Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue III, 2011 | Page 8

Chairman’
sNote
BY CHARLES SMITHGALL

Planning Works—Try It!

T

he 2011 Multi-Unit Franchising Conference held in Las Vegas April 27–29 is
now in our rearview mirror and what did
we learn?
Our theme for the conference was “Plan Tomorrow Today,” and the fabulous team at Franchise Update Media Group did just that. At the
planning session in Atlanta in September 2010,
we set a goal to produce the
largest and most successful
Multi-Unit Franchising Conference in the 10-year history
of the event. And guess what?
Planning works.
The program was highlighted
by masterful keynote speakers.
In the opening keynote, Domino’s Pizza CEO
J. Patrick Doyle recounted one of the greatest
reinventions ever in the food industry. The next
morning futurist Jim Carroll told us why innovators will rule the future, and what we can do
about it. Then multi-unit franchisee and NBA
broadcaster Sean Tuohy, immortalized by the
movie “The Blind Side,” told us his inspiring
story firsthand.
On every level, the conference was masterfully
executed. From the sold-out golf tournament and
banquet on Tuesday to the final Friday morning
session with customer service expert John DiJulius, the conference was a smash success.
I had the chance to discuss the value of the
conference with many of my fellow franchisees
both during and afterward, and I am convinced
that, to a person, they all felt they had gotten
their money’s worth by attending. At the end of
each conference, I return to Atlanta optimistic
that I can have a positive impact on our Aaron’s
store operation, armed with the new information
to which I have been exposed.

6

Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue III, 2011

As Mick Jagger once said, “There is nothing
left to prove in rock’n’roll.” In other words, there
are no new ideas—we’re just recycling old ones,
and that’s okay. As long as they work, there is no
pride of authorship here. It’s all in the packaging
and the presentation. Often we hear the same old
idea expressed in a different way, and we finally
get it.
For me, the Exhibit Hall gave me two new
ideas for unit [\