National Restaurant Association: Signature ‘16
Attendance doubles after GPJ’s reinvention of the keynote session
At the largest annual gathering of the restaurant, foodservice and hospitality industry, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) focuses on connecting directly with members. By partnering with GPJ for Signature ‘16, the NRA hoped to do just that – but in a whole new way. GPJ was empowered to completely reimagine the keynote experience:
- Owning the strategy, design and production of the entire keynote session from end-to-end
- Promoting audience engagement and participation through live polling – a first for the NRA show
- Developing and executing onstage content, providing consultation and development for cohesive transitions, as well as video strategy, concept and direction
With GPJ designing and producing the NRA keynote session for the first time, we first launched a social and content strategy to promote the experience on every level: digital, social, print, email and beyond. To promote audience engagement and participation during the session, we incorporated live polling – a new addition to the NRA show. Then, we created the content strategy to dictate the look, spirit, pace, and engagement of the experience. Finally, we developed and produced onstage content, providing consultation and development for cohesive transitions, as well as video strategy, concept and direction.
As the lights dimmed for this year’s show, double the previous year’s audience packed in to hear speakers such as Kimbal Musk of The Kitchen, Denny Marie Post of Red Robin, and Jason Droege of Uber Everything explore disruption within the industry. Each of these leaders demonstrated how they’re turning the tables and preparing for the future of the business. This compelling content, coupled with over half of the room participating in live polling, sent a strong message to all attendees that while tastes may change, the association will always keep you educated and able to act in time.
