National Restaurant Association® President & CEO Dawn Sweeney Leads the Industry Conversation about staying “Ahead of the Crave” with Signature ’17 at NRA Show® 2017
Amazon’s Dan Park and Generation Z expert Jason Dorsey join NRA Show 2017’s high-profile roster of experts offering insight to attendees
Chicago – May 8, 2017 – The National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show®’s Signature 17, a twist on the traditional keynote, welcomes President and CEO of the National Restaurant Association Dawn Sweeney to facilitate discussions on staying “Ahead of the Crave” with business leaders Amazon’s Dan Park and Gen Z / Millennial expert Jason Dorsey. These authorities offer their unique perspectives and knowledge to attendees and join an already stellar roster of experts at NRA Show 2017.
The theme of this year’s Signature – “Ahead of the Crave” – looks at ways to better prepare for today’s empowered consumer and business customers and take a more proactive approach to their changing needs and behaviors.
“We are excited for Dan Park and Jason Dorsey to share their knowledge with Dawn Sweeney on the Signature 17 stage,” says Atour Eyvazian, Convention Chair for NRA Show 2017 and multiunit owner of 122 total restaurants between 2 brands (Jack in the Box and El Pollo Locos).
“Signature attendees will leave with bold ideas, key insights and real actions that they can take to their own businesses to benefit them and their customers.”
With Amazon’s Dan Park, Sweeney will discuss how Amazon gets “Ahead of the Crave” utilizing their culture of innovation and deep customer knowledge, which is impacting the business ecosystem. The conversation will challenge attendees to stretch their thinking about reimagining restaurant business to anticipate customer needs and deliver products and services going beyond expectations. Amazon Business is evolving front- and back-of-house operations in physical, digital, and interactive ways. Working within Amazon’s Commercial Vertical, Park knows how business purchasing and selling landscapes must adapt to meet customer demands. Park and Sweeney take the stage on May 21, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.
Following Park, Sweeney and acclaimed speaker Jason Dorsey, co-founder and chief strategy officer for The Center for Generational Kinetics® will focus their conversation on the Gen Z and Millennial customer. The conversation will focus specifically on: how to reach them, connect with them, engage them, and acquire them as customers. Following Signature ’17, Dorsey will hold an additional breakout session on workforce development – how to attract, retain, and work with Gen Z and Millennial employees.
In addition to Signature ’17, NRA Show 2017 features a bevy of opportunities for attendees to learn from industry experts, including: 2017 James Beard Foundation Award Winner Rick Bayless at World Culinary Showcase; Menu Expert Nancy Kruse; Chicago Cubs Executive Chairman Tom Ricketts and ESPN Radio’s Mike Greenberg’s Supersession “Defying the Curse”; and at BAR ’17, World’s Best Bartender Charles Joly, Keynote Speaker and Host of Spike TV’s Bar Rescue Jon Taffer, and BAR Featured Speaker Patrick Henry.
The NRA Show runs May 20-23 at Chicago’s McCormick Place. For more information about NRA Show, please visit https://show.restaurant.org/Home. To register for NRA Show 2017, visit https://show.restaurant.org/Attend/Registration.
The National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show®, the largest annual gathering of foodservice professionals in the United States, returns to McCormick Place in Chicago from May 20-23, 2017. Also back this year is BAR ’17, the only beverage-alcohol event exclusively focused on the restaurant and hospitality industries. BAR 17 is co-located with NRA Show® and runs from May 21-22, 2017. Both events showcase the latest products, services, trends, innovation, education and best practices and combine to attract 67,000+ attendees and visitors from all 50 states and 100+ countries. For more information, visit NRA Show and BAR websites at Restaurant.org/Show and Restaurant.org/BAR. Or check us out on Twitter @NRA Show, @BAR17; Facebook @NationalRestaurantAssociationShow, @barshowchicago; and Instagram @NRA Show, @barshowchicago.
Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises 1 million restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of more than 14 million employees. We represent the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocate on its behalf. We operate the industry’s largest trade show (NRA Show May 20-23, 2017, in Chicago); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF’s ProStart). For more information, visit Restaurant.org and find us on Twitter @WeRRestaurants, Facebook and YouTube.
SOURCE: National Restaurant Association