SPINCon 2013

President & Chief Connecting Officer

Tracy Stuckrath, CSEP, CMM, CHC, founder and chief connecting officer of Thrive! Meetings & Events, is an event planner who is one of just 295 people in the world to hold a designation as a Certified Special Events Professional (CSEP). She’s also one of 15 million people in the U.S. with food allergies.

Combining her more than 20 years of event planning experience, her food allergies and her education from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (2009), Tracy founded Thrive! Meetings & Events in 2010 to educate the hospitality industry on how to successfully accommodate dietary needs at events and help make the world healthier, one event at a time.

Tracy speaks regularly at events nationwide on how to accommodate guests with food allergies and other dietary needs. A dynamic, engaging speaker, Tracy brings passion and expertise to her presentations by offering detailed research and thoughtful analysis, and—most of all—by drawing on her own experience as a event planner with food allergies. Her stories will shock and inspire you, as they have many others in the hospitality industry. 

Tracy is able to customize a presentation for your organization that can include allergy-friendly recipes, personalized dietary cards, and cooking demonstrations. 

In addition to serving as chair of the FAAN Walk for Food Allergy Atlanta and the Georgia Chapter of MPI’s Fall Classic, Tracy is a member of Meeting Professionals International, International Special Events Society, Slow Food International, National Association of Catering Executives, International Association of Culinary Professionals, Gluten Intolerance Group and the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN). In her spare time, Tracy works at Cook’s Warehouse, an Atlanta-based gourmet store and cooking school, where she teaches a “Cooking with Food Allergies” class and interacts with local and national chefs as a chef’s assistant. 

“Chew on This” GaMPI Southern Educational Conference 2012
“I Can’t Eat That! How to Successfully Incorporate Guests Dietary Needs Into ?Your F&B Plans,” GaMPI MEC 2012
“I Can’t Eat That! Managing Dietary Needs of Guests,” Catersource 2012
“10 Recipes for Those Who Can’t Eat That!,” Catersource 2012
“I Can't Eat That! How to Incorporate Special Dietary Needs into F&B Plans,” The Exhibitor Show, ?Exhibitor FastTrack 2012
“Food 101: Accommodating Dietary Needs at Events,” The Exhibitor Show 2011

CMM
CSEP
CHC
GREAT Kitchens: Gluten-Free Training
Allergen Awareness Training
ServSafe® Food Protection Manager
Certification, Managing Food Allergens & Gluten