Bar & Restaurant Expo Texas

Questex’s Bar & Restaurant Expo Texas, an extension of the nation’s largest and most influential gathering of bar and restaurant owners and operators, today unveils its conference program, which has been designed to address the challenges and opportunities facing owners and operators in the hospitality industry. The event’s mission is to equip bar, restaurant and hotel owners, operators, GMs, investors, and developers with the necessary tools to unlock profits and optimize business operations. Bar & Restaurant Expo Texas is co-located with The Hospitality Show, October 28-30 at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio, TX. To register to attend Bar & Restaurant Expo Texas, click here.

“Our conference program has been designed to be relevant for hospitality professionals at all stages of their careers. The program will cover critical topics such as profitability, people & staffing, operations, menu marketing, customer engagement, and consumer data and trends insights. Our goal is to help bar and restaurant owners remain profitable in today’s competitive world,” said Tim McLucas, Vice President of the Hospitality Group at Questex.

The conference program caters to a wide range of experiences, from first-time owners to seasoned industry veterans, through various formats tailored to attendee objectives.

• First-Time Owners: Sessions cover the essential aspects of running a hospitality business. Additionally, the two-part startup essentials bootcamp offers real-time insights and strategies, including a pre-opening checklist, creative concept development, financing and funding, hiring your dream team, navigating landlords and leases, selecting locations, and industry "tricks of the trade." 
• Career Development: Masterclass sessions offer a deep dive into professional development skills for GMs, bar managers, and owners, focusing on profitability and mastery in each career path. 
• Seasoned Founders, Owners & Operators: Attendees can participate in sessions on hiring for growth, strategies and systems tailored to elevate net income and optimize financial performance and live town hall consultations offering solutions to individual business challenges. 

The Conference program will include 20 sessions with 25+ industry thought leaders over three days. Select conference program sessions include:

• Decoding Data: Transforming Insights into Profitable Strategies presented by Matthew Crompton, VP On Premise – Americas, NielsenIQ. In this session, attendees will explore how to effectively use data to drive business success, capitalize on emerging trends, and enhance profitability with NielsenIQ's tailored insights for independent and small managed groups.   
• The Experience Economy: Creating a Competitive Advantage Through Customer & Employee Experiences presented by Matt Rolfe, Hospitality Leadership Coach, Matt Rolfe Coaching. In this session, participants will explore strategies to elevate guest experiences through tailored training programs, unique brand elements, real-time feedback loops, and integrated experience economy principles, fostering both guest satisfaction and employee engagement. 
• Mastering Restaurant Marketing: Insights on Acquisition, Retention, and Word of Mouth presented by Mike Bausch, Owner, Andolini's Worldwide & The Unsliced Restaurant System and Danielle Eickenhorst, CEO, HuSTL Hospitality with Chip Klose, Founder, Restaurant Strategy Podcast moderating. In this session, attendees will learn how to develop an actionable and practical marketing strategy by identifying clear objectives, a target audience, and specific tactics such as a framework, a playbook, word-of-mouth marketing, in-house promotions and goal-setting.
• Why You Should Know Your Guests Better Than Ever Before presented by Scot Turner, Founder & Managing Director, Auden Hospitality. In this session, attendees will discover why understanding guests deeply is crucial in today's competitive landscape.  
• Empowering Profitable Leadership: Hiring for Growth presented by Katie Button, Chef & Founder, Curate, Chief Brand Officer. Explore the strategic aspects of hiring talent and creating new positions as a business expands. In this session, attendees will learn how to build a strong leadership team.

Bar & Restaurant Expo Texas speakers are excited to share their expertise with attendees:

• "Independents finally have an advantage with great reviews and proper marketing. How do you streamline it? I’ll detail how I turned Tulsa into the second-best-reviewed Pizza City in America on Google, second only to NYC, using the strategies I live and breathe," said Mike Bausch, Owner, Andolini's Worldwide & The Unsliced Restaurant System. 
• “As restaurant and hospitality owners and operators, we all go through the same phases of growth, struggles, and plateau at similar times for similar reasons. It takes stepping back from the day in and day out demands of a bar or restaurant, connecting with and networking with other owners and operators who are facing the same challenges, and listening to the presentations which will spark not only the recognition and understanding of the collective struggles all operators face, but also to hear clear solutions and ideas for getting past your most urgent hurdles,” said Katie Button, Chief Brand Officer, Chef and Founder, Cúrate. 
• “Are you struggling fighting the same battles every day? Spending all your time reacting to your business and not growing it? The GM masterclass will teach you how to build a culture of accountability that will allow you to spend less time putting out fires and more time on building & enhancing your business,” said Dave Sincebaugh, Chief Operating Officer, Kaskaid Hospitality.

To register to attend Bar & Restaurant Expo Texas, click here. Passes start at $99 through September 8.

Suppliers in the food and beverage industry can request exhibit and sponsor information here. For Bar & Restaurant Expo Texas sponsorship, contact Kyle Zegan at kzegan@questex.com.

Learn more about Bar & Restaurant Expo Texas hotel and travel here.

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