25th Annual UCLA Extension Restaurant Industry Conference

The Restaurant Executive Conference Hosted by UCLA Extension is being held May 2, 2024, at the Luskin Conference Center on the UCLA campus. This year will mark the Conference’s 25th Anniversary.

The theme is “Redefining Hospitality: We’re Serving Potential,” and the speakers will engage, educate and inspire you. Lynsi Snyder, president of In-N-Out and passionate philanthropist through Slave 2 Nothing Foundation, will be our Foodmanitarian winner. Lynsi will be interviewed by Robert Wallan, In-N-Out’s long-time counsel and partner at Pillsbury. Joth Ricci, former CEO of Dutch Bros. Coffee, known as the “Founder Whisperer” for good reason, will receive our Innovation Award. Lauren Bailey, CEO of Upwards Projects, will have an armchair conversation with Joth. Rahul Aggarwal, partner at Brentwood Associates, will moderate a President’s Panel, which will focus on “Controlling What You Can Control” and include insights from Jason McGowan, founder and CEO of Crumbl Cookies, Chris Simms, CEO and founder, Lazy Dog, and Steve Salm, CEO, PLANTA. Professor Jerry Nickelsburg from the UCLA Anderson Forecast will give an economic forecast discussing the state of the restaurant industry.

Alex Eagle, CEO of Freebirds World Burrito, and John Dilazzaro, CFO of Innovative Dining Group, will help remove the mystery from dynamic pricing in a panel moderated by Tammy Billings, a restaurant technology consultant. Briana Valdez, founder and CEO of HomeState, and Sean Reiter, director, brand revenue, The Melt, will discuss the importance of off-premises dining in a panel moderated by Chris Webb, CEO of ChowNow. Maureen Burns from Bain & Company will discuss GenAI in the restaurant business. Rocky Meron, director of sales, GreenLeaf, David Kraus, chief strategy officer, Produce Alliance, and Scott Sanders, recently retired CEO of Foodbuy USA, will discuss supply chain solutions and purchasing strategies.