Happy Tuesday, everybody and welcome to the first day of September! I can’t WAIT for this year to be over with. Let’s hope things are looking up on December 31st so we can welcome the new year like never before!
A couple of quick announcements. First up, many of your heard that FSTEC is going virtual this year where from October through December, three webinars, each up to 20 minutes, will launch every week and will feature executive interviews, keynote presentations from experts and industry leaders, interviews with Restaurant Business editors and Innovation Forums. For more information and to sign up, please visit https://FSTEC.com
Also in October, more specifically October 12th and 13th, the Restaurant Technology Network along with MURTC is presenting an exciting two days in an event called Restaurant Next. Attendees will be transported to a simulated restaurant built for the “new normal.” Explore new operational concepts, tap into contactless technologies, source solutions for safer operations, and hear from the industry’s top IT minds. This sounds like it is going to be an amazing experience and I am sure it is an event you are not going to want to miss. To learn more and sign up for this conference, please visit: https://events.ensembleiq.com/RestaurantNext
Well, today, I am honored to have two individuals from White Castle that include industry rockstar, Susan Carol-Bosser who is the VP of Information Technology as well as Mike Guinan, the VP of Operations Services.
Susan Carroll-Boser, VP of Information Technology
Susan Ann Carroll-Boser started her career with White Castle in 1994 as a systems administrator. She has consistently advanced in the company during her 26-year career and now serves as the vice president of technology. In this position, Susan has the overall responsibility for the company’s technology strategy, leading the tech shared services, IT and information services departments. Her teams are responsible for software development, software implementation, the server/data center, network services and cybersecurity. Susan also serves on White Castle’s restaurant leadership team and leads the company’s technology strategy team.
Susan has made many contributions to White Castle’s technology and systems integration. With a constant drive to find solutions, she has created cross-platform people systems, led the development of internal and external apps, and introduced artificial intelligence into White Castle’s technology infrastructure. Developing the technologies and the people to support them are at the heart of her role at White Castle.
Susan has many memorable moments in her 26 years with White Castle. She liked working on the Guardian and Sentinel projects, both designed to reduce internal loss through trend and predictive analysis. She also liked helping to create the original operations and management manuals for White Castle. Although the process was a major undertaking, it was also the best learning experience of her career, not to mention a terrific opportunity to bond with her colleagues.
Susan is active with the National Restaurant Association (NRA), serving as chairman of both its Cybersecurity Committee and its Information Technology Executive Study Group, which keeps NRA members current with developments in the restaurant industry and IT field. She is also a member of Women in Technology, a tech organization that offers programs and resources to advance women in technology.
A resident of Galena, Susan lives with her husband, Ken, in a multi-generational household. In her free time, she enjoys writing, traveling and volunteering. She serves on the board of the Community Shelter Board and as an 11th hour volunteer with Hospice. She also supports the American Heart Association and various autism charities.
Susan earned a bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University and an MBA in information systems development from the Keller Graduate School of Management at DeVry University.
Mike Guinan – VP of Operations Services
Mike Guinan has worked in many roles since he started at White Castle more than 34 years ago. He began behind the counter learning the grill, dressing sandwiches and cleaning while he was still in high school. Mike rapidly moved up into more prominent roles as shift manager, Castle supervisor, regional assistant director, Regional Vice President of restaurant operations and currently Vice President Operations Services. In his current position, Mike oversees Destination locations, Real Estate, Construction, Engineering as well as leads company strategies. He enjoys building relationships and helping others grow as leaders. Mike also revels in helping people to be all they can be and says that is one of his greatest rewards at White Castle.
Through the years, Mike has attended seminars, workshops, and worked with business leaders to learn more about the restaurant industry. He currently lives in the south suburbs of Chicago with his family and where he grew up. Mike also is an avid runner completing several marathons. He is on the Illinois Restaurant Association Board, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Board, and gives his time to the Autism Foundation.
Mike has many favorite Craver moments, which include hearing memorable stories from customers, seeing a young Craver’s face light up when they enter the restaurant, and watching the many generations that visit the Castles daily. While he says there are too many items on the menu to choose a favorite, he would choose the White Castle Slider with cheese.
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Next Week’s Show…
Next week we are launching our new 4 part mini-series about Food Safety. We have a wide variety of individuals that we will be speaking to including products that deal with detecting handwashing effectiveness, digital line checks and food temperature monitoring. In addition, how about using your digital cameras to detect for social distancing, capacity monitoring and contact tracing?
To start off the series next week, I have Shandee Chernow from Certistar where we will talk about food allergy software and how you can keep your guests safe, reduce liability and create a whole new profit center for your organization!
