This year’s Food Truck Owners Expo in Las Vegas was an amazing experience on two fronts. Each day starts with education and ends with an exhibition. Whether you’re seeking to refine your business skills or expand your knowledge on licensing, marketing, or profit maximization, this event was THE place to be.
The education lineup was packed with informative presentations happening on both Tuesday and Wednesday, covering diverse topics that go well beyond the basics. Looking to get started or improve your understanding of the legal landscape? Sessions like “The Basics of Mobile Food Business Licensing Requirements” by Nick Christie and “Doing it Right: An Inside Look at the SNHD’s Permitting Process” by Nikki Burns-Savage offered valuable insights on permits, compliance, and safety protocols.
Marketing strategies were center stage with numerous sessions to help you engage and retain customers. Presentations from experts such as, NSFVA Executive Director Bill Moore, who presented “The Guest Loyalty Loop: Engage, Delight, Retain” and the Campfire Session “Order Turn Around Times – Making Them Shorter.” Additionally, Daniel Shemtob and Nicholas Spindel focused on themes like “Community is Your Secret Sauce” and “Marketing Your Food Truck for Growth,” providing practical advice to build your brand and attract more business.
If maximizing profits is your goal, the Profit Maximizer track has many tailored sessions that you won’t want to miss. Experts like NSFVA Sponsor and Custom Trailer Pros CEO Justin Prestidge amazing class “Success is Not a Guessing Game!” was a MUST ATTEND class. Bill Moore shared strategies on how to expand your operations, “Go From One to Many: Multi-Truck Mastery.” These presentations aim to guide you towards improving your profitability through smart business decisions.
The Expo also recognized the importance of emerging technology and operational improvements. For instance, “More Sales. Less Stress. How Smart Food Trucks Use AI to Win” by Maxwell Bogner and “Digital Menu Boards Is the Upgrade Worth the Cost” by David Sexauer to explore modern tools that can enhance your customer experience and streamline processes.
Sessions focused on safety and compliance, such as “Mobile Food Vendor Propane Safety” by Carl Weeks and “Workplace Safety in the Food Truck Industry” by Michael Benjamin, offer you advice to protect your investment and team. Furthermore, you can learn about tax and accounting matters specifically tailored to food trucks in Selena Johnson’s session.
But that is certainly not all you could do. Once the Expo Hall opened you could have visited with NSFVA sponsors EasyEats and Custom Trailer Pros. Speaking with the founders of both companies is priceless.
All together you could have visited with 4 different builders, walked on two different trailers and experienced a virtual trailer. You could be a kid in a candy store looking at all the equipment 2 different equipment sellers brought to the floor. You could have talked about KDS and POS with 2 different POS providers. Worried about people finding you, building a website or internet connectivity? Several tech companies were there to answer those questions and show off their solutions.
How about processing rates, a place to set up your truck, insurance, mentors and coaching? All there too.
Networking, meeting other food truck owners and meeting the people providing those valuable services is why you need to attend the FTO Expo. The experience is priceless.
Missed Las Vegas? No Problem, we are doing it again in Edison NJ December 2nd and 3rd. Can’t make that? Austin Texas next year in August. We will be there, will you?
Listen to Bill’s experiences here: https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/k8CgRsij5Ub
