Keynote address at NRA Show: high- and low-lights


It’s not often a person gets to bump into someone of national stature whom they admire greatly. But, that circumstance happened to me at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, when, stuck in my own narrow world, I literally bumped shoulders with journalist Charlie Rose (he’s a bigger man than I thought, as tall as me and broader shouldered). He was in town to deliver the keynote address at the Show.

Once I looked up and realized whom it was I ran into, I said, “Oh, I was just on my way to see you.”

“That’s good,” he said.

“I’ve been a fan of your show for about 20 years.”

“Well, thank you.”

“I think you’ve got the best job in the world.”

“I really can’t think of any better.”

It was a quick exchange; we were both moving quickly—me to get to my seat, and him to backstage. I was looking forward to the speech.

I’m used to seeing him slightly hunched at his familiar round oak table, interviewing guests on his nightly PBS program, simply titled “Charlie Rose.” He’s also a 60 Minutes correspondent, and writes a column for Business Week.

But it’s his television show that’s earned him the reputation as arguably the premier interviewer alive today. At that table, either one-on-one or in roundtable discussions, Rose, for one hour, has a conversation with guests that run the gamut—political leaders, writers, actors, sports figures, painters, chefs—you name a news-making persona from across the globe since he started the show 19 years ago, and he’s likely interviewed them. Nelson Mandela? Yes. Clint Eastwood? Yes. Tony Blair? Yes. LeBron James? Yes. John McCain? Yes. John Grisham? Yes. Russell Crowe? Yes. Jean George Vongerichten? Yes. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Yes, him too.

On top of all that, he speaks with loads of pundits, journalists and scientists on the important topics of the day, including financial reform, the current Gulf of Mexico oil spill to health care. Through it all, he’s earned a reputation for fairness with firmness, and an uncanny ability to put his guests at ease.

I mention all this because I thought it was a remarkable coup that the NRA managed to snare him as the keynote speaker. Which made his introduction all the more perplexing.

Because it was the keynote address for the conference, there was some “general session” business to attend to. NRA Chairman Michael Gibbons stepped up to the podium. Now, I expect an association leader to dive into some chamber-of-commerce rhetoric, but Gibbons, after delivering some noteworthy statistics on the concerns of restaurant operators, launched into what could be described as a partisan harangue about the current “administration and congressional leadership” and characterized the new health care law as simply “another entitlement program.”

As Gibbons made a call-to-arms plea for association members to “make their voices heard” at November ballot boxes and stopped a nostril hair short of endorsing all Tea Party candidates, I looked around the room. It wasn’t full. There were about 300 people, mostly seated in the first section with many gaps, with room for at least 200 more in the second section. Some people clapped at Gibbons’ Sean Hannity-ish sound bites, but many sat quietly, some shook their heads. And I thought about the show itself, which, while there was good energy amongst the attendees on the days I was there, it did not go unnoticed that the showroom floor at McCormick Place had contracted yet again (a symptom evident before the recession), which reflects slipping attendance.

It’s a fine balance. Attracting members to any association—and attendees to an industry show—is difficult. The nature of an association is to stand for something, of course, and total, unified agreement among members is a rarity. But it makes no sense, in my mind, for an association leader to deliberately and forcefully alienate at least half the attendees in the room.

Not only did Gibbons do that, but he also undermined the hard work of his own senior policy analyst, Michelle Reinke, and chief strategy officer, Mike McCallum, both of whom spoke at the Foodservice News Legislative Forum last month about the new health care law (see the story beginning on page 1).

Both McCallum and Reinke will be traveling the country to deliver the presentation they ran through first with the Foodservice News crowd, and it’s a presentation based on facts and intelligent discussion, dispelling myths and paranoia while remaining true to the needs of the restaurant industry. As you will read in the story, McCallum told the FSN Forum audience that the new law is not “a solution looking for a problem.”

Officially, the NRA opposed the final legislation, but remained engaged during the legislative process and won some debates. But Gibbons delivered a message of total opposition, not only to the law, but to what Reinke and McCallum are trying to accomplish with a message of dialogue and engagement as the law moves through regulatory negotiations. Gibbons either is not aware of what his policy wonks are up to, or doesn’t care.

Finally, I thought about Charlie Rose, who has built a formidable career and reputation on non-partisan fact finding. His subjects and interests run the political spectrum. He is respected world-wide, and is one of the few journalists alive who can call nearly any leader on the planet and get face time. You would think Gibbons would have dialed it back a notch with a guest like that. Sure, he should advocate for the association, but I have a hard time believing most of what Gibbons said wasn’t personal. And that, I think, was a mistake. And it went on for at least 15 minutes.

Rose, when he finally made it onstage, appeared to be rushing his speech. Whether he was irritated by the introduction or mindful of the significant chunk of time swallowed by Gibbons is something on which only he can comment. However, during the Q&A session, responding to an audience member, Rose appeared to take a shot at Gibbons’ tone: “I did have some comments on civility and respect, but I jumped over them because we were short on time,” he said.

It was still a very interesting presentation, however. Rose tailored it for the audience and talked at length about restaurants as “a wonderful place for conversation”—the life of his profession—and a vital element of American culture.

He aired clips with some of the many chefs he has interviewed, including Mario Battali, Daniel Boulud, Marcus Samuelsson, Thomas Keller, Eric Ripert, Ferran Adria and others. The presentation also touched on his broad range of conversations with political leaders, actors, scientists and sports figures, and he also dove into current events, including thoughts on the President, the economy, politics and the Tea Party, spliced with interview segments from his decades on the air. Throughout, he did step away from the podium to ad lib. He spoke about his youth, and growing up working in his parents’ general store in North Carolina and his admiration for small business owners, and that everyone should make a point of encouraging curiosity in one’s life—“feed it, give it wings,” he said—a notion opposite to Gibbons’ introduction.

He also brought onstage Rick Bayless, Chicago’s best-known chef, to talk about his recent honor of preparing a Mexican feast for a recent White House State Dinner in honor of the president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon. It was a well-rounded presentation, with much effort to style it for an audience of restaurateurs and foodservice professionals.

Rose finished his presentation with “Always keep your humility.” If only Gibbons had listened—when stepped back onstage to direct the audience Q&A session with Rose, he asked the first question despite the line-up of attendees at two microphones. “Why doesn’t the main stream media take the Tea Party seriously?” he asked.

Rose didn’t flinch. His gaze remained leveled at Gibbons, and his momentary silence spoke volumes to those that know his style, because Tea Party coverage is thick—both the movement and the disgruntlement that fuels it—and has been for some time, particularly since Scott Brown’s election in Massachusetts back in January, right up to the current with Rand Paul’s Tea Party-endorsed U.S. senate campaign in Kentucky.

Rose began with an answer that started as blunt disagreement, but instead chose a smoother track that was just as effective. “Yes, the mainstream media ought to pay attention,” he said. “As one person, I do, otherwise I would not have brought it (the Tea Party) up.”

Then he thankfully turned his attention to the audience members lined up at two microphones. Those questions, which ranged widely, were asked with grace and tact from men and women of varying ages and ethnicities. Hopefully Gibbons was paying attention to that.
The restaurant industry quite probably attracts the most diverse population to its workforce, culturally and politically. An association, if its interested in maintaining its relevance, needs to recognize that. Based on my experience with the National Restaurant Association within the last five weeks, I’ve heard two distinct messages: one of rational debate and discussion from Reinke and McCallum, two analysts in the trenches with the operators and legislators. The second was Gibbons, at the top of the Board of Directors, who fired off the stale, simplified rhetoric of mindless opposition.

Restaurant operators are a savvy, adaptable bunch. With the growing reach of the Internet and its social media, marketing and information gathering possibilities, operators can communicate amongst themselves, start discussion groups and, essentially, grow their own power as a group electronically. With those possibilities at their fingertips for low cost, I wouldn’t be surprised if many in that audience are thinking about what value they are getting for their association membership dollars.