You could say that changeis part of NRA’s, well, recipe for success.“The restaurant industry depends on us to be innovative,” said Mary Pat Heft- man, executive vice president, convention.“You have to continually be investing in looking for oppor- tunities to present information to them that helps them in their business as they move forward.And particularly, as the world moves on and people are so much in the digital world that when they get out —and younger people experience things differently —they’re looking to be more engaged.”
whole new item. It was easy to see, it was fun.You felt like you were at a television-show production.” Having an emcee also brought the production up
a notch.“Some presenters are good and some aren’t,” Heftman said. “But with a good emcee, they can really engage the presenter and entertain the audience.” NRA took advantage of the fact that the movie
“Eat Pray Love” was coming out shortly after its show, and ran a promotional tie-in.“The movie’s loosely based around food, the restaurant industry,”
As you’d expect, the NRA Show has always
“done things around food, with demonstrations and competitions,” Heftman said, but at McCormick Place in 2010,“we greatly enhanced the production of it.We really moved it to the big stage.We created a television-studio-quality demonstration area with video and lighting and an emcee.” NRA has featured celebrity chefs before, and also
has had a demo area, but it was what Heftman called “modest.” This time around, working with GES, NRA made the demo area “a destination,” she said. “It was an event, and it changed the whole energy level of people as they got there.We branded it the ‘World Culinary Showcase,’ and we launched it as a
NRA worked with Global Experience Specialists to create the World Culinary Showcase at theNRA Show 2010. Throughout the event, world-class chefs and culinary experts took turns demonstrating recipes and techniques to help increase profits and customer satisfaction.
Heftman said. “And it was just fun. I don’t care what industry you’re in. If there are two very similar-type events with similar education, you’re going to pick the one that feels like you may have a little more fun.”
Which was the impetus for another new initia-
tive: an NRA Show flash-mob dance (www.you tube.com/watch?v=WxJx69FTe34). “It was just to bring energy to the crowd. Exhibitors got into it, attendees got into it,” Heftman said. “I say, let peo- ple have fun. Integrate it into their work, integrate it into meetings, conferences, and trade shows.” —Michelle Russell