June 13, 2014
CEO Newsletter
Te3am,
This week Centerplate put on a global hospitality event at the Belmont Stakes. Over the last five years, continuous improvements to Stakes Day offerings have been made and this year the VIP Champagne Room and an all-inclusive club area for 2,500 guests were added. With great excitement over the possibility of a Triple Crown winner, the press was there in abundance and attendance was high. Kudos to Pat Bruhn, Peter Matra, Drew Revella, our entire NYRA team and the dozens of visiting hospitality professionals who worked hard, not only on Stakes Day but on planning months in advance, and scored record sales for the event.
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the England vs Ecuador soccer match at Sun Life Stadium. While the match ended up in a 2-2 tie the hospitality provided by Kevin Mitchell and our Miami based team was a clear winner. The presentation was awesome and the event exceeded forecasted sales by almost fifty percent – a double win!
There is more good news to share – we have renewed our client partnership with The MTS Centre, home of the Winnipeg Jets. Congratulations to all involved in making it happen and especially to Craig Vidal and our local team who played a significant role in making sure we have the opportunity of continuing to Make It Better To Be There for our guests in Winnipeg!
The attached press release on our hospitality program at Levi’s Stadium, new home of the San Francisco 49ers, is the start of a media and PR blitz that will surround Centerplate, the team and the stadium in the weeks leading up to opening day. Stay tuned!
E3 moments of the week …
Region 4 of the International Association of Venue Managers recently held their conference at the Spokane Convention Center. These important and influential guests were shown the power of the Centerplate Way and our client could not have been more pleased with the success of the event, “The variety, quality and presentation of the food and beverage was way over the top. You never cease to amaze and delight at the VIP functions we host. I love getting great compliments from our peers at other venues, especially managers from larger convention centers. You and your staff make us very proud.” Job well done by Frank Carbajal, Kandice Cavazos, Matt Couch, Debbie Craven, Ken Craven, Brindan Duffey, Brandon Edwards, Patty Elder, Dawn Frey, Executive Chef Harold Froewiss, Lee Gage, Kayla Gates, Adriana Guedes, Molly Hart, Steffany Holton, Steve Kendrick, Rob Lady, Jeremy Louis, Chris McCafferty, Scott Middleton, Teresa Miller, Dayle Putney, Bob Rekofke, Chef Jim Richards, Susie Russell, Mary Beth Sherman, Ken Shockley, William Sipes, Ed Smallwood, James Sprayberry, Amy Thomas, Chelsa Webber, Lisa Westbrook, Travis Wilson and our entire Spokane team!
Our team at Harry’s Smokehouse in the Pentagon City Mall took a power outage during dinner hour in stride by taking care of our guests as best they could with the resources available. Upon learning an hour later that power would not be restored that night, they shut down the restaurant, apologized for the inconvenience and invited all the guests to return. After ordering in dry ice to preserve inventory, GM James O’Connor couldn’t lower the front gate (electric but with a manual override that didn’t function) so he spent all night in the dark to protect the premises. Chef Don came in to relieve James early the next morning so he could make it to his daughter’s high school graduation in Richmond on time. Wonderful example of great teamwork by Executive Chef Donald Barnes, Daisy Jacobs and James O’Connor!
Rendez-vous Canada, the Canadian hospitality industry’s preeminent annual event, was recently held at the Vancouver Convention Centre with great success. Previously held at the center in 2008, with the facility’s expansion since then we were able to accommodate all of the food and beverage events under our roof for the 3-day period essentially doubling the revenue for this visit. The event hosts could not have been more pleased, “The feedback has been tremendous. Almost every comment we’re received mentioned the food – how incredible it was, not only the variety but the quality of the food. Your team really set the bar high and we appreciate it! Not only the food but the service and flexibility with our requests was tremendous. You are all to be commended on a job very well done.” We’ll have another opportunity for the Centerplate Way to shine when this very influential group visits our ScotiaBank Convention Centre next year. Excellent job by Chef Jim Bowen, Charles Brinn, Randy Cho, Hector Conesa, Denis Jodoin, Jeff Mao, Chef Mark Massicotte, Dan McCabe, Jenna Nicholson, Richard Ouellet, Andrew Pollard, Chef Maurizio Persichino, Tamara Quinn, Jennifer Rafuse, Sharvan Ramachandran, Executive Chef Blair Rasmussen, Carlo Ross, Dave Sher, Robin Tessaro and our entire convention center staff!
We pull off so many mega hospitality events in any given week that they cannot all be captured in my updates. I challenge you to bring the same level of commitment to every event and project, large and small, and bring our brand promise to life in your venue and department. Being the best we can be at all times is our mission – let’s make it happen!
Onwards!
