- 2 days ago
Marcus Viscidi, Vice President of Sales for Informa, oversees industry gatherings like Create and the National Restaurant Association Show. By bringing the right operators and partners together, he helps restaurant brands connect, learn, and grow.
Watch now to learn how emerging brands grow outside their four walls, why connection beats convenience, and how the right event can change a business.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
Watch now to learn how emerging brands grow outside their four walls, why connection beats convenience, and how the right event can change a business.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
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00:00I think events are great. I mean, the human connection, you know, we are social beings,
00:04right? And coming to these things, getting away from your day-to-day, seeing some content that
00:09inspires you, networking with some peers that enjoy, you know, your presence and help level
00:13up your game. I mean, that's what it's all about. Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by
00:24Entrepreneur. I'm your host, Sean Walshup. This is a Cali BBQ Media production. We are in Nashville,
00:30Tennessee at the Create Conference for Emerging Restaurants. I have Marcus Veciti, who is the
00:37Vice President of Events for Informa. Marcus, welcome to the show. Yeah, thank you, Sean. I
00:42appreciate it for being here. Number one, thank you for the hospitality. I appreciate you letting
00:45our media team come. This is my first time at the conference. It is incredible energy to see
00:51emerging brands, meeting with partners, meeting with content. I think, you know, when we started
00:58this show, my goal was to reach as many restauranteurs, hospitality professionals,
01:03entrepreneurs, and realize that most of the secrets aren't in our four walls of our business. You
01:09actually have to get out of your four walls. You run events for Informa. Give us high level.
01:14Who is Informa and how many events do you guys put on throughout the year? Yeah, no, I appreciate that,
01:18Sean. So I work for Informa. It's a large publicly traded B2B media and marketing and events company
01:23based out of the UK. So we operate trade shows, conferences, and events in a lot of different
01:27markets and industries. And we are the food service market. So we do a lot of things, right? We own
01:31the National Restaurant Association show. We have our own media assets like Restaurant Business Online,
01:36Nation's Restaurant News. And then I'm over our food service events alongside Chris Keating. And,
01:41you know, we do a lot of events, right? We do events for the enterprise. We do tech events. We do
01:46international events. But Create is really for the emerging restaurateur. And I just really love this
01:51audience, right? It's primarily comprised of brands that have between 10 and 200 locations. So
01:56these brands, they're growing, they're nimble, they're making decisions quicker. And they're
02:02really eager to learn, right? So what I've seen here over the past couple of days is just a lot of
02:05engagement from operators to suppliers, to partners, to peers. And it's just a really lovely atmosphere,
02:12right? So I've really enjoyed the event this year. And it's really the only event exclusively catered
02:18to this segment of growing brands. How do I get to that next level? How do I go from 50 stores to 500
02:22stores? Is it the right capital partners? Is it the right franchisee partners? So we've been discussing
02:27all things around how do you grow when you're at this critical phase? And it's good. Vibes are great,
02:33and we've enjoyed it.
02:34So we're recording this in October of 2025. One of the things we love about digital content,
02:38it lives forever. It's a chance for us to look at what did we say in 2025? And what is the current
02:45state of the restaurant industry from what you hear, from the content that you guys put out,
02:50plus what you're actually hearing in the halls? Yeah, I mean, it's a tough year for restaurants.
02:56I appreciate you being honest. I mean, if we're being completely honest, this is actually the third
03:01worst year in the history of restaurants. Wow. Okay. So 2008, Great Recession, and then 2020,
03:07obviously. And this is the third worst year in the history of restaurants. I mean, this is a market
03:11that traditionally grows one to 5% a year, right? We're having negative growth, and you're seeing it
03:16with the big chains. You're seeing it all up and down the supply chain, right? But the good news is,
03:22this is a fabulous industry. It's not going to be upended or disrupted by AI. You know, we're just
03:27kind of seeing a shift in consumer, right? And consumers either looking for ultimate convenience,
03:32right? Or they want experience. And what I like about these brands is they're kind of at that
03:37intersection of that, right? They're not QSR. Some of them are full service, but others are trying to
03:42do things like ghost kitchens or, you know, grab and go lines. And, you know, it's just an event of
03:48hustlers, right? Trying to figure it out, grinding, opening restaurants, fixing things that don't work,
03:53and, you know, living the life like you know. So we started this show, we built a media company on top
03:59of our barbecue business. We believe that restaurants are more than just selling food.
04:05Yeah. Especially now. I mean, the brands that we admire and that we host on the show, they're in
04:10the CPG space, they're in the media space, they're real estate space, hotels, stadiums. There's so
04:16many different ways that you can grow your restaurant brand. Talk to me about, like, when did
04:21restaurant become a career for you? Yeah, I actually started in food service media,
04:27like 13, 14 years ago. And then had a chance to meet a gentleman named David Jobe, who kind of
04:33brought me into the events world. And then a couple acquisitions later, right, I ended up here at
04:38Informa. But it's a great industry. I mean, I love the people, the passion, the product, obviously, food
04:44is the best. But it's a great business, you know, and I, you know, look at events as something that's
04:50not going away, right? They're not, it's not, especially in this market, right? It's not going to get
04:53upended by AI. And I actually think, like, live events are really going to be very important in
04:58the future, you know, because there's a lot of stuff out there. And I think, like, what you see
05:02with your own two eyes is what you believe to be true, right? And that's a single source of truth,
05:07that's media, that's in person. So, yeah, I like what I do. I think it's a great business. And it's,
05:13you know, it's fun.
05:14So I was talking to a tech founder earlier this morning, and an operator, and we were talking about
05:20the power of events. And what he was saying was, there was somebody that he really wanted to meet,
05:26and he was here at the show. And he's like, the only time that I can meet with them is when they
05:31get out of their business, because they get business done in person. Like, this is a CTO
05:37that literally won't check email, won't respond to texts, won't respond to phone calls, because
05:41they're busy. But then when they come in person, they make magic happens. And they credit, you know,
05:47events like this that Informa puts on for helping move their business forward.
05:50Yeah, I think events are great. I mean, the human connection, you know, we are social beings,
05:56right? And coming to these things, getting away from your day to day, seeing some content that
06:00inspires you, networking with some peers that enjoy, you know, your presence and help level up
06:05your game. I mean, that's what it's all about, right? It's trying to get the right people in the
06:08right environment, right time, right place. And community matters, right? Because, you know,
06:12you look at Restaurant Leadership Conference, that's for the enterprise, right? The challenges
06:17of the needs of somebody who's got 15 restaurants is very different than what the CIO of CKE or
06:22Hardee's or McDonald's is dealing with. So it's about getting the right people, right place,
06:28so that they can exchange ideas, best practices, level up together.
06:31How long has this particular Create Conference been around?
06:35The Create backstory is very interesting, actually. So this event was the original Mufso,
06:41Mufso. And Mufso was Nation's Restaurant News' Super Bowl conference. I think it was launched
06:47in the 60s, right? So it stood for multi-unit food service operators. And it was like a masonry
06:53event. I'm telling you, all the winning guys, they wore suits. I'm telling you, it was crazy.
06:58But then COVID hit and Sam and his team kind of reimagined it, right? Because they looked at
07:04what events are out there, what isn't out there. And there's this niche of emerging brands,
07:08right? And then my group, we took over kind of the sales and stuff and allowed Sam and his team
07:13to focus on the great content and the experience. And it's been great. I was super bullish on this
07:17event last year, and I maintain to be bullish on it for next year and going forward.
07:22So we have a lot of technologists that believe in the restaurant space. They follow our content.
07:27They listen to the show. Talk to them specifically about the value prop of attending events,
07:33participating, sponsoring, getting on panels, doing all the things that you guys offer.
07:37Yeah. I mean, listen, I think the right event can help anyone's business, whether you're a vendor,
07:43whether you're an operator, you know, the key with events is really identifying who's going to be at
07:48the event, right? The audience, the attendees, and tailoring that message, right? Because, you know,
07:53what you say to, you know, a CTO of McDonald's or Taco Bell or Yum Brands is very different than what
07:59you say to an owner operator of 20 locations. And that requires some work, right? You got to know the
08:03audience, know what the different activations and opportunities are, and then whatever budget you
08:08have, find a way to be integrated into the experience, right? And that's just how I tell
08:12people to think about all events is who's going, how do we make the most impact with our dollars as
08:18possible? And how do we, you know, continue the good vibes?
08:22Did you know that Toast powers over 140,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada,
08:28and UK? It's an incredible company. I'm on the Toast customer advisory board. They are proud
08:34sponsors of this show, Restaurant Influencers. We couldn't do it without their support. They power
08:38our barbecue restaurants in San Diego. If you have questions about Toast, if you're thinking about
08:44bringing Toast on to be your primary technology partner at your restaurants, please reach out to me.
08:49I'm happy to get a local Toast representative to take care of you. You can reach me at Sean P.
08:55Welch on Instagram. Once again, thank you to Toast for believing in the power of technology,
09:00the power of storytelling, the power of hospitality. Back to the show.
09:05Can you share a story about an event that made an impact on you about the work that you guys do?
09:11I've been to a lot of events. You know, I found the events coming out of COVID really
09:19validating, right? You know, because it was a nightmare, right? We were like, when we were
09:24like canceling these events, we were calling people up and asking them to keep their deposits.
09:30It was really messy, right? And I'm like sitting there, I'm like, you know, I got to go get a new
09:34job, right? I got to get out of this thing. But the second it came back, right? You're like, wow,
09:39like what we do matters, right? People actually care and like important people, right? You know,
09:43like people that are, you know, representing hundreds of thousands of employees, right?
09:49Or like, I can't wait to be back to these things, right? I'm committed. We want to go to these
09:53things. And that was kind of the moment when I was like, you know, like this thing that I do might
09:58not go away, right? You know, because if you're looking at your career, it's 20, 30 years, you know,
10:03and you don't want to be in a situation where you wake up one day and you're like selling horse and
10:07buggies, you know? And I like events. I think they're good. They're hard to do,
10:11you know, hard to do well. But I think Informa does a really good job. You know,
10:15I think there's a lot of good events out there, but I think we do a good job.
10:17Can you tell me about your position on storytelling from events? I mean,
10:21the fact that you guys let, you know, our team come here, there's another podcast over there.
10:26We all consume content in much different ways in 2025 than we did, you know, even 10 years ago.
10:32Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, content is everything, right? It is. I mean, it's what happens here can live
10:39on for a while, right? And it can reverberate and it can impact people that aren't here, right? And
10:45you know, we have a media business and media, it's changing. It's changing very quickly, right?
10:52Where people get information, the sources of information that they trust, how they like
10:56search for things. And it's exciting, you know, because it really allows for a lot of array of
11:02different voices and stories being told, right? And like, who is that storyteller? Who is that
11:07new news reporter, right? So yeah, I'm very, you know, interestingly and keenly watching,
11:13you know, the current state as well as the future state of media, but storytelling's at the core of
11:17it, right? If you can tell a good story, tell it. So you're in the business of getting restauranteurs
11:23out of their restaurants to come and continue their education. What do you do to get out of the
11:28event business to continue your education on events? Oh, go to other events. I don't know.
11:33Go to enough events. You know, event people go to event. Oh, yeah. IMAX, the international meeting
11:42events. Oh, please. There are events for event planners. Oh, yeah. No, no, no. There's I mean,
11:48listen, these hotels, they want to work with us, right? So they want to show us their property and
11:53get people to come. And I mean, I don't get to go on the site visits because I'm, you know,
11:58not as good at some of our meeting planners. They are great. But, you know, the ones that do,
12:03I mean, yes, they are, they are the red carpets rolled out and they, you know, because these
12:08hotels, right? I mean, they're in the hospitality business, right? They're feeding us, they're
12:12housing us, they're entertaining us, right? And we love the hotels we work with. We have great
12:17partnerships with all the brands, right? Across the informal portfolio, across our stuff. So yeah,
12:23I don't go to the event events, but people do go to the event events. How do you guys look from a
12:29strategic standpoint of where? Yeah, no, great question. Yeah. I mean, listen, location's very
12:36important, right? So you have two options. Again, it's convenience or destination, right? So like
12:41Dallas is great. Chicago's good. You know, anywhere you can pull from East and West. You know, we're
12:48going to Southern California next year for create. Oh yeah. Terrania, which is sick. It's beautiful in July.
12:53You know, but what's interesting is that's kind of like the land of, I mean, California
12:57has, you know, a hundred thousand restaurants, right? So there's hundreds and thousands of
13:02groups that are exactly like that we want to come to create, right? And, you know, like
13:08we've rotated this, we've done it in Palm Springs, we've done it here, we've done it in Denver.
13:12I think we'll continue to rotate this one around, but some of our other ones are locked and loaded
13:16where they are at forever, you know? So one of the cool things I saw, you guys did a speed
13:22network event, which I actually, frankly, I haven't seen it done anywhere. I've talked to
13:27both vendors and operators about it and the feedback's been phenomenal. Good. Yeah. Forcing,
13:33like, it's so interesting as humans, like we go to an event and we want to meet new people,
13:38but then we tend to hang with the people we know. Yeah, exactly. It's so weird. Yeah, I know. But like
13:43forcing people to be uncomfortable. I'm a huge fan of just from a, you know, sociology,
13:49psychological experiments. Yeah, no, it's true. And from a business standpoint, it's very valuable
13:55because then you get to learn. Yeah, 100%. 100%. Yeah, I mean, listen, this event's kind of
14:00nebulous, right? It's not a big, massive trade show. It's not a little small meeting, right? So
14:04like, what could we do to not force engagement, but like make it so that like both sides of the aisle
14:11are seen value, right? So we use this AI tool called Grip. It does double match opt-ins, right? And you
14:17basically, you know, get meetings based upon criteria, but for the operators, right? The
14:22restaurant executives, I think they liked it because it allowed them to kind of control who
14:25they wanted to meet with, right? I mean, they come to these things and they're kind of like red meat,
14:29you know, it's like, you know, I want to tell you this, you know, but it's like, no, like they can
14:33also be in control of what they want, right? With their time and how they spend their time. And
14:37yeah, I mean, we, it's the number one question we get, right? What, what, what event can I buy
14:42meetings at? I'm like, I didn't really want to do, we've tried it at RLC. We tried it. It's just like
14:46pulling teeth a little bit, but here it works and it's great. Uh, the vibes are good. It was
14:51not like chaotic. It really exceeded my expectation. I was, I was hoping for like a B minus and I think
14:55I'd give it like a B plus a minus for sure. Yeah, it was good. I'm really happy with it.
14:59Can you lay out the roadmap for 2026 or someone that's watching this listening to this? Like
15:03what should they be putting a pin in the calendar? Yeah. I mean, for sure. Like it all comes down to
15:08who's listening to this, right? So if you're a CEO or a, you know, big brand executive at one of the top,
15:13you know, a hundred brands by location count, you know, you should come to restaurant leadership
15:16conference. If you are a single or multi-unit independent, you know, come to Chicago for the
15:21national restaurant association show. I mean, if you're only going to go to one event a year,
15:24like that's the one place where you can see everything, all your food, all your equipment,
15:28all your tech, right? Um, if you're one of these like aspiring, developing, growing brands that have
15:3310, 20, 30 locations, I think create is perfect for you. Um, that's going to be in July 22nd through the
15:4125th, I think. All right, whatever. But sometime in that timeframe in Terrania, California, um,
15:47we have a tech event called FS tech and then there's all other events, right? So prosper does
15:51a lot of stuff with like leadership and development. Uh, QSR evolution is for like the QSR segment,
15:57fast casual. So yeah, there's a lot of great events, right? And you know, frankly, you could
16:01probably spend your whole life going to events if you wanted to in the restaurant industry, but pick a
16:05few that you think will help your business, inspire you, uh, get you excited for the next quarter.
16:11And you recently told me that you're going stealth on social. Oh, a little bit. I, you know, I don't
16:16know. I was very, I know I'm here to put you on the spot, but I don't want you to go. I know,
16:22I know, but you know, people are watching and they are inspired by where you are, by what you're
16:27doing. Yeah. I appreciate that. Humans follow humans. Yes. Much. Yes. As incredible as Informa is,
16:33as incredible, like a credible Cali barbecue, like humans follow humans. Yeah. Well, people,
16:37people are the brands, people are the brands, you know, and I know who's there. They want to know
16:40why they're there. They want to know that they, that it's valuable for you to leave your family
16:44to be here. Yeah, no, that's true. People are the brands, um, but we have great people, right?
16:48And, um, you know, we are, uh, we're a good business and it's a fun business and we like our
16:52business and, um, you know, we're going to continue to do cool stuff like this. Well, we, uh, we are
16:57grateful. If you guys are watching this, please, uh, go. What, what's the best website? You guys have so many
17:01websites. Uh, Informa dot food service slash hospitality. No, just, just Google Informa food
17:08service. You'll get it all right. Restaurants, grocery, C store, non-commercial. Uh, we got all
17:13the tools, all the things you need, uh, to do your job better. That's amazing. Uh, if you guys want to
17:18reach out to me, I'm weirdly available at Sean P. Well, chef on Instagram's the fastest, but all the
17:23platforms, uh, Marcus, thank you for the hospitality. Thank you to the Informa team. Thank you to Joe
17:28Donnelly. Uh, we are grateful for all of the access, all of the things that you guys allow
17:33us to do. Um, we hope that these events continue to grow. We hope that this industry continues
17:38to grow. Um, it is not an easy industry. It's a beautiful industry. It's not, and I will tell
17:45you that going to these events re-energizes me. Um, it re-energizes my team and I've made
17:51lifelong friends by coming out here. Yeah, no, it's a great industry. I mean, it's, it's a grind,
17:55right. But what is it? Um, but it's a great industry. It's a vibrant industry. It's a diverse
18:00industry and it's a fun industry, right? You know what I mean? It's just all the things,
18:04right. And, um, you know, it's like the mob. Once you're in your end. There it is. We appreciate
18:11you as always. Stay curious, get involved. Don't be afraid to ask for help. We'll catch you guys on
18:15the next episode. Thank you for watching. Thank you for listening. If you've made it this long,
18:22you are part of the community. You're part of the tribe. We can't do this alone. We started,
18:26no one was listening. Now we have a community of digital hospitality leaders all over the globe.
18:32Please check out our new series called restaurant technology, sub stack. It's a sub stack newsletter.
18:37It's free. It's some of our deep work on the best technology for restaurants. Also go to YouTube
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18:48new original content. Hopefully you guys like that content. If you want to work with us,
18:52go to eat the show.media. We show up all over the United States, some international countries.
18:58We would love to work with you and your growing brand on digital storytelling. You can reach out
19:02to me anytime at Sean P. Wellchef on Instagram. I'm weirdly available. Stay curious, get involved.
19:08Don't be afraid to ask for help. We'll catch you next episode.
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