Operators gather for fifth annual OnSite Restaurants Summit

Nation's Restaurant News,  Dec 20, 2004  

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LONG BEACH, CALIF. -- More than 30 on-site operators shared ideas and sampled products at the fifth annual OnSite Restaurants Summit here. This year's theme was "Cost and Effect: Stretching Your Budget in Today's Economy." Attendees at the conference, which was held at the Long Beach Hilton hotel, heard presentations on leadership from Kathleen Wood of the Elliot Leadership Institute and on customer service from consultant and trainer Jim Sullivan. Attendees also swapped revenue-enhancing and cost-cutting ideas in the areas of menu, design, promotions and labor and tasted new products from summit sponsors EQUAL, Pierce Chicken, J. R. Simplot and Sweet Street Desserts. The two-and-a-half-day seminar included a tour of the foodservice facilities at the Home Depot Center sports complex and a dinner at the Yard House restaurant.

Above: Lenny Condenzio, principal for Ricca Newmark Design, leads the Designs That Dazzle roundtable discussion.

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Left: John Peukert, assistant superintendent, business operations, for the San Bernardino Unified School District, moderated the People, Products and Productivity breakout session.

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Left: Kevin Riddle, national accounts director for Sweet Street Desserts, talks with attendees about new dessert products for on-site operators.

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Below, from left: Kerry Isaacson, Doug Wickman and Gary Namm, all from Pierce Chicken, serve up some of the items they had prepared for attendees at the summit.

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Below: Mary Niven, vice president of food and beverage for Disneyland Resort, keeps track of operators' ideas during the Tasty Tips menu roundtable.

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Right, from left: Sarah Babb, EQUAL; Dean Wright, Brigham Young University; and Stan Walker, Rush Medical Center, get ready to taste EQUAL's Thai spring rolls for which Walker developed the recipe.

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Above: Charlie Souhrada, director of member services for NAFEM, attended the summit to learn more about on-site foodservice but got the chance to make a few points of his own.

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Left: Paul King, NRN's senior editor for on-site foodservice, moderated the sponsors' panel on product innovation.

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Above, from left: Amy Rovig, Tom Clark and Annette Magie, all from summit sponsor J.R. Simplot, at the opening reception

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Left, from left: University foodservice operators Brian Klippel, University of California at San Diego; Mary Molt, Kansas State University; and Shawn LePean, University of California at Berkeley, catch up at the summit's opening reception.

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Below: Jerry White, associate publisher for sales development at NRN and chairman of the OnSite Summit, poses with the logo for this year's summit.

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Left: Malcolm Scott, director of food and beverage for Vail Resorts, shares some thoughts during a roundtable session.

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Right: Alan Kahn of J.R. Simplot introduces attendees to Simplot's new variation of baked French fries.

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