June 7, 2013
CEO Newsletter
Since 2009 I have been sending out weekly updates. I hope you agree that we have covered a lot of topics, faced a lot of challenges, stared down a lot of threats and ultimately achieved a lot of great things together and had a lot of fun doing it. That all said our best days are still ahead.
From the very first weekly update I wrote that we will win by being a client centric, guest focused organization which is supported by great operations, culinary capabilities, service and products. All of these are important but without a solid client relationship we are at risk of being viewed as a commodity. Later I followed this up by stating that one of our goals is to make the communities in which we live and work better. More recently we launched the Centerplate Way and the Centerplate Promise to further reinforce, strengthen and accelerate our client centric approach. How our clients perceive us is more than critical, not everything but close.
It gives me great pleasure to see the progress we have made. The Journey Home, a capstone project for Centerplate in Baltimore, will smash through the $1M raised mark this year. We have broadened our relationship with Juma Ventures and now help at-risk youth in meaningful ways in San Diego, San Francisco, New Orleans and Seattle. Dr. Marc Spencer sent in a glowing review of our participation and is nominating Ron Lee, our GM at San Diego Qualcomm Stadium, to their national board.
There is a challenge for our team members at every venue and office to join local boards and actively participate in the community. Many of you already do as evidenced by the lists I received and I am proud of all that we collectively do for our communities. We cannot afford to give lip service to this important element of our client centric approach. The goal is 100% local community involvement – let’s make it so!
On the heels of last week’s renewals of the Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Convention Center, it gives me great pleasure to announce that we have been awarded the renewal at the Miami Beach Convention Center. After a hotly contested 2-year RFP process, we won the day on the merits of our record, performance and programs – a true victory for the Centerplate Way! A big round of applause to Doug Conner, Nick Tierno, Gary Wattie and everyone involved in the battle!
E3 moments of the week …
This month’s issue of Delta Sky Magazine includes an interview with Centerplate Ambassador Michael Strahan about his favorite New York City spots. His chosen locale to wind down – Café SFA! He is especially fond of our Kahlua, Bailey’s and chocolate liqueur coffee. Well done to our Saks team and appreciate the shout out, Michael!
The Colorado Convention Center hosted the 2nd Annual Denver Comic Con, along with a show by comedian Daniel Tosh, which produced the highest retail revenues in the history of the building. Held over 2-1/2 days, the event was an outstanding showcase of the new STIR concepts with 2630 grass-fed burgers, 3206 thin crispy pizza slices and 1828 Continental sausages sold. Kudos to Brandon Bliss, Chef Kayley Boyle, Matt Budd, Executive Chef Carmen Callo, Jose Cazarez, Rob Fiorentino, Eugene Forsyth, Mike Jacoby, Wynisha Jones, Sandra Jordan, Christine Kilcoyne, Zach Lambert, Josh Longfellow, Thomas Meiers, Todd Moore, Dave Morris, Ryan Nawrocki, Jacob Palmer, Noel Palmer, Patty Raso, Christy Stein, Bryan Zimmermann and our entire team at the convention center!
We will be adding a Centerplate Promise Community Leader Award at our Step Global Annual Conference which I am very pleased to announce will be held at the Orange County Convention Center on March 4-7, 2014. I look forward to seeing you there to celebrate another successful year and lay out plans to make 2014 our best ever!
