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Concesssion Tip February 2018 

Staff Appreciation

By: Chris Lauber, University of North Dakota at R.E. Arena

Do you have a program in place for staff appreciation? If you do, that is fantastic and keep it up! If you don’t, put it on your to do list to figure out some way to show appreciation to your staff, it goes a long way. For 10 the years I spent at an account in Denver, CO;  I never had the chance to do a staff appreciation program, end of year party, or even just a holiday party.  When I got to Oregon in 2013, we did both holiday parties and end of season parties. Now I’m at Ralph Engelstad Arena at North Dakota University and we have a whole program for staff appreciation.

Here are some of the items we do for our staff:

• Christmas Party for each department (required by management)
• Twice a season, we feed all staff a catered dinner before the game. Usually simple like chili or pasta bake. (Staff does not get free meals or drinks during events, only half off pricing)
• End of season Staff Appreciation Dinner and Awards night
• Above and Beyond Program
• If you get nominated, your name goes in a monthly drawing for gift cards.
• At the end of the season, all names are put back in the drawing and we draw one name and they get tickets, hotel, and food for the NCHC Playoffs in Minneapolis, MN

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Site Visit - University Maryland Basketball Game

Several years ago, a few NACC schools offered to host a football or basketball event for any of our members to attend. This provided a great opportunity for our members to see another operation in action. 

University of Maryland wanted to start this again, they invited members to join them at the Saturday, February 24 at 12 Noon when the Maryland Terrapins host the Michigan Wolverines!  Michigan won the game but it was still a fun time for concessions that day!!

They started the morning with a quick tour of the facility and talk about our Concessions and Catering operations. During the event, you were free to roam around the building observing, eating, taking notes, and see how they operate concessions at Maryland. After the event, we regrouped and Chuck answered questions. Catering staff, was invite to attend as well where they observed suite and club room service. 

Our building holds 17,950 and has 12 permanent concessions stands, 2 hot food carts, 1 Chick Fil A Cart and 7 beer cart locations. Beer is sold in all locations with the exception of the food carts and Chick Fil A. We have 20 suites along with 2 pre-game and half-time bar areas. 

This was a free event! Maryland provided you with access for the game and food. All you had to be responsible for was all travel, hotel and any other costs. 

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Site Visit Invite - BYU 4th of July

We at BYU would like to invite you to join us for a wonderful event and experience you soon won't forget. Each year LaVell Edwards Stadium at BYU hosts the annual "Stadium of Fire" event. It is on and around the 4th of July. The theme is centered around the 4th of July, patriotism, and fun. This year’s program will be OneRepublic, one of the world’s most popular musical groups for more than a decade, will be the headliner at Stadium of Fire on July 4th, 2018, at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah! In addition to OneRepublic, guests will enjoy the beloved patriotic tributes and exciting thrill acts that Stadium of Fire is known for—as well as the largest stadium fireworks show in the nation!

 We feel this would be a great opportunity for many to come see a stadium concessions operation in action with over 40,000 in attendance and at a time other than football season. We open over 50 locations with all types of food and vendors. Here is a link to a map which shows our 2017 offers. 2018 will be very similar.  http://dining.byu.edu/concessions/documents/LVEStadiumConcessionsMap%202017.pdf. We open three sides of the stadium, north, east and west. The stage is set in the south end-zone. Here is a link to our concessions web site for additional info: http://dining.byu.edu/concessions/. 

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Concession Tip November 2017

How New Equipment and Specialty Items Drive Future Success

By: John Gibson, University of North Texas

At its basic level, the top selling food items will always be the staples: Hot Dogs, Nachos and Popcorn. No matter how large and expansive your menu is, these Concessions’ favorites will always lead the charge. However, by offering a limited menu selection, are you losing potential Customers and sales by Customers choosing to purchase from outside vendors or eating elsewhere before or after the game? Through evidence over the past two seasons, I firmly believe that you can increase your operations’ revenue through investing in new equipment and strategically expanding the options available to Customers at the game.

As I transitioned back into Concessions at North Texas during the 2015 football season, I felt that the simpler menu mix offered at the time did not meet the demand and needs of our Customer base. The limited menu did not capitalize on the captive audience available at home football games. Our revenue was capped because fans were choosing to purchase more items from outside vendors, or eating before/after each game. Therefore, I revamped the menu and launched a new Concessions lineup starting with the 2016 Football season. Instead of selling only Hot Dogs, Nachos, Frito Pies, and Cheeseburgers, we were able to offer Brisket Sliders, Brisket Nachos, local Hickory Smoked Sausages, Bratwurst, Jalapeno Cheese Tortilla Wraps, Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches, Grilled Chicken Sandwiches and Personal Pizzas.

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