This
year's show was busier than I anticipated (thought the economy would
take a bigger toll). It's pretty much a local show these days, but
there were lots of people milling around and many of them spent time in
the technology pavilion, though I did notice some tech companies
exhibiting out amongst the non-tech companies. (Maybe they wanted to be
next to the plentiful food tastings)
The technology companies
exhibiting were most of the usual players. There were a few new folks
showing off their online ordering software and some others with
employee scheduling. (One company was named Monkey something, not sure
what they do, but they were giving out bananas and all had monkey
t-shirts on, I have to give them an 'A' for effort)
Lots of
companies were showing off their new iPhone apps. Congratulations Steve
Jobs, Apple has finally penetrated the restaurant business!
I
have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with the technology
discussions. The panelists were very forthcoming with their experiences
and really had some great insights for their audience. It wasn't about
shilling for a specific vendor, it was just about educating. If anyone
is interested, I do believe that they sell recordings of the
presentations and I highly recommend the marketing one to all the
operators out there.
So that's a wrap. Nothing too exciting on
the technology front, but it's always nice to say "hi" to old friends
and hopefully make a few new ones.