Brain Exchange

One of the highlights of the Summit is this deeply interactive session where you’ll work with others at your table to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing restaurant operators today. These informal group discussions allow attendees to learn from one another’s mistakes and successes. Come prepared to learn and to share!

Topics for this year’s Brain Exchange tables are listed below…

BUSINESS DINERS – How to do Big Business with Big Business

Large companies and small businesses spend more than $60 billion in U.S. restaurants each year. In fact, two-thirds of business meals are purchased outside an employee’s home market. However, the business diner comes in a variety of forms such as: a traveling road warrior who needs breakfast, lunch and dinner, a corporate meeting event planner arranging for private group dinners, an administrative assistant catering weekly in-office meals, or a sales executive taking clients out for an important business meal. Business diners are the ideal customer. They primarily visit mid-week, order high-margin menu items and spend 25-100% more than the average consumer ticket. They use their company credit card and get reimbursed for these necessary expenses. Find out how you can cash in on this lucrative guest.

Facilitator:
• Vic Macchio | CEO | Dinova

DIGITAL – Customer Acquisition in the Digital Age

Online searches for “restaurants near me” have more than doubled in the past 12 months, yet few restaurant brands are pivoting meaningfully to keep pace with their digital customers. A robust digital presence in your local markets can not only provide an incredible experience for customers, but also measurably make the doors swing and cash registers ring.

Facilitator:
• Justin Mink | Senior Vice President of Sales | Scorpion

MOBILE – Conquering Mobile Marketing

The great majority of your brands impressions come from social networking apps, map applications and review sites. In all, 90 percent of time on mobile is spent on apps. While some mobile engagement occurs on your website and your social media brand pages, the great majority of mobile interactions actually happen through the Google, Facebook, Apple and Yelp pages that represent your individual restaurants. These local pages not only account for the majority of your brands impressions but have been seen as 10x more engaging than a brand’s corporate page. Managing all of these pages across all of these networks is a logistical challenge but doing so gives you a huge competitive advantage. Learn how each one of your restaurants have a marketing advantage and why these are your most important online assets.

Facilitator:
• Emily Aronowitz | Sr. Account Executive | MomentFeed

RECRUITING – What Message Does Your Career Page Convey to Applicants?

If you went to your own career page today, would you be enticed to apply? That’s the question you need to ask yourself. A successful career page has videos, photos, and success stories. As an active job seeker, you want to be able to identify with the brand and culture of a company.

Facilitator:
• Matt Videtich | Regional Director | talentReef

MAXIMIZING ASSETS – How to Maximize Your Biggest Assets – The Physical Location and Staff

Are your restaurants slow in mid-afternoon when you are paying for staff and expensive real estate? Are your restaurants not at capacity even during your peak hours? You may have tried specials, marketing and loyalty programs, but with marginal results. Come join our discussion to learn how brands, big and small, are getting guests to come in 3x more often and making them 5x more profitable without any increased operational burden

Facilitator:
• Marcelo Vieira | CEO | TasteBud

POS SYSTEMS – How to Make Your POS System’s Customer Data Work For You

How to Make Your POS System’s Customer Data Work For You
46% of restaurateurs look at their business reports and metrics every day (source). Heck, some POS systems even send a nightly email summarizing their sales, customers, and labor costs per location and overall. However, what percentage of restaurant owners actually use that data to make valuable decisions? Let’s reclaim “customer data” – it’s not a buzzword, it’s an actual strategy. Join us to chat about new, creative ways to apply customer data – in your loyalty programs, menu engineering efforts, staffing decisions, and more.

Facilitator:
• Sarah Kabakoff | Solutions Architect | Toast

COMMUNICATION – Breaking Down Silos

Every segment of your organization faces challenges delivering their critical communications. Often, every department has their vendors, initiatives for an app, or an RFP out. Why, with everyone having the same the end goal (enhancing brand awareness, increasing revenues, improving efficiencies, reducing costs, eliminating turnover, and driving franchise success) does it seem so complicated to move in the same direction? Let’s examine the importance of an enterprise-wide content ecosystem and how today’s technology makes it easier than ever to achieve success. Brand control, Digital delivery, and program visibility are everyone’s goals, so work together.

Facilitators:
• Terry Jarvis | VP of Sales | ViaTech
• Stephen Stewart | VP of Marketing | ViaTech

BEVERAGE TRENDS – How Are You Staying Relevant?

Many factors influence what customers are drinking. Sugary carbonated beverage consumption is at a 30 year low due to calorie and sugar content concerns, government regulations, and childhood obesity awareness. How do you stay ahead of beverage trends and effectively address operational capabilities, equipment needs, training, food safety, and technology? Together, we’ll discuss new, trending beverages and classify them as Fad or Here to Stay. We’ll then dive into the challenges and solutions for incorporating new beverages into your operation.

Facilitator:
• Scott Race | Director of National Accounts | The Wilbur Curtis Company