March 8, 2013
CEO Newsletter
Te3am,
Last week we talked about delivering the Centerplate Way. We have to take every opportunity to bring the Centerplate Way difference to life in powerful and meaningful ways. I recently read with disbelief a claim by Ovations that they have the best operations, use the freshest products and possess the most experience. Really?
I also recently received a copy of the plan that Ovations and Global Spectrum are apparently using to try and take away the Miami Beach Convention Center contract. It misrepresents the facts of our performance at the venue. The document starts off with their claim of being the most respected company in the industry with near perfect renewal rates. First, I and most others would argue that they don’t even possess the qualifications necessary to bid on the majority of the marquee accounts. Second, this year alone Ovations lost their bid to retain their largest convention center account, the Nashville Convention Center, to none other than Centerplate.
While we know their claims to be absurd and over the top, we cannot take for granted that the “buying public” will always see through their ruse. Given the competition’s past track record, this threat cannot be taken lightly. With each new bid we can expect to see false claims being made about Centerplate. We will refute every false claim by presenting the facts in the clear and transparent Results and not Rhetoric fashion for which we are known. Measuring our competition on actual facts means we are measured the same way – and we measure up by universally delivering the Centerplate Way each and every day.
Let’s dispense with the rhetoric and review the facts:
|
Centerplate
|
Ovations
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Top 10 Convention Centers |
6
|
|
| Top 20 Convention Centers |
11
|
|
| Presidential Inaugural Balls |
30
|
|
| Super Bowls |
14
|
|
| World Series Games |
21
|
|
| Belmont Stakes |
17
|
|
| World Cups |
8
|
|
| BCS Games |
54
|
|
| NCAA Final Four |
7
|
|
| Olympics |
1
|
|
| Marquee Venue Wins (in last 2 years) |
58%
|
0%
|
I’m a big believer of letting the facts speak for themselves and would typically do so. However, their actions have serious consequences and if left unchecked can harm our future prosperity. We have worked tirelessly and invested millions of dollars in the process to attain our record. Moving forward we will be holding companies who make false claims about Centerplate accountable for their misrepresentation.
Another real time comparison was delivered with yesterday’s good news that Centerplate has been awarded the Yakima Convention Center in Washington State. The previous operator was a local company and our competition in bidding on the account was Ovations. Yakima is a regional convention center that handles off-premise catering as well and we will begin operations there on May 1st. Congratulations to Adrian Dishington, Bill Donovan, Virginia Elkins, Dawn Frey, Marsha Graber, Scott Middleton, Kay Towner, Gary Wattie, Dennis Walczak and all involved in making it happen!
E3 moments of the week …
The Niagara Entrepreneur Awards Gala, a high profile event attended by 600 influential local politicians, community and business leaders, was recently held at the Scotiabank Convention Centre to rave reviews. Our building client was so pleased, “The event isn’t even over and our client is raving about the food and service. Chef and culinary brigade as well as wait staff and bartenders did an outstanding job. Please pass on a huge thank you to your team!” New business was also booked during the event with this compliment from the building sales manager, “Please extend our gratitude to your staff. My client is booking a gala dinner and lunches every day for his 5 day conference. He raved about the meal and the service.” Job well done to David Berggren, Dan Brown, Dave Cicciarelli, Chef Shaun Goswell, James Noell, Michael O’Doherty, Jonathan Philippe, Lori Pybus, Derek Spear, Megan Steele and our entire team in Niagara Falls!
At Whiteface Mountain our ski rental shop manager, Nathan Hofrichter, came to the assistance of a very grateful 76-year old skier who sent this email, “I had to come off the slopes because the boots were causing me considerable pain. I tried on two other boots with no better results. I was almost ready to give up skiing permanently but Nathan came to my rescue. He found a different make of boot that worked beautifully. He probably extended my ski career for 5 years!” Kudos to Nathan for outstanding customer service!
I just received a great note from our DC United client at RFK Stadium, “Centerplate continues to be a great partner. Bobby has been tremendous in helping us grow our season ticket base and is always supportive of working collaboratively together. Having been through various concessionaires here over the years, I want to say I am very appreciative to be working with this current group you have on the ground here.” This is what we want to hear from all of our clients. Great job by Bobby Dichiaro, Damian Beckett, Stevy Brown, Ronique Cooper, Rob Maidment, Adam Martin, Herbert Roulhac and our team at RFK!
Centerplate is a company that delivers Results and Not Rhetoric. I salute you all for making us the best in Event Hospitality and ask that if you hear of any pretenders out there making false claims you contact me directly. All we have is our integrity and we must never waver from standing tall and delivering the truth.
Onwards!
