New for 2027, SQF Learning Cohorts bring together small groups of attendees with similar interests, roles, and experiences. Connect before the conference, meet in person in Tucson, and learn from peers who understand the challenges you face. Share ideas, ask questions, and build relationships that can continue after SQF Unites.
Participation is free and optional, and SQFI will match you with your cohort. Explore the FAQs below to learn more about how SQF Learning Cohorts work and what to expect.
An SQF Learning Cohort is a small group of approximately six to eight SQF Unites attendees who share similar learning interests, roles, or experiences. Cohorts are designed to make it easier to meet the right people, exchange ideas, and learn from peers who understand the challenges you face.
Your group can connect virtually before SQF Unites, meet in person during the conference, and stay connected afterward.
SQF Unites brings together food safety professionals from across the industry, but finding people who share your specific interests and challenges can take time. Learning Cohorts make those connections easier.
You'll arrive in Tucson already knowing a few familiar faces and have a built-in group to reconnect with throughout the conference. It's an opportunity to ask questions, exchange ideas, and build relationships with peers you may not have met otherwise.
When you sign up, you'll select the topics you're most interested in exploring. SQFI will use those selections, along with factors such as your role and experience, to create balanced groups of attendees who can learn from one another.
Areas of interest may include food safety culture, SQF Edition 10, developing internal SQF practitioners, auditing careers, corrective and preventive actions, technology and data, supplier management, leadership and career development, and connecting as someone new to the SQF community.
That will depend partly on your group. Cohorts will have opportunities to connect before and during SQF Unites through informal conversations and gatherings.
Meet for coffee or a meal, reconnect at a conference event, or take a walk together on the resort trails. The goal isn't to add another formal session to your schedule. It's to create more opportunities to talk, share experiences, and learn from one another.
SQF Learning Cohorts are open to registered SQF Unites attendees at no additional cost. You don't need to be a first-time attendee or have a certain number of years of SQF experience.
Participation is completely optional.
Knowledge Swaps are individual peer-discussion sessions held at scheduled times during SQF Unites and organized around Food Sector Categories.
Learning Cohorts are smaller, relationship-focused groups that connect across the conference experience. Rather than meeting for a single session, your cohort can connect before SQF Unites, gather in person in Tucson, and continue the conversation afterward.
Each cohort will have a Cohort Guide, an experienced member of the SQF community who helps make introductions, starts conversations, and keeps the group engaged.
Cohort Guides aren't instructors, and your cohort isn't another class. Their role is to help get the conversation started so members can learn from one another.
Yes. Sponsors and exhibitors may participate as members of a cohort, but the groups are designed for peer learning, not sales pitches. Their participation should center on sharing industry knowledge and experiences rather than promoting products or services.
SQFI will also work to keep cohorts balanced so no single organization dominates a group.
Indicate that you'd like to participate in an SQF Learning Cohort when you register for SQF Unites 2027, and select the areas you're most interested in exploring.
We'll take it from there and share more information about your cohort before the conference.
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