Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue IV, 2013 | Page 64

BY KERRY PIPES & EDDY GOLDBERG

Looking
Ahead

to 2014’s Multi-Unit Conference
Advisory Board meets to plan
next year’s multi-unit gathering

L

ast March, more than 1,200 attendees, 450 of them franchisees,
flocked to Caesars Palace in Las
Vegas for the 12th annual MultiUnit Franchising Conference, and 2014’s
event looks to be even larger. In September,
the Advisory Board for next spring’s conference gathered in Scottsdale to plan the
agenda and content for 2014.
Over two days, these experienced, successful multi-unit operators discussed issues
they face operating a franchise business in
today’s challenging economic climate. They
hashed out topics, keynote speakers, and
panelists, along with their top concerns for

62

Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue IV, 2013

the coming year, all focused on making next
year’s conference the best ever. This year the
board met at the posh Fairmont Scottsdale
Princess, where they rolled up their sleeves
and got busy developing the agenda, revisiting session formats, and working out a host
of conference nuts and bolts.
Franchise Update Media Group CEO
Therese Thilgen kicked off the meeting
by discussing the results of a pre-meeting
survey of the board members. “There’s a
trend of multi-unit franchisees getting out
of their comfort zone,” she said, referring to
continued expansion through the addition
of new units and new brands. For example,

one board member recently added a home
care concept to his restaurant holdings;
another has added Sears retail stores to his
restaurant business.
Still, as Thilgen noted, the usual challenges remain: hiring and retaining quality
employees, dealing with a growing swell of
government regulations, and making sure
basic operational and marketing issues are
effective and generating results. These
topics, and many more, are in store for the
franchisees who attend the 2014 conference,
which will be held at Caesars Palace in Las
Vegas, April 23–25.
Aziz Hashim, a longtime multi-unit