Last year at Catersource Vegas I received a text from one of my staff members who said that I must come over to the session she was watching and listen to a presentation by ICA about "three answers to one question." Boom, I was there and what a session it was.
Bill Hansen, second from right, is a perennial networker and all around great guy. Here, he speaks with Catersource attendees, and another all around great guy, Jack Milan at CSES2016.
The three caterers on the panel answered the same question from the perspective of a small caterer, a mid-sized caterer, and a large caterer. There were no fuzzy platitudes nor far out theories, just rock solid information that any caterer in the audience could take back home and implement immediately, no matter what the size of their company.
Based upon the overwhelming success of this presentation and great reviews, this year I have been asked to create three new sessions with three different caterers on the three panels for Catersource 2017 in New Orleans. One small, one mid-size, and one large. That will be a total of nine caterers who will answer questions about issues that are common to all of us. By the way, each panel will answer different questions. There will be no right or wrong answers, but attendees will find the “right” answer for their situation. I will be the panel moderator.
Topics will include answers to questions in all areas:
• Learn How to be a Better Leader and Manager
• How to Protect Ourselves with Better Contracts
• What’s Hot and What’s Not in Menus
• Ways to Upgrade Your Beverages
• What is New in Catering Equipment
• 6 Sigma Tips for Operations—Improve Your Efficiency
• Ways to Improve and Motivate your Human Capital
• Service Tips that Create WOWs
• Sales Techniques to Help You Book It so You Can Cook It
• Pricing for Profit—The Art and Science of Pricing
• Making Money from Event Production
• Purchasing for Profit
• Add 5% or More Profit to Your Bottom Line
Whether you are a newbie, a veteran or anywhere in between, you will be guaranteed to go home with the “right” answers to your questions.
Here are two things I would ask you to do:
1.) I welcome questions that I can present to the panel members. The only bad questions are those you don’t ask. All questions will be anonymous.
2.) If you would like to participate on the panel, please email me.
Either way you can contact me at [email protected].
Bill’s parting shot
As I enter my 53rd year in catering and hospitality you might wonder why I’m so passionate about learning. After all these years, I should know it all, right? It’s the opposite. The more I know, the more I don’t know. I tell myself, my college students, and my catering colleagues: if you’re not growing, you are dying. Learning keeps me young and passionate about this great profession of which we are all playing to win. And think about this: One Good Idea Can Turn Chump Change into Millions of Dollars.
Send me your questions and I promise that the panel members will give you some great answers in New Orleans.
