Scott Boatwright, Chief Restaurant Officer of Chipotle, joins Zenput CEO Vladik Rikhter to discuss Chipotle’s evolving adoption of mobile technology at their stores. Scott and Vladik will discuss where Chipotle started with mobile, how they’re currently leveraging the technology to make their operations more efficient, the ways mobile will impact their business, and where they see the future evolving to further empower their employees.

Artificial Intelligence was once a concept out of science fiction, but advancements in algorithms and massive computing power have catapulted it into the mainstream.  Technology has changed not only how people make purchase decisions but the restaurant experience itself.  The customer journey is being redefined with self-learning systems and algorithms for localized and personalized marketing.  Join our discussion on how restaurants can embrace the future or marketing.

The labor pool is scarce, and with rising turnover rates, restaurants are struggling to keep up. According to TDn2K, August 2017 turnover rates for hourly employees in limited and full-service brands averaged more than 124 percent. Decisions makers are in the hot seat: How will they navigate the revolving door of candidates and retain the best talent to bolster their bottom line? In this Innovation Forum, representatives from Restaurant Technologies, DavCo Restaurants, Wild Wing Café and Stewart Restaurant Group will gather to discuss industry best practices in today’s turnover landscape and share insightful strategies geared toward retaining highly engaged talent. Topics will include:

• Keeping your staff safe
• Streamlining and reducing complexities
• Recruiting invested candidates
• Creating highly efficient environments

Visibility, transparency, traceability – what role should they play in sourcing products to satisfy consumer, brand, and shareholder demands?  How do you balance commodity volatility, risk management, and waste reduction while promoting brand authenticity? Can you accomplish all this and create meaningful partnerships?  Are you leveraging visibility to enable profitable decision making?  We invite you to join us as we explore these topics with our panel of supply chain authorities.  They will share pointed experiences which are intended to spark thoughts for applicability to your brand focused on brand protection, cost reductions, and wholesome ingredients that perform as intended.

In an industry with an alarming turnover rate, wage and hour litigations at an all-time high, and increasing operating costs ranked as one of your biggest challenges, it has never been more important to effectively manage your workforce. Learn how an automated solution can help increase employee productivity and engagement, control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and deliver an exceptional customer experience for overall better business outcomes.

We're witnessing a massive shift in the ways consumers search for restaurants. Almost 70% of consumers search for restaurants by cuisine type or food item, not by the the restaurant’s name. How do you ensure your brand is prepared to capture those hungry searchers at their moment of intent? Learn the intricacies of how search behavior is changing and how brands like Checkers and Earl Enterprises are meeting customers where, when and how they’re searching.

Wintrust Franchise Finance presents a Q & A format discussion addressing how to relate to today’s labor pool, what rewarding them means and looks like and how to ultimately retain valued team members. Our panel is made up of three Human Resource industry experts who have implemented innovative and creative approaches to building and developing their team for their respective franchise organizations.

How to Drive Customer Traffic with Sports Programming and Events: Host a watch party for exclusive sports events that creates a unique experience, engages millennials, and drives return customers.

Make the most of your last morning at RLC with some coffee and insights into the tough issues operators face in today’s workplace. This interactive session will be led by Joni Thomas Doolin, CEO & co-founder of TDn2K and Joe Kefauver, Managing Director of Align Public Strategies. Attendees will also receive copies of the latest data on the state of the workforce. Spend 45 minutes with us to explore and discuss the complex issues of:

• tight labor markets
• the gig economy
• worker activism
• the #MeToo movement.

We’ll also tackle the barrage of regulatory battles being waged by states, cities and local economies. With over 20 years of political experience in government affairs, campaign management, lobbying, trade association relations and issue management, Joe Kefauver is one of the best informed, bipartisan and passionate advocates for our industry.

Despite a more business friendly-environment in Washington, DC since the 2016 elections, serious long-term threats still remain for restaurants and the franchise business model from a political, legislative and regulatory standpoint. With ever-changing definitions that are hard for even legal experts to keep up with, the joint-employer issue is still looming large over every single restaurant brand and operator. Unions, particularly the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in their effort to unionize restaurant workers and the Fight for $15. You need to get educated to protect your business in the long-term. Hear from our panelists about these and other pressing issues that directly impact your bottom lines, and what you need to do in order to keep your head above water to save your business.

The next generation of restaurant industry leaders discuss how they successfully navigate today’s new normal of tough consumer demands, high-quality menu expectations and game-changing technology. These executives have led the winning formulas of leading growth chains set to be tomorrow’s big brands.