About 50 vending operators, employees, suppliers and associates gathered at The Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. for a weekend of recreation and education recently at the Automatic Merchandising Association of Florida annual convention.
Following a Friday evening welcome reception, the gathering got down to business on Saturday for a full day of educational seminars.
Allan Gilbert, president of The Merrimac Consulting Group in Billerica, Mass., addressed improvement and cost management. Mark Manney, president of Loss Prevention Results Inc. in Wake Forest, N.C., presented tactics to deter, detect, expose and prosecute theft in vending and food service. Tom Britten, president of Britten Management Services LLC, Lutz, Fla. and a partner in The Taran Corp., Fairport, N.Y., spoke about adding value to the business. Elliot Maras, editor of Automatic Merchandiser, spoke about industry challenges and how to meet them.
