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It鈥檚 Tuesday night and I鈥檓 still a little jet-lagged after last week's week-long trip to Las Vegas.

Why? Each fall, we host a convention-style meeting for all of our U.S. and Canadian franchisees. Every other year we include our global franchise partners as well. These conventions involve lots of planning, a reasonable amount of stress (you try guessing what 1,500 people want to have for dinner), and time away from home and family.

The Work Is All Worth It

This was my third annual convention at Wendy鈥檚, and it鈥檚 quickly become my favorite time of year. Our franchise community is the heart and soul of the Wendy鈥檚 brand and this annual gathering is equal parts old home week and business update. In fact, after my first Wendy鈥檚 convention in 2014, our team 鈥渞ebranded鈥� the event and it鈥檚 now called our Family Reunion.

In the Wendy鈥檚 system today, we have a little more than 300 franchise organizations. They range in size from those who own one restaurant to hundreds. Some have been a part of the family since the earliest days of the brand -- it鈥檚 not widely known, but Dave Thomas started Wendy鈥檚 with the money he made from being a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchisee. Many say that this brand was started with a franchisee鈥檚 heart.

And other franchisees have just joined the family and are quickly learning about our culture or the way we do things around here. I had the pleasure of having dinner with two brand new franchise organizations while in Las Vegas, and it felt kind of cool to be the 鈥渧eteran鈥� explaining what makes our family so special.

Among the highlights of our conventions are 鈥渕ain stage鈥� presentations from many of our business leaders with a sneak peek of what鈥檚 to come in areas like Marketing, Operations and Restaurant Development.  And we also take the time to host smaller group breakout sessions to get further into the weeds on more complex topics; and we spend time with our suppliers who are important partners in Wendy鈥檚 success and are very much a part of our extended family.

The business updates are critical. It鈥檚 the one time of year that everyone gets together in person to talk about the things that will help our brand grow successfully, and to address any challenges that may be holding us back. But the best part of the event is the recognition we give to some of our very best, and the commitment that the Wendy鈥檚 family shows to children in foster care who are waiting to be adopted.

Awarding Our Top Performers

We recognize top performers throughout the system 鈥� rewarding individuals, teams and entire markets for their efforts. The most prestigious awards we present are DMA of the Year, Founder鈥檚 Award and Wendy鈥檚 Hall of Fame.

The DMA of the Year recognizes an entire market.  At Wendy's, DMA stands for Designated Market Area and restaurants in a DMA work together to delight every customer at the local level. This year鈥檚 DMA of the Year was Chicago! 

There is a strong unity among their 160 restaurants. More than half of the market has been remodeled and 65%  are operating to the highest of Wendy鈥檚 standards (we call it A-level operations). As passionate supporters of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, the Chicago DMA has funded not one, but two Wendy鈥檚 Wonderful Kids recruiters to help foster children in Chicago find loving, permanent families.

The Founder鈥檚 Award is of course in honor of Dave Thomas, and it鈥檚 kind of like our MVP award. It recognizes our franchisee who had the best all-around year by: connecting with customers and their community, running fantastic restaurant operations, and filling their restaurants with crew members who delight our customers and managers who motivate and inspire their teams.

This year鈥檚 Founder鈥檚 Award winner was Mike Zak of the WenZak organization. Mike鈥檚 restaurants are in the Chicago market, so he was a two-time winner this year! Mike is a fantastic Wendy鈥檚 franchisee and restaurant operator. He is a role model for living Dave Thomas鈥� legacy, empowering his people to deliver 100% quality every day. Almost half of his 18 restaurants are remodeled and he鈥檚 building a new restaurant as well. Developing and supporting people is his passion as he's promoted nearly twenty team members over the last year. Our top General Manager of the year came from one of Mike鈥檚 restaurants too! Mike is also President of our Advertising Co-Op. The Founder's Award was a well-deserved honor for a fantastic franchisee.

The final award we present is the formal induction into the Wendy's Hall of Fame.  It鈥檚 the absolute highest honor in the Wendy鈥檚 system as it recognizes a lifetime of achievement to the brand.  Members of the Hall are nominated, voted on, and inducted by fellow members. This year鈥檚 winner was Eddie Rodriguez of JAE Restaurants. Eddie and his partners headquarter in West Palm Beach, Florida, and they own and operate 176 restaurants in Florida, Texas and New Mexico.

We surprised Eddie with the news in August when he was surrounded by his family and restaurant team.  So last week in Las Vegas, he was officially inducted as the 71st member of the Wendy鈥檚 Hall of Fame. He鈥檚 a true class act. He鈥檚 served for more than a decade on our Franchise Advisory Council, with two years as Vice-President and two years as President. He鈥檚 a big believer in creating opportunities for his people to grow and develop. He tells them if they continue to live the values of Wendy鈥檚, they will have a job for life. He鈥檚 been a franchisee for twenty years and has been a big part of how our brand has grown.

After all the awards were given, we turned our minds and hearts to children in foster care. It is a longtime tradition for the Wendy鈥檚 family to give thanks for our annual successes by raising funds and awareness for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption and the foundation鈥檚 signature program, Wendy鈥檚 Wonderful Kids.

We were honored to be joined in Las Vegas by Edna Green, a Wendy鈥檚 Wonderful Kids recruiter from St. Louis, and a beautiful family that she helped bring together through adoption. Edna鈥檚 words captured our hearts: 鈥淲e all have a voice to help those that can鈥檛 speak up for themselves鈥�

So with that as our inspiration, we raised our auction paddles and bid cards and raised more than $1.3 million in one single evening! We added to that with the $300,000 raised by our franchisee Ed Anderson who rode his bicycle across the country to raise money and awareness for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.  We loved seeing him and his family in Las Vegas!

And later in the week, we hosted our annual golf tournament, The Dave, which (you guessed it!) raises money and awareness for the Foundation. The third edition of The Dave once again served to unite our valued supplier partners and franchisees to honor the cause that means so much to the Wendy鈥檚 family.  Together, we were able to raise more than $700,000 in this outing.

Quite a successful week in Las Vegas, wouldn鈥檛 you say?

So now, here we are, back to work at our Restaurant Support Center in Dublin, Ohio, and already planning for our return to Las Vegas in 2017 for our next Family Reunion.

Until then, it鈥檚 time to sell some Taco Salads鈥�