77th CHART Hospitality Training Conference Promises High-Impact, Actionable Training for Turbulent Economic Times

WESTFIELD, N.J. | Despite the turbulent economy, or rather because of it, members and guests of the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART, www.chart.org) will gather in Portland, Oregon, March 7-10, 2009 to share and learn effective training and development practices that can quickly improve operational performance and increase support for training programs. This 77th semi-annual CHART conference will be held at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower. The full agenda can be viewed at .

This is the premier event where hotel trainers, restaurant trainers and human resource professionals gather to learn from inspiring keynote speakers, participate in interactive educational break-out sessions, network together, and share best practices.

Pre-conference Workshops – Saturday, March 7

These free, four-hour Certificate Workshops are based on the Blueprint for Trainer Development: A Customized Competency Model for the Hospitality Industry.

• Dr. Mike Hampton, Lynn University, “Strategic Planning, Executive/Leader Role”
• Kim Rivera Beattie, Catapult People Solutions, LLC, “Coaching and Development, Manager Role”
• Monique Donahue, American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute, “Process Improvement, Instructional Designer Role”

Keynote Speakers – One each day March 8-10

• Tim Kirkland, Founder, Renegade Hospitality Group, “Renegade Server”
• Jim Knight, Senior Director of Training and Development, Hard Rock International, “Employee Branding That Rocks”
• Dick Finnegan, Esq., President, Finnegan Mackenzie, The Retention Firm, “Retention”

Breakout Sessions:

• “Coaching for Success”
• “E-Learning in the Right Place, at the Right Time, at the Right Price”
• “Digital Photography, Print Material and Video Training Made Simple”
• “The Invisible Learning Leader: Creating Engaging Facilitation”
• “The Case for the Teflon® Trainee: Overcoming Obstacles to Make Training Stick”
• “Leading Change: Reducing Resistance and Increasing Buy In”
• “Getting Your Associates to ‘Think Like an Owner’”

Special Conference Sessions:

• James Carter, RePario Ltd., "Building a Dream Organization through Experiential Learning"
  This unique session is part learning, part community service (participants will build bicycles for a Portland charity), part teambuilding, and all directly applicable to one's company and achieving better performance.
  
  
• John Isbell, Director of Operations Services and Training, IHOP Restaurants, CHART President, "State of Training and Development in the Hospitality Industry"
  
  
• CHART, in partnership with Maritz Research, will be presenting the results of this groundbreaking study. For the first time, learning professionals and business leaders will be able to benchmark their training and development practices against substantial data.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to visit one-on-one with top training resource vendors during the Resource Gallery trade show.

To download the CHART Portland Conference brochure or to view the full agenda with descriptions as well as register visit .

For more information, please call 312.405.2634, email [email protected] or visit .

CHART, a non-profit professional association founded in 1970, is the leading resource for the development and advancement of hospitality training professionals. With more than 700 members from more than 400 multi-unit restaurant and hotel companies, CHART represents a workforce of almost five million. CHART includes all facets of hospitality training, learning and performance professionals; from entry level to senior executive. CHART’s mission is to develop hospitality training professionals to advance industry training practices and improve operational results by providing access to education, tools and resources.