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May 2006
SHOW REPORT:
Countdown to NRA
2006
By Beth Lorenzini
There’s still time to hammer out your schedule of booth
visits and educational seminars for your NRA Show visit this
month.
Making final plans for the 87th Annual National
Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show this
month? Then it’s time to single out the suppliers and
educational sessions you need to see when the show convenes
May 20-23 at Chicago’s McCormick Place.
The best way to jump-start your planner? NRA Show Connect, a
new tool to customize your show experience. Brand new from
organizers, the NRA Show Connect trade show technology can
pair you with the people, products and information you’re
looking for on the show floor and from sessions.
The technology, developed by BDMetrics and coined You-Based
show reporting, gathers and analyzes your information to
create a personalized show planner for you. There are two
ways to participate: Click on NRA Show Connect when you
register for the NRA Show online, or take a few minutes to
input your data at a special kiosk when you arrive at
McCormick Place.
Pavilions Bring Focus
When you consider that seeing the full show means walking
six miles of aisles, you’ll appreciate the NRA’s effort to
group exhibitors into smart “pavilions” for you. Here are
several to check out:
First and
foremost, set time aside to hit the Kitchen Innovations
Pavilion
located on the main show floor in the South Hall. The 2006
Kitchen Innovations Award recipients will be there to show
their stuff in live, interactive demonstrations.
You’ll have
the chance to examine these revolutionary new products first
hand and talk to the manufacturers in person. And on Sunday
morning, you can hear a panel of some of the program’s
judges discuss their picks with FER Chief
Editor Brian Ward.
The Technology
Pavilion in the North Hall will gather cutting-edge offline
and online technology solutions providers in one area and
hosts several hospitality-technology seminars. If you want
to find a Wi-Fi Hotspot, the Tech pavilion will offer that,
too. The Cyber Café will open here again as well—that’s the
lounge with Internet access where you can relax, check
e-mail or network with vendors.
Also in the
North Hall, the EDGE Pavilion will showcase exhibitors
offering design and décor-related products and services.
We’re talking tableware and glassware, lighting, art pieces
and furniture. The EDGE Pavilion will host several related
educational sessions as well.
Saturday: Sit, Listen And Learn
More than 60 educational sessions are scheduled to run
Saturday through Tuesday. We’ve cherry-picked a few to
highlight, but do check the full slate by logging onto
www.restaurant.org and following links to the NRA Show.
Saturday morning Paul Salzinger, New Edge Network, will
moderate a panel of restaurant professionals who’ve used
broadband networks to increase revenue, cut operating
expenses and improve guest. Panelists for “Optimize
Restaurant Operations With A Broadband Network”
will include Steve Ellis, Metromedia Restaurant Group; Mike
Manley, Sbarro, and Greg Speicher, Cedar Enterprises and
Syrus Restaurant Information Systems.
Whether you’re an
independent, regional or national chain operator,
“New Restaurant Technology: Lessons Learned” is one to hit
in the afternoon of opening day.
This panel session, presented by Dave
Miller, founder of JTECH Communications, will show you how
to leverage new technology to improve operations.
Sunday:
Future Trends And Challenges
How can you ensure your restaurant design and food delivery
methods will be relevant to tomorrow’s customer? In “The
Future of Restaurant Development: Understanding Cultural And
Lifestyle Trends for 2006 & Beyond” on Sunday,
you’ll
learn about the cultural, demographic and
lifestyle considerations of restaurant design. Bob Puccini,
CEO and president of Puccini Group, a restaurant design and
development firm, will present.
Sunday afternoon you’ll have several good sessions to choose
from. In
“Creating an Environmentally Sustainable Restaurant in a
Profitable Manner,”
you’ll learn how to improve your
environmental practices in a way that also increases
employee morale, productivity, positive media exposure and
profit. Presenter Michael Oshman is the founder and
executive director of the Green Restaurant Association, an
organization dedicated to environmental sustainability in
America’s restaurant industry.
We always like to hear about up-and-coming industry trends,
and we especially like them when they’re delivered by
someone as sharp and lively as Jim Sullivan,
CEO of Sullivision Inc.
His “Megatrends: 10 Challenges Every Foodservice Operator
Will Face In 2006” will explore the 10 key
customer challenges that will impact your company during the
next 18 months. He’ll give you the low-down on key
demographic shifts, growth in take-out, and increased
competition within the industry.
Tom Costello, director of the University of San Francisco’s
Hospitality Industry Management Program and an FCSI member,
will share how he succeeds when training managers to deliver
superior service. In the session “Hats
Off to Service! Living the Values!” Costello
will examine how a values-based management focus builds and
develops a quality service program. You’ll leave with a
“values methodology” that can be applied to your service
training program tomorrow.
Monday/Tuesday: Reduce Energy, Serve Better
On Monday, sit in on “A
Comprehensive Look At Reducing Energy Expense Within The
Restaurant Environment.”
Tom
Sherman, of energy management specialist The
E Group, will explain how you can take advantage of savings
opportunities and reduce energy price increase risks by
managing natural-gas and electricity expenses. He’ll share
conservation tips for restaurants, including elements to
consider in the restaurant design.
And Tuesday afternoon,
a panel will discuss the impact college customers have on
the use of technology, facility renovation and construction,
and purchasing procedures. “Student-Driven
Trends in Campus Dining” will be moderated by
C. Dennis Pierce, University of Connecticut, and panelists
will include Gary C. Goldberg, Purdue University; Dee Hardy,
University of Richmond; Mike Matthies, Arizona State
University, and Peter Napolitano, SUNY at Cobleskill. This
session will be presented in cooperation with the National
Association of College & University Food Services.
www.restaurant.org
NRA Show Hours
Saturday, May 20 through Tuesday, May 23
Show Floor: 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Meeting Floor: 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Ask The
Design Experts
Whether
you’re expanding a current design, creating new concepts or
addressing a single challenge, consultants from the
Foodservice Consultants Society Int’l. can help. Stop by
Booth 1083, where consultants will be available for free
30-minute sessions by appointment or walk-in Saturday
through Monday, and by appointment only Tuesday.
These
firms will be available for consultation:
Saturday, May 20
·
Proteus
Group (front-of-house)
·
King-Casey (front-of-house)
·
Theodore
Barber and Co. (back-of-house)
·
JEM
Associates (back-of-house)
·
Cini-Little
Int’l. (back-of-house)
·
Romano/Gatland
(back-of-house)
Sunday, May 21
·
DAS
Architects (front-of-house)
·
Carl Ross
Design (front-of-house)
·
Robert
Rippe and Associates (back-of-house)
·
MVP
Services Group (back-of-house)
·
Kamau
Sage & Associates (back-of-house)
·
Ricca
Newmark Design (back-of-house)
Monday, May 22
·
Domus
Design (front-of-house)
·
D-Ash
Designs (front-of-house)
·
Landmark
Design (back-of-house)
·
Camacho
Associates (back-of-house)
·
Perspectives/The Consulting Group (back-of-house)
·
Stewart
Design Associates (back-of-house)
Tuesday, May 23
·
Dynamic
Designs Interiors (front-of-house)
·
Organize
By Design (front-of-house)
·
The
Bigelow Cos. (back-of-house)
·
The
Marshall Associates (back-of-house)
·
Mackesey
and Associates (back-of-house)
·
Systems
Planning (back-of-house)
Visit The
2006 Kitchen Innovations Pavilion
Make time
to visit the Kitchen Innovations Pavilion, which this year
will feature 17 innovative products. All products will be
accessible for interactive demonstrations and special
showings throughout the four-day NSRA Show at McCormick
Place.
This
year’s KI award recipients are:
●
A.
J.Antunes & Co., Total Assurance Package water filtration
system
●
Beverage-
Air/Carrier, Miracool Series Cooler
●
Cleveland
Range/Enodis, Convotherm Combi Oven Steamer
●
Cooper-Atkins Corp., Coolit-Rite TTM41
●
Electrolux Professional North America, air-o-speed combi-microwave
oven
●
Electrolyzer Corp., ElectroCide System for water sanitizing
●
Fri-
Jado,The Multisserie
●
Green-Line Products, Sur-Seal Lid System based on special
shrink film
●
H&K
Dallas, Safe- T- Shroud for cold-rail applications
●
Lincoln/Enodis,
CCP 2116 IR Conveyor Toaster
●
MooBella,
MooBella Ice Cream System
●
Nu- Vu/Middleby,
Rhapsody ComboBake
●
Perfect
Fry Co., PFA RapidFry
●
Rational
USA, Rational Banqueting System
●
Sani-
Floor, Self- Washing Floor System
●
Structural Concepts Corp., Clean Sweep
●
TEC
Infra-Red Cooking Systems, Searmaster II Infra-Red
Charbroiler
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