February 21, 2014
CEO Newsletter
Te3am,
I read a quote from one of our competitors this week and it starkly underscored the difference between us and them. To paraphrase their executive, they like to follow trends and not allow themselves to be too far behind in adopting. Does this quote seriously portray what you want to stand for especially if this is a company that believes in Insights to Impact?
Our mandate is and must be that we lead from the front. I do not want to see trends and guest improvement options being tried out by others. We must always pave our way to Making It Better To Be There. We can leave it to the others to follow our trail. We cannot give an inch. We are the best. However this is not the time to gloat. Gloating is for people not used to winning. We must work hard to maintain our standing and being first to market is essential. To do anything less would mean surrendering our ultimate ambition of being the globe’s most respected Event Hospitality company.
To that end, are you running your department or operating your venue to its fullest potential? Have you reviewed your 2014 objectives with your team and your client? What grade would you give yourself? What grade would your team and client give you? Spend some time thinking about these questions, spend more time answering them and you will be a better leader.
E3 moments of the week …
The NBA All-Star 2014 Weekend in New Orleans was a tremendous success, exceeding budget with strong per caps. The game also provided a great messaging platform for our brand generating print and broadcast news as well as a good social media presence. Our local menu items – Turtle Soup, 3 Cheese Mac and Cheese, Crab Cake Sliders, Crawfish Étoufèe, Fried Bread Pudding and Po’boys – were huge hits with the fans. Kudos to Kernell Jupiter and our local team in New Orleans, and visiting team members Martin Ayala, Manuel Cuevas, Tamra Fry and Jon Wanland, for continuing to Make It Better To Be There!
When the ice and snow storm hit Raleigh last week our team jumped into action to provide meals around the clock for the City employees responsible for emergency preparedness and clean-up. Beginning with 240 lasagna meals delivered by the Fire Department to City Hall at 6:00 pm, followed by a hot breakfast of eggs, bacon, grits and toast with plenty of coffee at 5:00 am, gourmet mac-n-cheese for lunch and ending with an assorted deli and bread tray with desserts the next day, our team provided 1290 meals to the City’s emergency workers. Our client could not have been more pleased, “We need to get a big Thank You to our Raleigh Centerplate partners.” Wonderful community spirit by our snow crew – Executive Chef Donald Burchell, Craig Holder, Frank McNally, Kenneth Mikiver, Hakeem Quinn and Eric Peterson!
Kevin Twohig, our client and Executive Director of Spokane’s Public Facilities District, asked us to make a presentation to his new Board members. The audience was impressed by Centerplate’s exponential growth in the hospitality channel and knowledge about industry trends, “I had no idea how large your company was and what a great support system you had on your side. As a board member I think it is important to keep up with the bigger cities and your information on geo location tags would help us do that. I look forward to more tag team selling and one stop selling with Centerplate.” In addition to the presentation our team delighted guests with a locavore menu featuring produce from the Spokane River Valley along with a glazed scallop and risotto entrée and housemade lemon curd and graham cracker crumble dessert. Great job by Ken Craven, Adrian Dishington, Curtiss Eikhoff, Patty Elder, Molly Hart, Dawn Frey, Chef Harold Froewiss, Rob Lady, Scott Middleton, Dayle Putney, Mary Beth Sherman, Kay Towner and Lisa Westhoff
Make sure that you are always leading from the front of your venue or department. Let’s go win!
Onwards!
