Agenda

9:30 am | Breakout Session

Why Your Loyalty Marketing isn’t Paying Off

You’ve heard it over and over – “Retaining customers is more cost-effective than gaining new ones.” In fact, every dollar invested in customer retention goes 7X as far as a dollar invested in acquiring new customers, according to the Harvard Business Review. That should be enough to grab your attention, but at the end of the day, many brands are still stuck using outdated programs with negative or untraceable ROI.

This session will not only uncover those failures, but it will also teach you about building a customer retention and loyalty program that drives real revenue.

Panelists:
• Nicolas Bernadi | Partner and Board member | La Boulangerie
• James Park | CEO | Garbanzo Fresh Mediterranean
• Steve Schulze | Co-Founder & CEO | Nékter Juice Bar

Moderator:
• Zach Goldstein | Founder & CEO | Thanx

9:30 am | Breakout Session

Predicting Global Menu Trends

As 2017 winds down, it’s time to start planning 2018 menu offerings. Both researchers and chefs will give you their predictions when it comes to the coming year’s top flavors and menu offerings.

Panelists:
• Jason Dowd | Executive Chef | Moe’s Southwest Grill
• Aaron Noveshen | Founder & CEO | The Culinary Edge
• Biju Thomas | Owner/Founder | Biju’s Little Curry Shop

Moderator:
• Rob Pellicano | Sr. Director of Marketing | Custom Culinary Inc.

11:00 am | Breakout Session

Creating the Ultimate Workforce

While the restaurant industry employs more than 14 million people, the competition for finding and retaining the best of the best never ends. Hear from three executives who have mastered the art of finding, training and retaining talent.

Panelists:
• Steve Erickson | President | PDQ Restaurants
• David Littlefield | Director of Hospitality and Training | Billy Sims BBQ
• Andrei Stern | Co-Owner | SuViche

11:00 am | Breakout Session

The Many Faces of Mobile Payments

Though mobile payment isn’t a new concept, adoption continues to increase as customers become more and more comfortable with the technology. Restaurants that haven’t jumped on the payments bandwagon can still find a seat, but should understand that the technology is always changing.

In fact, some restaurateurs have taken a step back from the flashier near field communication technology and have adopted QR codes to reach consumers on more devices. Restaurants are also adding more value-added services, including order ahead to help consumers feel more comfortable using their smartphones for payment.

Panelists:
• Jerry Gamez | Partner & EVP, Chief Development Officer | Consumer Investment Partners AG
• Sean Kennedy | President | Cowboy Chicken

Moderator:
• Theresa Dold | VP, Agency Strategy | LevelUp

12:45 pm | Breakout Session

How to Use Design Elements to Increase Your Profits

While most designers understand how colors and design elements affect people’s perceptions, many restaurateurs are missing out on how they can use them to enhance the customer experience and inspire them to spend more money. This session will remedy that by diving into an Essity-commissioned study that used brainwave technology to measure diners’ reactions to various hues while they ate and drank.

The bottom line of the study? Color is critical to customer experience since it has a notable and predictable impact on their moods and emotions.

Attendees will learn about the color results and also hear from design experts who will discuss how restaurant operators can use other design elements to please customers.

Panelists:
• Tom Cook | Principal | King-Casey
• Terry Haley | Chief Growth Officer | Hopdoddy Burger Bar
• Kellie Sirna | Co-founder and Principal | Studio 11 Design

Moderator:
• Tracey Fullington | National Account Manager | Essity

12:45 pm | Breakout Session

Top Questions to Ask Before you Grow

Building a new unit or adding a new franchisee is an exciting way to increase your profits, but it’s also a huge risk. This session will help ease those sleepless nights by giving you a variety of questions to ask yourself before taking the plunge. Framing the discussion around your soon-to-be next location, our experts will discuss how to know which part of town suits your concept, how to attract new customers, which dayparts to focus on and how to avoid cannibalization.

Panelists:
• Jeff Baldwin | VP of Franchising and Development | Donatos Pizza
• Berge Simonian | CEO | Salata
• Jeff Sturgis | VP, Franchise Development | McAlister’s Deli
• Jim Thompson | VP of Operations | Chicken Salad Chick

Moderator
• Stephen Polanski | Senior Vice President | Buxton

4:15 pm | Breakout Session

4 Ways the Cloud Can Take You Higher

While many brands are still scrambling to figure out the cloud, others are using it to help differentiate them from competitors in four areas: customer loyalty, inventory management, speed of service and business decisions. The execs on this panel will clear up any confusion over the technology and will also discuss why they’ve embraced the cloud, the pitfalls they wished they’d avoided when adopting it and the steps they took to get there.

Panelists:
• David Baer | COO | Firenza
• Laura Rea Dickey | CEO | Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants

Moderator:
• Paul Rubin | Chief Strategy Officer | PAR

4:15 pm | Breakout Session

How Safe and Transparent is Your Food-sourcing Process?

Brands that are transparent about where and how they source their food will have the most loyal customers, according to a recent study. That’s easier said than done, however, considering most brands work with a variety of food vendors all over the country. This panel will discuss what’s driving the trend of increased transparency and how restaurateurs can meet customer needs without losing money.

Panelists:
• Linda Appel Lipsius | Co-Founder and CEO | Teatulia
• Josh Morgan | Operating Partner | Melt Shop
• Chad Newton | Culinary Director | Asian Box

Moderator:
• Doug Sutton | President, U.S. Brand Standards | Steritech

10:00 am | Breakout Session

Debate: To Franchise or Not?

When it comes to growing a business, franchising is often the quickest way to scale, but is it the best option for all brands? Two experts, one who franchises and one who doesn’t, will debate the pros and cons of both options.

Panelists:
• Michael Lastoria | Co-Founder, CEO and Creative Director | &pizza
• Jim Mizes | CEO & President | Blaze Pizza

10:00 am | Breakout Session

Giving Franchisees the Power of Customization without Diluting Your Brand

We live in a real-time world, which means restaurant chains not only must be flexible with menu offerings, they need to market those changes quickly and effectively.

This session will help attendees understand how to customize and localize corporate marketing messages without straying too far from the brand’s core message. Experts will also discuss how each unit can strike the right balance between incorporating the local flavor without compromising the company’s overall decor, look and feel.

Panelists:
• Scott Ford | President | Goodcents Franchise Systems
• Patrick Renna | Chief Financial Officer | Wahlburgers
• Ryan Smolkin | Founder & CEO | Smoke’s Poutinerie Inc.

Moderator:
• Melissa Marquis | VP of Business Development | GFX International

11:15 am | Breakout Session

Social Media: What is the value of a 5-star rating?

When it comes to social media, what sites should you monitor? What is the impact to your business when customers post negative comments? How can you recover them and keep them coming back? What do best in class restaurant organizations do to earn 5-star ratings?

Panelists:
• Melissa Gallagher | VP Marketing | Freshii
• Jae Kim | Founder | Chi’Lantro

Moderator:
• Brad Christian | Managing Director | Market Force Information

11:15 am | Breakout Session

Diving into Customer Data

Recent research from Winterberry Group found that guest data plays a key role in the way that successful restaurants handle the day-to-day challenges of running their business, such as increased competition, declining guest loyalty and gauging the overall effectiveness of marketing efforts.

While it’s no secret that actionable data insights are a proven trade secret to success, many brands still don’t understand how to apply those insights. This session will explore how to use the data to learn about customer preferences, attitudes, lifestyles and buying patterns, which should ultimately dictate how operators approach their marketing initiatives.

Panelists:
• Donna Josephson | CMO | Fazoli’s
• Stewart Slocum | CMO | Newk’s Eatery
• Patrick Sugrue | CEO | Saladworks

Moderator:
• Paula Carren | VP of Account Management | Fishbowl

1:00 pm | Breakout Session

Ask a Millennial

Millennials will spend more than $200 billion annually starting in 2017, and $10 trillion in their lifetimes, so they should be a top target of all restaurants. Instead of imploring a bunch of “experts” on the habits of consumers born between 1977 and 2000, this panel will actually explore their thoughts and opinions by interviewing them on stage.

Moderator:
• Jeff Grossman | VP of Global Pre-Sales | Oracle Hospitality

1:00 pm | Breakout Session

Meeting the Demand for Delivery

Driven by greater demand for convenience in food service, delivery is becoming a go-to channel for consumers in developed markets. Global chains are pioneering a global standard for successful delivery formats, stretching the bounds of what foodservice operators can provide in terms of convenience to consumers.

Delivery has evolved beyond dropping a pizza off at a customer’s home, however. It now includes delivering mobile and digital orders to in-store customers . This session will teach foodservice operators about innovative ways to use technology to improve all delivery service.

Panelists:
• Jenelle Brown | VP, Operations, Training & Human Resources | Uncle Maddio’s Pizza
• Stephen Dutton | Consumer Foodservice Associate | Euromonitor International
• Kevin Lee | CEO | Sushiyaa

Moderator:
• Kent Savage | Founder & CEO | Apex Supply Chain Technologies

2:15 pm | Breakout Session

Chef Talk: Industry Innovators Reveal How to Cook Up Competitive Menus

Creative and high-quality menu items are the top things separating fast casuals from their fast food competitors. Predicting trends, however, instead of simply jumping on the band wagon is a fine art.

This session brings together several chefs who understand their customers and what offerings they’ll embrace, whether its matcha-covered grasshopper pizza or a new form of “bubbles” in their tea.

The experts will also share their strategies on how to develop, source and market menu items in a profitable and creative fashion.

Panelists:
• William Eudy | Executive Chef | McAlister’s Deli
• Brad Kent | Executive Chef | Blaze Pizza
• Pat Peterson | Executive Chef, Beefsteak | Think Food Group

Moderator:
• Jason Herron | Director of Marketing | Simmons Foods

2:15 pm | Breakout Session

Innovative or Crazy? How to Know When You Have a Winning Idea

All brands want to be innovative, but how do you know when your idea is innovative or too crazy to work? How do you know, for example, if you will be the next Dollar Shave Club or New Coke? This session brings together executives who will share their successes and failures when it comes to innovation.

Panelists:
• Scott Davis | President | CoreLife Eatery
• Keith Hill | Co-Founder | I Love Bacon
• Prakash Karamchandani | Co-Founder & CEO | Balance Grille

Moderator:
• Jim Steinberg | SVP of Enterprise Partnerships | LoyaltyPlant