Well, I’m not sure that having fun was all that we wanted to do at The NAFEM Show 2019 in Orlando, Fla., but I can tell you that we certainly had some. (Yep — another reference to Sheryl Crow, who I would like to thank for tossing me her guitar pick.)
Thank you to all the people who came by the Zoomba Group booth to say hello, sign up to receive one of our publications and maybe have a picture taken on the cover of either FE&S or rd+d magazine. Our tireless photographer took more than 600 cover photos in the booth during the course of three days.
We absolutely love the feedback that we get from readers about our magazines at The NAFEM Show. It’s a connection that leads to fresh, relevant editorial content and that is, after all, what we are all about.
I do have one funny story to share with you about “booth photos gone viral in the digital age” that occurred at The NAFEM Show. On the last day of the show, I was intercepted in the aisle by a bemused but slightly wild-eyed reader asking me if he was going to be in trouble. It turns out that he and his business partner had taken a cover photo with us and, as a lark, put it up on Facebook with a caption telling people that they had just received a big award. Within a few hours they had more than 400 congratulatory messages, including one from a very excited spouse. The two pranksters rushed back to the booth for a second photo with heads bowed deeply in shame by way of apology.
From fake awards to real ones: FE&S will hand out its Top Achiever Awards on May 18 at the FE&S Dealer of the Year and All Industry Awards Gala, held the Saturday night of the National Restaurant Association Show, at Four Seasons Hotel Chicago.
This year’s roster of winners includes:
- Top Achiever-Operator: Angelo Mojica, senior director food and culinary services, John Hopkins Health System, Baltimore.
- Top Achiever-Dealer: Charlie Fusari, CEO, Myers Restaurant Supply, Santa Rosa, Calif.
- Top Achiever-Consultant: Amy Hegarty, principal, Foodservice Consultants Studio, Henrico, Va.
- Top Achiever-Service Agent: Nick Cribb, president and chief operating officer, SAM Service Inc., Albay, Ga.
- Top Achiever-Rep: Karen Higgins, president, 4 Star Reps, Philadelphia.
And, as previously announced, FE&S’ 2019 Dealer of the Year, TriMark USA, and Hall of Fame Award recipient Julaine Kiehn, retired director, campus dining services for the University of Missouri, will be on hand to accept their awards.
