January 31, 2014
CEO Newsletter
Te3am,
“The secret of business is to know something nobody else knows.” This is an awesome quote from Aristotle Onassis. However, we have to be careful how far we take it. The quote holds true when we are vying for business with a competitor but it has the adverse effect when we use the same approach internally.
Internally we need to share best practices and celebrate being a conduit or a spark for ideas. We have to make sure that we do not build singular temples in any of our venues or departments. I challenge our entire management team to ensure that we are circulating the strategies and ideas that we are working on and, just as important, sharing the things that have been tried but failed. Only when we do this can we say that the Centerplate sum is greater than its parts and only then can state that we are Making It Better To Be There by being enterprise powered and locally driven.
Let’s embrace the sharing of our successes and pitfalls in Y14 like never before. One way to maximize the first and minimize the second is to be better prepared and trained. As we all know preparation is key, but without participation it is futile. We presented our Spark program to the New Orleans Saints/Pelicans organization and they were blown away. We need to double down on our commitment to this. Therefore, I challenge every one of our full-time employees to complete one organizational development module a month. I am committing to completing 4 a month to demonstrate that I would not ask you to do something that I say is important and then not deliver on the same goal myself. Let’s make this a true competitive advantage moving forward.
Attached are two articles published today in the Stamford Advocate and QSR Magazine. There is always media interest during the Super Bowl and Centerplate is taking a share even without the game being held in one of our venues. Good luck to the Broncos – hope the trophy comes home to Denver!
E3 moments of the week …
At the 13th Annual International Food Festival held at the McAllen Convention Center, our team took top honors with the Best in Show award with its presentation of two styles of Paella – Paella Valenciana and Paella Negra. Local restaurant and caterers participated in the competition with the theme “Tour Around the World”. Congratulations to Chef Ruben Flores, Alma Frias, Arturo Garza, Ruben Lopez, Alejandro Martinez, Viridiana Ortega, Luke Woolridge and our entire McAllen team!
A wonderful note from an executive at Saks, “It is a wonderful restaurant, the team is extraordinary and we thoroughly enjoyed lunch and the service we received helped make it memorable. I have to figure out my schedule to get there more often.” Just the positive feedback we hope to always receive – kudos to Cathy Green and our team at Saks NYC!
I am personally jazzed thinking about what we are going to do together in Y14. I hope each of you is all-in so we can let greatness begin!
Onwards!
Centerplate and PeachDish 1.28.14 Stamford Advocate 1.31.14 QSR Magazine 1.31.14
