid, and without full time staff and/or financial resources, we are not equipped to make it happen," the notice stated. "Organizationally we chose to protect the well-deserved reputation that we have earned by these conventions instead of jeopardizing the experience that everyone across the nation and the world even has come to expect out of the Association's convention."

As of press time, a request for additional comment was not returned from the DMV Food Truck Association.