It’s mid-August in the restaurant business, which signifies the timing for a couple things…
You are either on vacation or about to take some time off before the kids go back to school and/or Labor Day hits.
You gave yourself and your marketing a little bit of a summer reprieve with the thought, “I’ll kick it back up in September when everybody is back at home or at their desk.”
You’re thinking about or preparing for which are the best industry trade shows and conferences to attend this fall that will help you grow and advance your business.
Cool. Good for you. I somewhat fit these descriptions myself.
Enjoy that time away. Get a mental break. Enjoy some time with family and friends. Maybe go to a baseball game?
If you’ve hit a speed bump in your restaurant marketing, or if you are a solutions provider or vendor offering something amazing that helps restaurants grow their business and/or save money and time, hit me up. I can help you. Send me a message.
The biggest tip I have for restaurant marketing for the rest of the year is: focus on your highest-value customer and how you can encourage more guests to become like them. Use this guide. I Stopped Making This Restaurant Marketing Mistake. Here's How You Can Generate $300K Too
As for trade shows, here’s your plan for September and October!
FALL 2026 RESTAURANT TRADE SHOW ROUNDUP
QSR EVOLUTION CONFERENCE (with NextGen Restaurant Summit)
September 8-10, 2026
Atlanta, GA (Hyatt Regency Atlanta)
The FSR NextGen Restaurant Summit folds into QSR Evolution for 2026 as a single unified event across quick-service, fast casual and full-service. Programming covers growth, innovation, franchising, labor, culture and technology. Last year's edition drew more than 1,300 C-level execs, founders, franchisees and ops leaders.
DONT MISS MY SESSION!
"QSR: Loyalty Reinvented (Value Without Coupons),"
2:00-2:45 PM
Panelists:
Anne Schultheis, Director of Loyalty and CRM at Scooter's Coffee
Paul Macaluso, CEO at Torchy's Tacos
Luke Watson, CEO and Owner at Timber Pizza.
Rev Ciancio, CMO & Co-Founder Handcraft Burgers & Brew, CMO Salad House & Roggenart
FS/TEC
September 23-25, 2026
Grapevine, TX (Gaylord Texan Resort)
Informa's 30-plus-year-old restaurant technology event, expecting 1,500-plus operators, 230-plus tech providers and 70-plus speakers. Sessions cover AI, cybersecurity, loyalty programs and customer data. This is the buyer-meets-vendor room, heavy on IT and ops decision makers.
FAST CASUAL EXECUTIVE SUMMIT
October 4-6, 2026 Arlington, TX
(Loews Arlington)
A 20-plus-year-old gathering for top-level fast casual executives, built around two and a half days of interactive sessions and networking. Deliberately small at under 500 attendees, with the room weighted toward people who hold budget.
DONT MISS MY SESSION!
"From Data Silos to Dollars,"
Monday October 5 at 2:45 PM,
Breakout presented by Qvinci.
Moderated by Nish Patel, CEO of Paperchase
Co-panelists:
Anil Bathwal, Managing Director and Executive Chef at Kati Roll
Srishti Handa, VP of Marketing, Brand and Growth at Dave's Hot Chicken
Jason Morgan, CEO at Original ChopShop
Rev Ciancio, CMO & Co-Founder Handcraft Burgers & Brew, CMO Salad House & Roggenart
THE RESTAURANT CATERING WORKSHOP
October 6-7, 2026 Arlington, TX
(Loews Arlington)
Two days focused entirely on launching, scaling or fine-tuning a catering program, with tactics from operators and experts who have built successful ones. It starts right as FCES ends at the same hotel, and brands attending get $150 off FCES registration.
P3 PROFITABILITY SUMMIT
October 18-20, 2026
Minneapolis, MN
Chip Klose, MBA's fall event for independent operators, capped around 200 owners. One of two annual in-person events from Restaurant Strategy, the live version of the P3 Mastermind coaching work.
I am the marketing coach for the P3 Mastermind program and part of the full event. Leading a half-day marketing immersion course on system strategies and executional tactics that work, plus an AI marketing workshop.
YA dont want to miss that one!!!
Which show(s) will I see you at?
Do you need help with your restaurant marketing or maximizing how you use AI to make it stronger and faster? Send me an email at [email protected].
Rev Ciancio
WHAT DOES REV DO?
I help restaurants build guest marketing programs.
I help hospitality tech companies with lead generation and content marketing.
