Dairy Queen’s EVP of marketing is just one of the many c-level executives sharing his business strategies March 29-31, 2016, at the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit, a new event targeted to franchising and technology executives in the restaurant space.
Early bird registration for the event ends Friday, December 18.
The goal of the summit, produced by Networld Media Group, is to help franchisors be more progressive in many areas of their businesses to attract both investors and customers, particularly digital-natives and millennials.
“We are so excited to have DQ’s Barry Westrum as our closing keynote,” said Cherryh Cansler, managing editor of Networld’s foodservice and retail publications, including FastCasual.com, QSRweb.com and PizzaMarketplace.com. “I know attendees will learn a lot from him as he discusses his experiences with innovating a 75-year-old brand to resonate with a new generation of younger consumers.”
Specifically, Westrum will share how DQ has driven sales growth to outpace the industry with best practices and case studies behind its recent new “Fan Food, Not Fast Food” marketing campaign and new product launches such as DQ Bakes! and $5 Buck Lunch.
Andrew Gruel, CEO and founder of Slapfish Restaurant Group, and co-host of a FYI’s “Say It To My Face,” will provide the opening keynote.
Other speakers confirmed thus far include:
● Connie E. Alires, Dir. of Franchise Development, Which Wich
● Laura Rea Dickey, CIO, Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants
● Paul Hicks, SVP, Operation Services & New Concept Development, Corner Bakery Cafe
● Carl Howard, President & CEO, Fazoli’s
● Jeff Jackson, Co-founder & President, Billy Sims BBQ
● Tony Lamb, Founder, Kona Ice
● Tim Mullany, CFO, Pie Five Pizza Co.
● Stacy Peterson, CIO, Wingstop
● James Walker, President of Operations & Development, Johnny Rockets
“This summit will help franchisees and franchisors work together to drive product, enhance customer-experience innovation, improve new franchise development and become early adopters of new systems, equipment and technologies designed for today’s business success,” Cansler said.
ABOUT NETWORLD MEDIA GROUP
Founded in 2000, Networld Media Group is a leading business-to-business (B2B) media communications company specializing in digital media, associations and events in the mobile, self-service, digital signage, retail, food service and financial services industries. Online properties include ATMmarketplace.com, DigitalSignageToday.com, FastCasual.com, PizzaMarketplace.com, KioskMarketplace.com, MobilePaymentsToday.com, VirtualCurrencyToday.com, QSRweb.com, RetailCustomerExperience.com and ChurchCentral.com. Networld’s event properties include the Fast Casual Executive Summit, CONNECT Mobile Innovation Summit, Interactive Customer Experience (ICX) Summit, ATM & Mobile Innovation Summit and the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit. Networld also operates the ICX Association.
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