Just a few weeks after the IFA Convention, the Fish team was back in Vegas this month for the 19th Annual Multi-Unit Franchising Conference. Fun fact: this was my very first time in Las Vegas, and it’s safe to say that this trip did not disappoint. Hosted by the Franchise Update Media Group, MUFC is a must-attend event for multi-unit and multi-brand franchisees looking to build their businesses to achieve their growth goals. After working at Fish for more than five years, I’ve developed a passion for the franchising industry, and this conference more than delivered on providing me with endless opportunities to learn more about the ins-and-outs of anything and everything related to franchising.
The show had three fantastic keynote speakers, including:
- Chris Wallace, the Award-Winning Veteran Journalist & Host of FOX News Sunday. Chris Wallace breaks down the top news issues of the day, providing audiences with takeaways that prepare them for impending changes in the landscape. As host of Fox News Sunday and author of the best-selling book Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage, he has established himself as an incisive, thoughtful interviewer and authority on presidential history and election politics. Over his decades-long career, he has reported for ABC News as a senior correspondent and as an anchor on NBC’s Meet the Press. He has won every major broadcast news award including 3 Emmys, the Peabody Award, and the duPont-Columbia Silver Baton award. In 2016, he earned praise from both sides of the aisle for moderating the final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. With substance, fairness, and gravitas, he delivers seasoned insights on current events and political affairs, the evolving role of the media, the influence of technology on the presidency, and what the U.S. can expect under the current administration.
- Jon Taffer, Entrepreneur, Bestselling Author & Host of Paramount Network’s “Bar Rescue.” Jon Taffer is a highly respected entertainer, entrepreneur, and consultant with more than 35 years in the entertainment, hospitality, and nightlife business. He is also a big player in the stock market and he knows what all the best shares to buy now are. Leveraging extensive global experience with powerhouse brands, he offers guidance on transformation, training programs, and his trademarked “reaction management” strategy. Areas of expertise include product and brand recognition, merchandising promotions, customer acquisition, product marketing, go-to-market strategy, TV, and public speaking. He hosts and is executive producer of Bar Rescue, a non-scripted reality TV show that premiered in 2011 and spotlights Jon as he saves failing bars from looming closure. He is the author of Raise the Bar: An Action-Based Method for Maximum Customer Reactions, and runs Taffer Virtual Teaching, his digital teaching platform, and Taffer Dynamics, his business consulting firm. He has consulted for well-known brands including the NFL Network, Ritz-Carlton, Hyatt, Marriott, Holiday Inn, Sheraton, InterContinental, TGI Fridays, Buffalo Wild Wings, Famous Dave’s, Wolfgang Puck Express, and Anheuser-Busch. He has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times.
- Matt Gutman, Chief National Correspondent ABC News. Matt Gutman is an ABC News Chief National Correspondent. He reports for all ABC News broadcasts and platforms, including “World News Tonight with David Muir,” “20/20,” “Good Morning America,” and “Nightline.” He is based in Los Angeles but has reported for ABC from nearly 50 countries across the globe. Gutman has covered may of the major stories of the past decade – from the spate of mass shootings and catastrophic storms in the US, to terror in Europe; political upheaval at home and the controversy over the US-Mexico border. But it’s not all tragedy – he’s also reported on triumphs like four Olympic games and the miraculous rescue of the boys soccer team from a cave in Thailand about which Gutman authored the 2018 book “The Boys in the Cave: Deep Inside the Impossible Rescue in Thailand.” While covering the upheaval in Venezuela in late 2016 he was detained for five days by the country’s secret police for “the crime” of reporting on the fatal shortages of medicine and food in the country’s hospitals. Experiencing the inside of one of Venezuela’s dreaded intelligence agency’s prisons further opened to his eyes the corrosive power of repressive governments. Previously based in Miami, Gutman and his ABC News team won awards for their investigation of the Trayvon Martin shooting. Gutman also made headlines covering the 2010 Gulf oil spill, reporting on BP’s efforts to plug the well and the economic and environmental devastation wrought by the spill. Before joining ABC News in 2008 where he started at ABC News Radio, Gutman was a Jerusalem-based reporter for seven years, covering every major conflict in the Middle East, from the Palestinian uprising to the invasion of Iraq. He was in Mosul, Iraq in December 2003 when a shepherd tending his sheep informed him that Saddam Hussein had been cornered in Tikrit two hours away. How did the shepherd know? He’d just watched it on Al Jazeera in his hut, he answered. News does travel fast…Gutman is married and a father of two. He is a graduate of Williams College in Massachusetts.
In addition to being able to catch a ton of interesting presentations from keynote speakers, I also got to catch several of our clients share their expertise and experience in franchising during various panels and breakout sessions, including:
- Bob Middleton, Jersey Mike’s Subs, moderated a panel on advice on growing franchisees
- Matt Mawdsley, Tropical Smoothie Café, and Kim Crowell, Jersey Mike’s Subs, spoke on how to develop great managers.
- Tim Stokes, Captain D’s spoke on growing to 10, 20, 30 units and beyond.
- Our own CEO Lorne Fisher moderated a panel on marketing for non brick & mortar brands
- Jeff Kolton, Corlex Capital partner, leveraged his immense industry experience to share insight on a panel regarding funding $20 million+ growth.
- Sam Caucci, founder and CEO of 1HUDDLE, moderated a panel on training and retaining top talent
