What a fantastic time we had at the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association Marketing + Operations Summit in Tampa on August 13th & 14th. This is our big annual conference where restaurant owners and operators come together with hoteliers to learn about industry trends and best practices for marketing & operating our restaurants. We are always learning new ways to deliver the best possible guest experience. Plus… someone at FRLA thought it would be a good idea to ask me to emcee the entire two-day event… I had a BLAST!
We had a mini-posse accompanying Amanda and me! Managing Partners Tim and Greg tagged along to represent the Operations crew and our Marketing Team Nicole, Kendall, and Eleni joined as well.
Amanda was a panelist on the Serving Philanthropy panel sharing our philanthropic mission, with stories about Dive Into Reading and all of our other work for education in our community. I was also asked to be a panelist on the When Disaster Strikes panel…not quite as fun as Amanda’s but certainly an informative session. We were joined by Paul Schreiner, partner of Texas Road House, Anne Rollings, Corporate Office Manager, Government & Community Relations Liaison of Gecko’s Hospitality Group, Sheldon Suga, VP Regional Managing Director of Hawks Cay Resort, Cari Trimyer, Sr. Director of Marketing of First Watch Restaurants, Eric Waltz, General Manager of The Sandpearl Resort, and more.
We also had the opportunity to hear from some amazing keynote speakers in Florida like Steve Robertson, Former Chick-Fil-A CMO and author of Covert Cows and Chick-Fil-A: How Faith, Cows, and Chicken Built an Iconic Brand…Fred LeFranc, Chaos Strategist… Nikki Stone, 1998 Olympic Gold Medalist… and last but not least, Don Yaeger, Business Leadership Coach.
Don Yaeger was the closing keynote speaker. He told an awesome story on David Ross and how important it is to be a good teammate. Towards the end of his speech, he honored a few industry leaders in the audience, including our very own Tim!
Tim is nothing short of a GREAT teammate… from his dedication to Dive Into Reading to his daily positive energy, our AMOB family is so grateful for him. I think he was a little embarrassed when he had to stand in front of a crowd of 500+ people…but I wouldn’t be John Horne if I didn’t love every second of his red face!
Another great event produced by our friends at Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association who work so hard to make Florida’s hospitality industry the best. Thank you FRLA for having us and see you again next year!
