2023 Agenda
Sunday, October 1, 2023
9:00am – 7:00pm
Welcome Desk/Badge Pick Up
2:00pm – 5:00pm
CREATE Your Experience: Cool Things Tour
Meet up with your restaurant industry peers and immerse yourself in the desert vibes that only Palm Springs can offer! Choose from among multiple local tours and activities to spend a fun and relaxing afternoon. More details to come. Pre-registration required.
- Excursion: Red Jeep Tour
- Excursion: Restaurant Tour
- Excursion: St. Somewhere Spa Experience
- Excursion: Aerial Tramway/San Jacinto Mountain
- Excursion: BMW Racetrack
- Excursion: Poolside Cabana Experience at Margaritaville
5:00pm – 7:00pm
CREATE Poolside Party
Enjoy the vibrant Palm Springs restaurant scene for dinner on your own.
Monday, October 2, 2023
7:00am – 7:00pm
Welcome Desk/Open
8:00am – 9:00am
Breakfast
9:00am – 9:15am
Opening Kick Off (Main Stage)
9:15am – 10:15am
Opening Kick Off (Main Stage)
10:15am – 10:30am
Break
10:30am – 11:45am
CREATED Talks on Main Stage
A series of fast-paced, TED-style talks designed to share tangible business-building ideas in the areas of Finance, Technology and Operations.
10:30 a.m.-10:35 a.m.
Introduction
10:35 a.m.-10:55 a.m.
CREATED Talk: Finance
Lauren Fernandez, CEO, Full Course
11:00 a.m.-11:20 a.m.
CREATED Talk: Technology
Speaker Juan George, Co-Founder, 858 Partners
11:25 a.m.-11:45 a.m.
CREATED Talk: Operations
Speaker TBD
11:45am – 1:00pm
Pop Up Festival
1:00pm – 2:45pm
Table Talk Roundtable Sessions
Participate in fast-paced, interactive roundtable discussions designed to tackle the biggest challenges for emerging growth restaurant leaders.
1:00 p.m.-1:20 p.m.
Table Talk Conversation Starter Panel Discussion
1:20 p.m.-1:40 p.m.
Table Talk Roundtable Discussions (Round 1)
Technology Innovation: Discussion Leader:
Growth & Finance: Discussion Leader:
Customer Experience: Discussion Leader:
Operational Excellence: Discussion Leader:
1:40 p.m.-1:45 p.m.
Wrap Up Remarks
1:45 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
Break
2:00 p.m.-2:20 p.m.
Table Talk Conversation Starter Panel Discussion
2:20 p.m.-2:40 p.m.
Table Talk Roundtable Discussions (Round 2)
Technology Innovation
Growth & Finance
Customer Experience
Operational Excellence
2:40 p.m.-2:45 p.m.
Wrap Up Remarks
2:45pm – 3:45pm
Pop Up Festival
3:45pm – 4:45pm
Founders Forum on the Main Stage
Inspirational conversations with restaurant company founders who have blazed new trails for emerging restaurateurs. Audience Q&A is encouraged!
Panel Moderator: Sam Oches, Editor-in-Chief, Nation’s Restaurant News
Panel Member: Nathaniel Ru, Co-Founder, Chief Brand Officer, sweetgreen
Panel Member: Lauren Bailey, CEO/Co-Founder, Upward Projects
5:00pm – 7:00pm
Opening Celebration: Desert Vibes Only!
Sponsored by Johnsonville Foodservice
Join us at the Lone Palm Pool for a starry night in Palm Springs! Enjoy live music, great food, and tasty cocktails.
Explore the vibrant Palm Springs restaurant scene for dinner on your own.
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
7:30am – 8:30am
Breakfast
8:30am – 10:00am
CREATE Main Stage
8:30am – 8:45am
Texas Pete® Kitchen Hero Cook-Off
8:45am – 10:00am
CREATORS Awards Panel
Sponsored by Dr Pepper Keurig
10:00am – 10:30am
Break
10:30am – 11:45am
Festival Program:
Ask the Experts, Lightning Keynotes, Fireside Chats
The Festival Program features 30-minute bursts of future-focused, interactive conversations and informative presentations designed to provide you with the key takeaways you need to move your business forward.
Ask the Experts Session 1
Topic:
Speaker(s): Mario Del Pero, Founder, DOM Food Group
Lightning Keynote 1
Topic:
Speaker(s):
Fireside Chats 1
Topic:
Speaker(s):
Ask the Experts Session 2
Topic:
Speaker(s):
Lightning Keynote 2
Topic:
Speaker(s):
11:00am – 11:15am
Break
Ask the Experts Session 1
Topic:
Speaker(s): Bryce Fluellen, Philanthropy, EveryTable
Lightning Keynote 1
Topic:
Speaker(s):
Fireside Chats 1
Topic:
Speaker(s):
Ask the Experts Session 2
Topic:
Speaker(s):
Lightning Keynote 2
Topic:
Speaker(s):
11:45am – 1:00pm
Pop Up Festival
1:00pm – 2:15pm
Festival Program:
Ask the Experts, Lightning Keynotes, Fireside Chats
The Festival Program features 30-minute bursts of future-focused, interactive conversations and informative presentations designed to provide you with the key takeaways you need to move your business forward.
Ask the Experts Session 1
Topic:
Speaker(s): Stacy Petersen, CEO, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
Lightning Keynote 1
Topic:
Speaker(s):
Fireside Chats 1
Topic:
Speaker(s):
Ask the Experts Session 2
Topic:
Speaker(s):
Lightning Keynote 2
Topic:
Speaker(s):
1:30pm – 1:45pm
Break
Ask the Experts Session 1
Topic:
Speaker(s): ): Andy Hooper, CEO, Hart House
Lightning Keynote 1
Topic:
Speaker(s):
Fireside Chats 1
Topic:
Speaker(s):
Ask the Experts Session 2
Topic:
Speaker(s):
Lightning Keynote 2
Topic:
Speaker(s):
2:15pm – 3:15pm
Pop Up Festival
3:15pm – 4:15pm
Hot Concepts Awards & Panel on the Main Stage
This session is HOT! Let’s celebrate the 2023 Nation’s Restaurant News Hot Concepts winners at this high-energy session featuring the leaders of the hottest new restaurant concepts in the country.
Panel Moderator: Fred LeFranc
4:15pm – 4:30pm
Break
4:30pm – 5:30pm
Closing Keynote: From Fame to Foodservice: An Evening with Danny Trejo
Join NRN’s Editor-in-Chief, Sam Oches for a fascinating discussion with famed actor turned restaurateur and cookbook author, Danny Trejo. From years of imprisonment to helping troubled youth battle drug addictions, from acting to producing, and now on to restaurant ventures, Trejo’s name, face, and achievements are well recognized in Hollywood and beyond. Trejo’s expanding restaurant empire includes Trejo’s Tacos & Cantina and Trejo’s Coffee & Donut, with a fifth restaurant opening in downtown Los Angeles in March.
Trejo shares his love of food in Trejo’s Tacos: Recipes and Stories from L.A. and Trejo’s Cantina, a book about cocktails, snacks & amazing non-alcoholic drinks from the heart of Hollywood (release April 2023).
5:30pm – 7:30pm
CREATE 2024 Kick-Off Party: Nashville Style!
Join us at the Oasis Garden where keynote speaker Danny Trejo will be on hand for a meet and greet. No “closing” vibes for CREATE! Instead, let’s kick off CREATE 2024 to be held in October 9-11, 2024 in Nashville.
