Event Outline and Schedule
Registration and Continental Breakfast: 9:00-9:30am
Opening Remarks: 9:30-10:00am
First Session: 10:15 – 11:30am
Lunch and Expo: 11:30am – 12:45pm
Second Session: 1:00 – 2:15pm
Third Session: 2:30 – 4:00pm
Opening Remarks 9:30 - 10:00am
Kelly Kline, Executive Director of Redevelopment/Economic Development, City of Cupertino: Welcomes restaurateurs
David Casas, Mayor, City of Los Altos: Welcomes restaurants on behalf of the cities of Los Altos, Cupertino and Mountain View
Louise Dawson, Founder, Restaurant Bootcamp
First Session Seminars and Panel Discussions 10:15-11:30am
Customer Service Training
The number one reason why the American public eats out is because they want to be served. This seminar focuses on a training program that teaches staff to meet or exceed customer expectations through identity, mission statement, core values, sequence of service and problem solving techniques. The Instructor will touch upon the differences between customer service and hospitality, the importance of communicating expectations and to use every opportunity to teach and train employees. Attendees will create a “House Policy” that they can take away and begin to implement immediately.
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Restaurant Success By The Numbers
Ninety percent of all restaurants fail, and those that succeed happen upon mysterious X Factor, right? Wrong! A man of many hats-money-guy, restaurant owner and consultant Roger Fields shows how a restaurant can survive its first year, based on far more than luck and keep diners coming back for years to come. This seminar will be co-taught by Ron Matlin, Restaurant CPA and will outline the main points of Roger’s book “Restaurant Success By The Numbers” (available at Amazon.com). The seminar will feature real-life restaurant stories and is a comprehensive how-to that walks the attendees through the logistics of opening a restaurant, creating concept, choosing a location, designing the menu, establishing ambiance, hiring staff and most important, turning a profit. Opening a restaurant isn’t easy, but this realistic dreamer’s guide helps set the table for lasting success.
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Lunch and Expo 11:30-12:45pm
Second Session Seminars and Panel Discussions 1:00-2:15pm
Hot Legal Restaurant Topics
This panel discussion is moderated by Zach Georgopolous and Roberta Economidis, Business Attornies that specialize in the restaurant industry. This panel discussion will address the hot legal topics relevant in the industry today and will offer attendees solutions on minimizing their liability and avoiding costly law-suits. Attendees are encouraged to come prepared with questions that pertain to their restaurants and to use the opportunity to access this professional legal advice without paying costly attorney fees. Information and topics include the following:
- Managing Fraud: credit card and other
- Discussions revolving around business entities appropriate for restaurants: LLC? S Corp?
- Revamping your concept to attract investors for cash flow issues
- Lease negotiations and Landlord dispute resolutions
- And much more!
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Gift Marketing From Plastic To Profits – How To Turn A Gift Card Into A Major Marketing Tool!
Gift cards in retail is not a new topic and their sales have been growing for many years, however very few retailers understand the power of the card platform and what it can do for their businesses. Learn how to turn a gift card into Gift Marketing and increase new customer acquisition while improving spend and retention of existing customers. Chockstone powers loyalty programs and gift cards in more than 46,000 locations for merchants like SUBWAY, Domino’s Pizza, Tully’s Coffee and Ticketmaster.
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Third Session Seminars and Panel Discussions 2:30-4:00pm
Manage Your Restaurant Work Force
Moderated by employment lawyer and human resources expert Krista L. Mitzel, this seminar will cover the nuts and bolts of dealing with your employees and any issues related to them. In this session, employers will learn from legal, human resources, insurance and payroll experts how to hire and fire employees, pay them properly, enforce meal and rest periods, and ensure you are protected from lawsuits or government audits by instituting required employment policies and practices. Following the presentation, attendees will be encouraged to ask our experts questions specific to their business. A wide variety of topics will be covered by the panel including:
· Best practices for hiring and firing workers
· Sexual harassment and discrimination basics
· Meal periods, rest breaks, and overtime
· Workers’ compensation insurance compliance
· Payroll issues and requirements
· Defending yourself against a government audit
· Employment law basics including how not to get sued
Please join us for this employment overview to ensure that your business hits the ground running with a top-notch workforce.
Marketing and Social Media Panel Discussion
All marketing begins with an indepth knowledge of your customer base, their needs and their spending habits. The restaurateurs job is to create a product that fits into a target customers needs, wants, habits and budget. This panel discussion will provide unique demographic information from the participating cities that will help existing restaurants gather information regarding their customers in order to build product and value that is fact based and will take the guess work out of the equation. Other topics include in-house marketing strategies, the importance of online presence; Your website is your new signage, social media “The new advertising” and managing online presence and driving customers and revenue using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media tools. Come and learn why the phone is the new computer and learn about some of the newest phone-based marketing tools.
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