NRA Show Surveys Social Media Horizon

With eight out of 10 restaurant operators saying social media will be an increasingly important marketing tool, the National Restaurant Association will feature leading social media players at its upcoming Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show (May 21-24, Chicago). Event attendees will have a chance to interact with companies like Facebook, Google, Groupon, LivingSocial, Social Grub, TravelZoo, Where and Yelp to explore how their services can help restaurants become more talked about and recommended, grow business and build customer loyalty.

"Social media-savvy consumers dine out more often and show a higher level of engagement in the restaurant community than other consumers, so building a strong social media marketing strategy is a smart move for restaurateurs," says C.W. Craig Reed, Convention Chair for NRA Show 2011 and director of food and beverage at Colorado’s Broadmoor Hotel. "This year's NRA Show presents social media marketing leaders to help restaurant and hospitality operators navigate the world of online word-of-mouth marketing to reach and interact with more consumers."

The upcoming show will host a series of social media-focused education sessions to highlight best-in-class strategies and implementation, featuring both social media companies and restaurant operators. Attendees will learn about group buying, integrating social media and geo-social applications with POS systems, using social media channels in human resources and more. Social media education session highlights include:

• Making Friends, Building Followers and Turning Fans Into Ambassadors Through Social Media
• Using Social Media Technologies to Reward Brand Loyalty
• Collective Buying: How Social Commerce Can Help Your Restaurant Find New Customers
• The Power of Social Media INSIDE Your Organization
• The Future of Social Media and Word of Mouth for the Restaurant
• Debate: Are online reviews a good or bad thing?

All told, this year’s NRA Show will feature more than 70 free education sessions on trends, strategies and best practices led by top industry leaders and experts. For a full schedule of sessions, visit www.restaurant.org/show.

Additionally, NRA Show 2011 and International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event (IWSB) now have the ability through eventSocial—an online social media tool—to log into their social networks and e-mail accounts, identify fellow registrants already in their networks, connect with them, and post show-related updates to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Visitors will also be able to check in for the first time to NRA Show and IWSB and key show floor areas using Facebook Places from their smart phones.