To stay ahead of the competition and grow your business, you need to arm yourself with knowledge and key contacts. There’s no better way to increase both than by attending Petfood Forum 2011 and Petfood Workshop: Safety First.

Petfood Forum, scheduled for April 11-13, is expanding this year with a new, larger venue—the Renaissance Schaumburg (about 10 miles west of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport)—and three content tracks: nutrition, marketing/packaging/regulatory and safety/processing. Experts from the petfood, veterinary, retail and marketing industries will share their insights and tips to help you improve your job and business performance.

Walmart's VP of food safety, Frank Yiannis, will be the closing keynote speaker—a new session this year. Timothy A. Hunt, DVM, kicks off the conference with the opening keynote about his experiences and lessons from mushing in and serving as a veterinarian for the Iditarod.

Find the full list of speakers and their topics here (click on the Speakers & Topics tab). Click on the Schedule tab to see when the conference sessions, as well as meals and receptions, are scheduled.

You’ll also enjoy as many networking opportunities as ever with new and familiar industry peers as well as leading suppliers in the new exhibit hall—now part of a full convention center. (For more information on exhibiting and registered exhibitors, click here, then on the Exhibitors tab.)

Petfood Workshop: Safety First  follows on April 13-14, also at the Renaissance Schaumburg. This interactive, hands-on seminar will help you understand and prepare for the new US food safety regulations by bringing you face-to-face with experts on:

• Best practices from the human food world on dealing with the new food safety law;
• Navigating the quickly changing regulatory landscape;
• How to prepare for—and survive—an FDA inspection;
• Creating and improving a HACCP program;
• Testing and controlling for toxins and pathogens; and
• An “ask the experts” panel so you can get all your safety questions answered.

The full line-up of speakers and schedule for Petfood Workshop are available here.