Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue III, 2014 | Page 8

Chairman’ sNote Where Deals Get Done D ear Fellow Franchisees, For those who attended this year’s MultiUnit Franchising Conference, what an amazing event we had! The theme this year was “Planning for Growth” and we delivered in spades! With record attendance in every category, the feedback from participants has been nothing short of overwhelming. We were inspired by the great leadership trainer John Maxwell, motivated on how to see a dream into action from JB Bernstein, educated by fabulous panels, and had the opportunity to collaborate through ample networking and exhibit time. Many attendees told me the price of admission was already earned after hearing John Maxwell’s five stages of leadership session. John outlined for us how this technique can create a sustainable organization through leadership development. As he often stated, “Culture eats vision for lunch.” But that was only the beginning for us. We followed that up with panels on talent management, and an important session on outsourcing held at the franchisee luncheon. That was followed by breakout sessions based on a “track system” where the moderators and panelists were the best-of-the-best in franchising. We ended the day in the Expo Hall where space for the event had sold out far in advance. Attendees reported that the mix of exhibitors was better than ever, and there were several excellent emerging brands that many had never seen before. On day two we heard the remarkable story of JB Bernstein. His tale served as an inspiration to all on how to dream big and never give up, even when others discourage you. His Million Dollar Arm project is now a Disney movie that was released in May. JB is in his third year of the program, which attracts 500,000 potential baseball pitchers for a competition throughout India. We continued day two with the announcement of the MVP Awards given to outstanding franchisees. There was a great panel on the need for franchisees to be active in public affairs to help prevent inadvertent issues in our economic growth through the unintended consequences of well-intentioned government policy. Back by popular demand, we featured another healthcare panel to help further dissect the incredibly complex healthcare law into actionable items. 6 MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE IS S UE III, 2014 We ended on Friday morning with a session on capital growth. Some of the most successful franchisees in the business shared how they manage their financial structures. I have highlighted just a few items in a week filled with content, networking, and just a lot of fun. Best of all, this year the conference announced Franchise Update’s new Franchise Learning Academy (FLA) where all of the content is available through a cloud-based service at a very affordable price. This is the conference where deals get done. I have already heard of several serious discussions taking place and have no doubt it will result in significant activity in the year ahead. Thanks to the great staff at Franchise Update Media for their tireless work, and to all the attendees, franchisees, franchisors, suppliers, and our terrific sponsors for making this conference a success. Have