Speeches, soirees highlight NRA confab

Nation's Restaurant News, June 9, 2008 by Richard Martin

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CHICAGO -- This city's hospitality industry relished the National Restaurant Association's 89th annual trade show and the opportunity to host nearly 71,500 foodservice professionals from 115 countries who flocked here May 17-20 for foodservice's largest educational gathering and commercial exhibition.

Filling the vast expanses of the McCormick Place convention center with a sold-out array of more than 2,200 exhibitors, the NRA's Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show also hosted numerous culinary demonstrations, expert panelists and high-level speakers, including keynoters Sen. John McCain and McDonald's Corp. chief executive Jim Skinner.

In addition, the NRA provided a backdrop for a glittering variety of receptions, banquets and parties hosted by other organizations, such Nation's Restaurant News' Fine Dining Hall of Fame induction luncheon at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and the gala evening of feasting and culinary accolades at the MenuMasters Awards event at the Drake Hotel. Another highlight was the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association's annual Silver and Gold Plate Awards banquet at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers.

During the show the NRA's 2007-2008 leader, Richard Rivera, passed the gavel to the association's new board chairman, Michael Kaufman, and underscored two milestones for the association this year: its start in January of concerted national-state association collaborations on the marketing and deployment of ServSafe, ProStart and other NRA and NRA Educational Foundation initiatives, and the hiring of former AARP leader Dawn Sweeney as the NRA's new president.

At a reception at the Chicago Art Institute, the NRA also debuted a stirring promotional video, "America's Restaurants, Serving Our Nation," that showcased the industry's strengths through a slate of compelling statistics, such as that 28 percent more women, 30 percent more Hispanics and 77 percent more African-Americans became restaurant owners over the past five years. Also cited was the fact that the U.S. restaurant industry's nearly 1 million dining locations and $558 billion in annual sales tops the revenues of the agriculture, motion picture and airlines industries combined and would represent the world's 17th-largest economy if stacked against those of all nations.

In addition to current economic stresses and threats to profit margins from commodity inflation, NRA show attendees shared insights into a diverse range of concerns that included employee retention and motivation, trends in alcoholic beverage sales, mergers and acquisitions, energy efficiency and a new NRA "Go Green" initiative called Conserve.

The following articles and pictorial spreads provide closer looks at select panel presentations, speeches and awards events this year along with social gatherings of the leaders and achievers that populated the NRA show.

rmartin@nrn.com