Why should YOU go to RIS 2014?

On October 27 I am heading to Atlanta for the second annual Restaurant Innovation Summit. The summer is hosted by the National Restaurant Association and has lots of great sponsors. I've been lucky to be involved with the advisory committee for the summit through our director of operation's affiliation with the National Restaurant Association board.  This is a great opportunity for me to network with some of the professionals at the National Restaurant Association, along with fellow marketing and IT professionals in restaurant companies around the country.

If you're a restaurant professional why should YOU go? The best reason is the networking. This is the best place for a restaurant professional involved in marketing or information-technology to be able to network with like-minded professionals in the country. Representatives from brands such as Dunkin' Donuts, Wendy's, White Castle, and several other international brands along with a lot of regional brands will be in attendance.  As someone from a small regional company, it puts me in touch with companies that are way ahead of what we are able to do. It also allows me to build a sounding board of people to get ideas and feedback from.

For me the second reason that I'm going to this conference is the education.  The goal of the conference is to educate hospitality professionals about emerging trends and recent innovation and technology. As a one-man IT staff, this really helps me keep abreast of technologies that our company should be looking at in pursuing. The biggest technology right now that I believe industries looking at is mobile payments, and a good portion of this conference will be focused on mobile payments in the restaurant industry.

Another reason why I'm going is just the opportunity to get out of the office and see restaurants in a different area of the country. Last year the conference was in Denver, and it was really cool to be able to see some of the restaurant concepts in that area and what they're doing and get ideas from them. It's no secret in this industry that when you see a good idea another companies doing you copy it. I'm excited to go to Atlanta this year and be able to visit different concepts in the area see what you're doing and get some ideas that I can bring back.

If you are interested in attending the 2014 Restaurant Innovation Summit, click here for more information: http://www.restaurant.org/Events-Networking/Events/Restaurant_Innovation_Summit/Overview