• Have you been searching for breakthrough ideas? 
• Are you looking formula for connecting Operations, Marketing and Human Resources in profound and meaningful ways? 
• Do you really want to know what the next generation of leaders is really talking about?
• Are you ready to finally commit to the “I” word – yes Innovation!

There is only one place to be to embrace and engage your inner “I” and more importantly to embrace and engage Innovation in your business – the People Report Summer Camp – June 5-8 in Dallas, TX.  The fast moving, thought provoking and innovative laden event only happens once a year and it is truly the must attend conference of the year! 

People Report Summer Camp is the TED of the hospitality industry. If you don’t know what TED is, look it up so you can appreciate the true brilliance of People Report Summer Camp.  This is the only event in the hospitality industry that purposefully connects Operations, Marketing and Human Resources in meaningful ways to create competitive advantages through innovative presentations and thought provoking discussions.  What other event have you been to this year that has already had “tweet-a-thon” with millions of connections? What other event have you been to where the discussions and excitement for the event have been buzzing on-line since the conclusion of the event last year!

Even the most seasoned or cynical of people can’t say they have experienced anything quite like this in the career.  This is not a conference; this is an event - an event like no other.  This is where the best and the brightest come to engage in topics with meaning.  This is where thought leaders don’t speak to concepts - they speak to the reality of creating profound change.  This is where the tribe of Summer Camp exchanges best practices for making meaning and profits all in one sentence. This is a celebration of innovation! Many think because of the name it should not be taken seriously and that it can’t possibly have the depth of content.  There is that adage, “don’t judge a book by its cover.” The depth and reach of People Report Summer Camp is profound and the impact unparalleled.

If you truly want Innovation, if you truly want your paradigms of business to be challenged, if you truly want to think differently about your operations, marketing and human resources as one team versus three departments, and if you truly want to be on the forefront of where the industry is going, then get your backpack and join the other campers at the People Report Summer Camp.  I look forward to seeing you around the campfire soon!  #PRSCamp 

People Report Summer Camp Agenda
People Report Summer Camp Speakers
People Report Summer Camp Registration 

“These six factors can erode the grandest of plans and the noblest of intentions. They can turn visionaries into paper-pushers and wide-eyed dreamers into shivering, weeping balls of regret. Beware!”

via Forbes.com 

via Bruno Aziza, Forbes.com 

As I am now getting ready to leave Microsoft for a Silicon Valley Start-up, I look back on my time in Seattle and I’m thankful for the things I’ve learned at the number one software company in the world.  Below is a reflection of my personal views.  While I realize others might have had different experiences, readers should know there is a lot to learn from this company, its culture and its people.

The Vision Doesn’t Change.  It’s the Way You Execute On It That Might.

Every startup leader understands the concept of the “Pivot”.  By applying the principles of the renowned Steve Blank (“a startup is an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model”), entrepreneurs around the world start with a vision and modify (or “pivot”) their execution model until it works.  This principle doesn’t simply apply to small outfits; it can sometimes work inside large organizations.  
Read the full article on Forbes.com

MC

Tomorrow’s leaders create the institutions in which they thrive.

The norms, ethos, and expectations around leadership are changing. If stability, the pension, and the gold watch were the hallmarks of successful fortitude for Baby Boomers, today it’s the ability to create and thrive within your own institution. There was a time when “kissing up, and kicking down,” could get people to the top….

Read More at Forbes.com

This week this was the rallying cry and theme of the Women’s Foodservice Forum Annual Leadership conference (#WFFConf12).  Fritzi Woods, CEO and President of the WFF declared this during her opening comments on Sunday night and the rest is history.  The WFF conference set new standards of success in world-class content, amazing connections and the channels for managers, directors and executives to develop their own leadership competencies.

I would like to focus for on Fritzi’s rallying cry of “the time is now to aspire higher.”

It’s a group of words that make an amazing sound bite – it’s a group of words that make a terrific rallying cry; however, as we all know at the heart of these words is a profound statement of direction.  Let’s look at the power in this statement.

The Time is Now – the time is now to step up and start moving our careers and businesses forward.  The time is now to drop all of the excuses and move away from the status quo.  The time is now to move towards the possibilities of abundance, success and growth in our careers and businesses.  We have a choice continue to be a victim to all the challenges in the business or to take control of destiny by creating our destiny.  The time is now to step into the light of greatness. 

Aspire Higher – when is the last time you learned something new; when is the last time you stepped outside your comfort zone; when is the last time you asked some one to help you?  Aspire higher and ask more of yourself, ask more of others and ask for more help to achieve the goals and dreams you aspire to in your life.  No one succeeds in life or business by themselves we are forced to ask for help if we want more from life and business.  The strongest people in the world know the secret to success and that is to ask! 

Combine the two statements The Time is Now to Aspire Higher – take this as your rallying cry and re-connect with your goals and dreams.  Invest in your own development through attending other great events like the National Restaurant Association Show – May 5-8 in Chicago or the People Report Summer Brand Camp – June 5-7 in Dallas. 

The time is now for all of us to take back our personal and professional power to aspire higher – thank you Fritzi Woods and the WFF for sharing and for an amazing conference!  

Key Links: 

• Fritzi Woods (@FollowFritzi)
• National Restaurant Association Show (Website) (#NRAShow) 
• People Report Summer Brand Camp (Website) (#PRSCamp)
• Women’s Foodservice Forum (Website) (@WFFHQ)

- Kathleen Wood

The most recent Fortune Magazine featured The 12 Greatest Entrepreneurs of Our Time. What an amazing article and truly gave great insights to the Entrepreneurs who have changed business.

That truly got me thinking about who are those entrepreneurs – social entrepreneurs and business leaders that are changing our industry. Who are those individuals working tirelessly to take part of our industry, or our whole industry, to new levels of success by shifting the way we operate in our industry.

In my career I have been very fortunate to work with extraordinary entrepreneurs and business leaders. The list of leaders I admire could fill volumes of books because it is extensive and there are so many people do great work.

So, I thought I would mention a few people that are making profound shifts in the way we think about our industry through their efforts and leadership. So here is the beginning of thought leaders. I would also add the huge caveat that I could make this a long list too. Instead I would encourage anyone to add their thought leaders and consider this a start point. If you are not familiar with everyone on this list please start following him or her – they are shaping our industry every day.

• Dawn Sweeny – National Restaurant Association
• Fritzi Woods (@FollowFritzi) – Women’s Foodservice Forum (@WFFHQ)
• Nate DaPore (@PeopleMatterCEO) – PeopleMatter (@PeopleMatterHR)
• Joni Doolin (@LuckyPenny)– People Report (@PeopleReport) and Black Box Intelligence
• Valerie Killifer (@ValerieKillifer) – FastCasual.com (@FastCasual)
• Amanda Hite (@SexyThinker)– Changers of Commerce (@CommerceChanger)
• Susan Steinbrecher (@Steinbrecherinc) - KENSHO
• Bryan Wempen (@BryanWempen) and William Tincup (@drivethruhr) – Drive Thru HR
• Tim McCarthy (@BusinessofGood)– The Business of Good Foundation
• Paul Barron (@paulbarron) – Digital CoCo
• Noah Glass (@nhglass) – OLO
• Jessica Merrill–Miller (@blogging4jobs) – Blogging4Jobs

Here’s to you and what are your thoughts – sometimes one thought can profoundly change an industry – dare to be bold and an agent of change!

Kathleen Wood

Spring is such a great time in our industry.  It marks the beginning of al fresco dining, beer gardens and ballparks across the United States firing up to serve a combination of classic and amazing stadium food. 

It also represents an amazing time for gathering to share, learn and discuss the issues and opportunities in our industry.  It is that rare time of the year where there are so many ways to take action locally and nationally.

Here is a short list of just a few events that serve as catalysts for action and connection in our industry:

The National Restaurant Association:

• April 17-18^th – Public Affairs Conference
• May 2 – 4^th – Marketing Executive Group (MEG) Conference
• May 5-8^th – NRA Show

The Women’s Foodservice Forum:

• April 23-25^th – Annual Leadership Conference
• May 7^th – Leadership Breakfast at the NRA Show
•  June 20 -21^st – Volunteer Committee Meetings in Chicago

People Report:

• June 5-7^th – Summer Brand Camp

One of the greatest attributes of our industry is the incredible opportunity it offers to take action and get involved.  More importantly it provides anyone and everyone with the ability to leverage world-class events to advance careers, businesses or association initiatives.  Business is changing, our industry is changing and the only thing that needs to change is your schedule. There will always be so many reasons why there isn’t time to take action however this line up of events only offers unlimited reasons to take action.   Now is the time to invest in yourself and your business and our industry – see you soon!  

Today we’d like to feature a blog post from Tim Berry’s blog, “Planning Start up Stories-Tim Berry on business planning, starting and growing your business, and having a life in the meantime”. Read more about Tim here.

10 Lessons From A 25-Year-Old Who Made It

by Tim Berry on April 23, 2009  

(Ed note: I’ve been asked to hide the identity of the entrepreneur here, and her company. Apparently ownership of the company has changed since this was written)

Our young entrepreneur has revamped her business plan at least half a dozen times, made a new take on an old idea work sensationally, and is riding triple-digit growth during this recession.

So, when she humbly offers 10 lessons for startups, it’s worth listening. She is founder and CEO. She’s 25 years old.

She spoke to my start-your-business class at the University of Oregon the other day. I say “humbly” for real, because she started her talk apologizing for presuming to offer lessons. But she had her list ready. With slides.

1. Have a plan

Interesting, because she has changed her plan several times, wholesale revamped her plan, but she always had one. She switches the world “vision” for “plan” sometimes; meaning that she goes in and out of granularity. Recognizing that plans change doesn’t mean not having them. Expect it to change.

2. Find out what’s important to you.

Plans may change but you want to keep your eye on what’s most important to you. Joanna wanted to do it fast, and well. She loves the style business but she doesn’t aim for a lifestyle forever business. She wants it to grow. She thinks about when and how to exit.

3. You have a lot of time, they have a little.

She said:

In the beginning, you will want to connect with the “been there, done that” people. Remember this: you have a lot of time. They have a little. Respect that. If you tell them you will need 15 minutes of their time, make sure you only use 15 minutes. It will make them respect you more as a young entrepreneur.

4. You don’t always need experience in that industry.

This is interesting to me, because it contradicts my instinct, and a lot of generally accepted wisdom. But she did it, so she can talk about it. She wanted style and clothing, but she didn’t work first in clothing retail, and didn’t have a partner who did. She just dove into it, learned on the fly, and changed the model as she discovered what worked.

5. Start Young

She’s 25 years old. She came out of college and built this business. She could talk about the problems of dealing with people who didn’t take her seriously because of her age. Instead, she says:

Being young is very advantageous. List the benefits of being young and risking it all. If all else fails, I will get a real job at 28.

No family, no kids needing shoes, no mortgage; easier to get by. Less underlying risk. This is the time of life to take these chances.

6. Fail often, and fail fast.

She started with one business model, found it didn’t work, revised it, then found that didn’t work, and revised that one. She knows what this familiar-sounding fail-fast idea means. But she adds:

Personally, I do not believe in failing. I believe in learning from things that don’t work, or don’t work the way you intended them to. The sooner you fail, the sooner you will succeed.

7. Ask for help, respectfully

I know from experience — she was a student in my start-your-business class four years ago — that Joanna does this right.

8. Replace “selling” with “promoting.”

It is never comfortable to think of ourselves as a sales person. In fact, I never had official sales training. What I have learned is that you become a lot more effective when you think of it as promoting.

9. Are they all green lights?

I love this:

A wise mentor of mine once told me that if you wait to leave your driveway until all the lights on your route are green, you will never leave. You must jump and build your wings on the way. You will hit red lights. They are momentary and are times to stop, adjust and get ready to go again. Learn to embrace the red lights.

What a great example!

10. Never stop learning or listening.

No argument there. Why do I think it’s ironic that she’s only 25 as she says this? But then, before I get too uppity with my gray hair and all, she’s the one who’s got the business growth of close to 300% during a recession.

Read more: http://timberry.bplans.com/2009/04/10-lessons-from-a-25-year-old-who-made-it.html#ixzz0oTK78E00

Restaurateur, Industry Icon and Founder, Brinker International

Norman Brinker was an innovative restaurateur who helped bridge the gap between fast food and fine dining with his casual, full-service chains-among them, Chili’s, Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale. Chief to Brinker’s new concepts for eateries was the salad bar, which he popularized at Steak & Ale starting in the late 1960s. He was known not only for emphasizing friendly customer service, but also for quick calibrations in response to changing customer tastes.

 It was all part of Brinker’s idea to make the dinner experience more relaxed and casual. He followed up with a succession of restaurants featuring festive atmospheres and moderately priced menus that found a niche between inexpensive burger joints and pricey gourmet restaurants.

 ”You have about 45 minutes to convince the customer to come again; that’s your objective,” Brinker told the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper in 1991. “Your objective, once the customer is there, is to give them such a good experience, they’ll want to come again.”

Here are some very inspiring lessons from this true restaurant legend:

 Encourage innovation –“Always look for ways to do things better.  Apply and encourage, imagination, initiative, creativity, and ingenuity.” 

Seize the opportunities when they arise – “I believe the that the harder you work, the luckier you get.  And timing certainly has an effect on your luck.”

Delegate and Empower – “You can achieve so much more by empowering people to achieve on their own.  Don’t’ be too hands-on.”

Self-Confidence and Optimism – “Know yourself. Believe in yourself. Trust your judgment. And always remember that happiness is a habit – as is attitude.”

Have Fun – “Have a lot of kid in you.  It you have fun at what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.  Make work play – and play like hell.”

Perseverance – “Determination and perseverance make the difference between winners and losers.  Don’t let others tell you it can’t be done.  Never, ever give up – and never give in.”

Dream the Idea – “There is nothing more valuable in the world than an idea – especially when it involves creating and perpetuating something of lasting value.”

 Quotes excerpted from “On the Brink: The Life and Leadership of Norman Brinker”