Give an Ovation: A Podcast For Restaurants Ovation

Edward Zimmerman simply had too much good stuff to say to on his first episode, so we invited him back for a second round of Give an Ovation! If you missed it, Edward has over 40 years in the food and hospitality industry and currently uses all of that experience as President of The Food Connector, a company that develops marketing plans for small to mid-size food manufacturers and distributors. 

Edward has been both a restaurant operator and distributor, so he offered some great perspective on building that relationship. Thanks Edward!

Wade Allen is the Senior Vice President and Head of Innovation at Brinker International, the parent company of Chili's Bar and Grill, Maggiano's Little Italy, and their new virtual brand and Wade's passion project, It's Just Wings. Wade spends each day searching for cutting-edge technology in the restaurant space, and shared what's working for him on this episode. He and Zack discuss: 
The importance of focusing on innovationThe most important part of the guest experience todayDrone delivery and the futureMoreThanks Wade!

Pete Peng is the founder and CEO of Jetson, the "Shopify of Voice Commerce". Jetson is a platform that enables businesses of any size to easily sell products and services through voice interfaces using AI technology. On this episode, Pete and Zack discuss how Jetson can help restaurants, how it was funded, and Pete's upcoming appearance on a business-centered reality TV show. Thanks Pete!

Mike Bausch is the Owner of the 17-year-old Andolini's Pizzeria, which was recently voted one of the top 10 Pizzerias in the United States by Tripadvisor. He also wrote the book, "Unsliced: How To Stay Whole In The Pizzeria Industry", is the VP of World Pizza Champion Team, and is a successful public speaker! On this episode, Mike shared his expertise on the following topics: 
Loyalty can be fortuitous or "death"The discipline of organizationDefining why employees would want to work for youGuest experienceDoing more of what's workingThanks Mike!

Warwick McLaren is the VP of Omnichannel Marketing at Global Franchise Group, which includes brands such as Round Table Pizza, Marble Slab Creamery, and Pretzelmaker. He oversees the development and execution of digital strategies across GFG's portfolio, and has learned a lot about digital customer engagement over throughout the pandemic. Lucky for us, he shared a few of his main takeaways from the last year about digital restaurants: 
Frictionless digital customer experienceOnline ordering is still up despite restrictions looseningMeeting your customers where they areGetting comfortably uncomfortableThanks Warwick!

Bill Stavrou is the founder of Foodhaul, a Chicago-based restaurant group that provides under-utilized kitchens with ghost concepts created by notable chefs. Bill's family business has been in operation for over 50 years, and he's now bringing his 30 years of hospitality experience to help restaurants with branding, staffing and costing! Here were a few of Bill's main points on this episode: 
Leveraging under-utilized kitchen spaceGhost kitchens are about storiesHospitality means love, even virtuallyThe world has changed, so change with itThanks Bill!