The Restaurant Loss Prevention and Security Association (RLPSA) has ascended on Denver, Colorado this week for their 2022 Annual Conference. The premier resource for valuable content, powerful networking, and professional growth for loss prevention, safety, and security professionals in the foodservice and restaurant industry, the mission of RLPSA is to educate members on topics that support a safe and secure environment for customers and employees, identify and mitigate risk, protect companies from the erosive effects of crime, address public and government concerns about safety and security and be an advocate for the industry.
The week’s events jumped right in on a busy Sunday with RLPSA’s first ever Franchise Focus Day, a leadership forum covering a series of mission-critical topics for the food service industry. Topics included ‘Building the Foundation for Success for LP, Safety, & Risk Programs,” “Ensuring Drivers are Safe,” “Lessons Learned from Solving the Drive Through Burglaries Across the Country,” and Crisis Management Successes. This was followed by a networking Welcome Reception for the attendees.
Monday kicked off with keynote speaker and global adventurer John Beede shared his thoughts on “How to Conquer Your Fear.” Beede is a mountaineer, global adventurer, author, and environmentalist who has climbed the tallest mountain on all seven continents, including Mount Everest.
This was followed by “A Fireside Chat with Brad West: The Operational Value of Loss Prevention.” In this session, Kathy Lockhart, Chief Accounting Officer at Noodles & Company and Brad West, COO of Noodles & Company discussed best practices behind the concept of “Believe, Decide, Fight” which involved believing in what you’re doing, making your decision, and fighting for what’s right.
The afternoon began with time in the Expo Hall, with attendees meeting with solution providers from across the food service safety and loss prevention fields spending quality time to discuss the latest trends and technologies from across the industry.
Following a RLPSA Restaurant Members Only Meeting, participants were then offered their choice of three breakout sessions to attend, a loss prevention session on “The Critical Aspects of De-escalation & Situational Awareness for your Employees + How to roll out a Workplace Violence Training Course,” a safety breakout session on “Overhauling Safety Programs in a Post-Covid, Budget Diminished Environment,” or a risk breakout session on “Risk Management as a Profit Center: Creating Cost Saving Tools Utilizing Risk Finance, Transfer, and Mitigation Strategies.”
All of the sessions and events thus far have been well-attended with participants actively engaged with the speakers, asking strong questions and offering their thoughts and feedback while interacting with the speakers.
All of this left attendees looking forward to another packed day on Tuesday with a full agenda and something for everyone as we head into Day 3.