broughton
Meet The Presenters
Full Schedule
Monday, January 9th
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
230 Dartmouth Street., Boston, MA 02116
Today the chefs will enjoy one of two special trips designed specifically for them.
9:00 AM – 10:00AM
Continental Breakfast and Registration: Boston Public Library, McKim Building Lower Level Conference Rooms
Please enter the historic McKim Building at 230 Dartmouth Street, across from Copley Square
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM:
Introduction and welcome with keynote speaker Bryan Rafanelli, the premier event planner and designer in the Northeast with a great story to tell.
“If party planning is a fine art, consider Rafanelli a virtuoso” WCVB-TV Boston
“The event planner of the year” Town & Country www.rafanellievents.com
11:15 AM – 12:15 PM: Day 1, Session 1
- Topic A – McKim LLB: Round Table Discussion: Tastings, Best Practices and Strategies Moderated by: Andy Snow, President of Feastivities Events
- Come to discuss and share how your company handles tasting requests and executions
- Topic B – McKim LLB: Social Media Strategies, “Do It for the Gram” Moderated By: Nisreen Galloway, Marketing Assistant and Graphic Designer for The Catered Affair
From Facebook to Instagram, social media is by far one of the most popular ways to interact with your clients and vendors. In this session, we’ll be taking a quick dive into the different available social media platforms and the best ones to use in the catering and event industry. Plus, we’ll also go through a few foolproof tips and tools for scheduling, staying relevant and managing content for each platform.
- Topic C – McKim LLB: Operations Roundtable Moderated by: Joe Bisbee, Warehouse Manager for the Catered Affair and Ken Horne Assistant Warehouse Manager
- Topic D – The Courtyard Restaurant: Round Table Discussion: Stations! Moderated by: Meryl Snow, Vice President of Feastivities Events
- Join this discussion on trends in food station menus and design. Please bring along some of your best selling or most innovative station ideas, as well as who in your company researches and creates stations from the foods being served to how items are displayed.
- Owners Round Table – McKim Conference Room: Company Highlight Moderated by: Jeffery A. Miller, CEO and Founder of Jeffery A. Miller Catering
- Let’s open up our conference highlighting a unique feature of your company, it could be a signature dish, look or system.
12:15 PM – 1:30 PM: Lunch Break (McKim LLA Conference Room)
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM: Day 1, Session 2
- Topic A – McKim LLB: Recruiting, Training & Retention, “Getting them here and keeping them here” John Milne, Director of Operations, Lindsay LaFratta, Staffing Manager and Lauren Tantillo HR Manager all for The Catered Affair
- From job postings and training through reviews and discipline; we will discuss and share best practices for both regular and on-call staff. Attendees are encouraged to bring any training manuals, review forms, or disciplinary documents they are using to share with the group as we discuss.
- Topic B – McKim LLB: Event Photography Workshop Moderated by: Jill Person from Person & Killian Photography and Nisreen Galloway Marketing Assistant and Graphic Designer for The Catered Affair
With social media such an important part of any company’s marketing strategies, great photography from events is key. In this workshop premier wedding photographer Jill Person will give tips and strategies on how to have staff successfully take event photos on their phones or home cameras and Nisreen Galloway will discuss the best way to manage all of them!
- Topic C – McKim LLB: Operations Round Table Moderated by: Joe Bisbee, Warehouse Manager for The Catered Affair and Ken Horne Assistant Warehouse Manager
- What are the new trends in foods and caterings and how to stay on top of the curve.
- Topic D– The Courtyard Restaurant: Palate Predictions What is the new kale? Moderated by: Louisa Kasdon, CEO & Founder Let’s Talk About Food LLC
- Owners Round Table – McKim Conference Room: Company Highlights Continued
2:30 PM – 2:45 PM: Break (McKim LLA) Refreshments Served
2:45 PM – 4:00 PM: Day 1, Session 3
- Topic A – McKim LLB: Sales Round Table: Re-inventing and Re-booking the Event Andrew Marconi, VP of Sales for The Catered Affair and Elaine Twombly Director of Sales and Marketing for The Catered Affair
- Strategies on how to successfully work with and book repeat clients
- Topic B – McKim LLB: Jack Rabbit Presentation “So you’re thinking about redesigning your website…” Moderated By: Liz Rightor-Roberts, Senior Project Manager and Cara Ogar, UX Specialist of Jackrabbit Design
- Topic C – McKim LLB: Operations Round Table Moderated By: Joe Bisbee, Warehouse Manager for The Catered Affair and Ken Horne Assistant Warehouse Manager
- Topic D – McKim LLB: Alice and the Magician, Love Cocktails & Chocolate Cake – A journey through the science of aroma and how its relationship to memory & emotion are the unsung heroes of every event Moderated By: Sam and Aaron Wisniewski of Alice and the Magician
Alice & the Magician is a unique Flavor and Fragrance company based out of Burlington, Vermont that believes aroma is the most powerful, yet most misunderstood and overlooked, detail of every event. They work directly with event planners, wedding parties, chefs, bartenders and event spaces to create aromatically enhanced signature cocktails, bespoke scents, scent landscaping, scent branding and custom aromatics to create memorable experiences. Join these two visionary brothers as they talk about how attention to aroma can increase customer satisfaction, elevate you from the competition, subconsciously market for you and add untold value to your events and brand as a whole. Expect a little science, a little storytelling and of course, plenty of aromatics.
Talk process, pitfalls and making it “pop” when it comes to your next project with a leading digital project manager and UX Specialist of Jackrabbit Design.
- Owners Round Table – McKim Conference Room
4:00 PM: Day One Conference Sessions Conclude
5:30 PM: Reception in the Map Room Café and Courtyard Restaurant ( Attire: Business Casual )
7:00 PM: Dinner in the Guastavino Room
After Party at The Lenox Hotel
Tuesday, January 10
BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
230 Dartmouth Street., Boston, MA 02116
Breakfast Buffet 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM
Boston Public Library, McKim Building Lower Level Conference Rooms
Please enter the historic McKim Building at 230 Dartmouth Street, across from Copley Square
We have engaged the services of Alan Berg, the renowned speaker and expert on all aspects of catering sales, to host three informative sessions.
Today the chefs will enjoy full day trip we are excited for them to experience.
9:00 AM – 10:30 AM: Day 2, Session 1
- Topic A, Alan Berg – The Courtyard Restaurant : 8 Tips for Better Digital Conversations and Conversion It would be so much easier if they would just pick up the phone and call you, wouldn’t it? But these days that’s not happening very much. Do you know why? Does it really matter why? You’ve always had to adapt to how your prospect’s preferences, not the other way around. In this session Alan will walk you through the ins and outs of communicating with today’s prospects. Here’s what you’ll learn:
- Why they won’t call you
- How to have a real conversation via email or text
- How much you should write in an email
- How to handle price inquiries
- Topic B– McKim LLB: Operations Topic: Loading and Un-loading Vehicles Moderated By: Joe Bisbee & Ken Horn
- Discussion on how to initially pack and then un-load and re-load trucks for events, bring your theories and best strategies!
- Owner’s Round Table – What 5-thousand-dollar investment has yielded you a 50-thousand-dollar result?
10:30 AM – 11:00 AM: Break (McKim LLB) Refreshments Served
11:00 – 12:30 PM: Day 2, Session 2
- Topic A, Alan Berg – The Courtyard Restaurant: Listen Up and Sell More Weddings & Events You’ll always know more about your products and services than your customers, but not everyone needs to hear it all. Alan will show you how to ask better questions, and really listen to the answers, which will help you sell more in less time. Sound good? Here’s what you’ll learn
- What kinds of questions to ask, and when
- The difference between hearing and listening
- How your customer can sell themselves
- Topic B – McKim LLB: The Modern Workforce, Working Together Moderated By: John Milne, Lindsay LaFratta, Lauren Tantillo and Eric Ribeiro from Caterstaff
With the frequent use of temporary staffing and employees ranging from millennials to boomers, how are we managing these different groups while still working together? We will discuss managing temporary staff while not crossing co-employment boundaries, the difference in managing millennials vs. baby boomers, and successfully managing the new manager.
- Topic C – McKim LLB: Operations Topic: Creative Ways of Controlling Inventory Moderated By: Joe Bisbee and Ken Horne
- Round table discussion on how you track and organize your inventor of equipment, linen and uniforms
- Owner’s Round Table – Donation and Auction Requests Moderated by:Harriet Dopkin, Partner/President The Classic Catering People
- How to handle non-profit work, requests for donations and auction items and setting up a foundation
12:30 – 1:30 PM: Lunch Boston Public Library, McKim LLA
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Day 2, Session 3
- Topic A, Alan Berg – The Courtyard Restaurant: Make them love you – Creating an Exceptional Customer Experience The customer experience starts before the sale, actually before you ever get to speak with a prospect. You don’t get to give great customer service until after the sale. Do you know what it feels like to do business with your company? It costs little, or nothing, to be exceptional and Alan will show you how. Come to this session and hear:
- What it means to provide an exceptional customer experience
- How exceeding their expectations is not about giving a discount
- What to do when something goes wrong!
- How to increase your chances of getting them back after they’ve shopped around
- Topic B – McKim LLB: Developing Strong Leadership: Situational Leadership and Continued Development Moderated By: John Milne and Lauren Tantillo
- This session will discuss preparing managers for the unexpected using Situational Leadership thinking. We will also discuss different approaches to management level development including continuing education and mentor programs.
- Topic C – McKim LLB: Operations Topic: “Breaking down Breakdown” Moderated By: Joe Bisbee and Ken Horne
- Responsibilities and proper ways/attitudes of the breakdown station at any event
- Owner’s Round Table: War Stories! How to handle an un-satisfied customer post event and battle online threats
3:00 PM – 3:30 PM: Break (McKim LLA) Refreshments Served
3:30 PM: Day Concludes
4:30 PM: Shuttle pick up at The Lenox Hotel main entrance for a private reception and dinner at the TCA Commissary in Hingham, MA ( Attire: Casual )
9:30 PM: Shuttles return to Boston