Contributors - RDWizard.com - brought to you by Restaurant Depot

Contributors

The combined years of wisdom and experience in the restaurant industry that our contributors bring to the table is simply daunting. Needless to say, we're certainly fortunate to have these folks writing for the site...

	Maren L. Hickton is the principal of Maren Incorporated, a Full-Service Hospitality Consulting and Marketing Firm based in Pittsburgh, PA. Maren writes about a variety of business challenges that independent restaurants encounter. Maren can be reached by e-mail at info@mareninc.com. Read Maren's Articles...

	David Scott Peters is the founder of Smile Button Enterprises, LLC, a hospitality systems consulting firm that trains restaurant owners and managers on the appropriate skill sets and SMART Systems-those that are Simple, Measurable, Applicable, Repeatable and Trainable-to realize their dreams in the competitive restaurant business. Read David's Articles...

	John Hendrie, is CEO of Hospitality Performance, Inc., a full-service hospitality consulting company. With a strong background in Hospitality, Human Resources, Organizational Effectiveness, and Communications, John has devoted his career to establishing Standards of Excellence across varied businesses. Read John's Articles...

	John Nessel is the President of Restaurant Resource Group, a Boston-based consultancy providing financial tools and support services to independent restaurants and the hospitality industry. He can be reached at john@rrgconsulting.com Read John's Articles...

	Paul C. Paz is a Hospitality Consultant & Author of the book Service At Its Best: Waiter-Waitress Training. First and foremost, however, Paul is a professional waiter. Paul can be found online at WaitersWorld. Read Paul's Articles...

	Ian Maksik, "Professor of Service", is America’s "Service Guru". Ian trains staff in the art & science of table service and helps turn a staff’s service sins into service solutions. Ian is the owner and dean of America's only School for the Service Arts. He is the author of the hit selling video/manual training program The A to Z's of Professional Table Service and the soon-to-be released Service Stinks. Ian can be contacted at ian@usawaiter.com or online at usawaiter.com. Read Ian's Articles...

	Aaron Allen is Founder/CEO of Quantified Marketing Group, an Orlando based strategic marketing consultancy that specializes in the foodservice and hospitality industry. He can be reached at aallen@quantifiedmarketing.com. Read Aaron's Articles...

	Brian Bruce is an Executive Restaurant Recruiter and Blogger with 23 years operations experience. He understands the day-to-day challenges from both sides of the equation, as a client trying to find quality operations candidates and as a management candidate trying to find a quality employer. He can be contacted at bbruce.linkedin@gmail.com. Read Brian's Articles...

	Phillip Silverstone writes and hosts syndicated radio and TV wine features and is the author of "Cheers! The World of a Wine-osaur" (Camino Books, $15). Read Phillip's Articles...

	Ron Gorodesky is principal of Restaurant Advisory Services. RAS provides full-service consulting services to the restaurant and hospitality industries focusing on every aspect of the life cycle of restaurants and other hospitality organizations, from pre-opening and conceptual planning, to day-to-day operations, to design and brokerage. Read Ron's Articles...

	Miriam Silverberg is founder and president of Miriam Silverberg Associates, a publicity firm in New York City. She has publicized some of the top restaurants in New York. She is a guest on the publicity panel at Marymount Manhattan College's annual day-long seminar for writers. She can be reached by e-mail at silverbergm@mindspring.com. Read Miriam's Articles...

Articles

Season's Greetings: 7 Ideas to Keep Your Holiday Customers Happy Dec 2, 2011: It's the holiday season again and if you want it to be a happy one for you, you'd better start thinking how you can make it happy for your customers. Miriam has seven ideas for you to consider.

11 Attributes of Restaurant Leadership Oct 24, 2011: The exceedingly successful managers realize they are to “manage” things and “lead” their people. Brian identifies 11 important factors of leadership every manager desiring to succeed and excel should master.

Burned Out Apr 25, 2011: As a publicist with many years of experience in the restaurant industry, Miriam has seen firsthand examples of restaurateurs being burned out emotionally. Here are five signs of emotional burnout and five things to do to avoid it.

How to Grease The Skids for Restaurant Results Nov 4, 2010: The taste of the upswing has been tantalizing, but the path is still strewn with obstacles and challenges, as we pursue that ascension into economic recovery. John shares some insights and wisdom to move your restaurant in the right direction.

Has Service Lost Its Importance? Jul 13, 2010: Ian knows service. But he's not sure it matters anymore. You'll enjoy his storytelling in this piece.

4 Ways to Generate More Restaurant Business FAST Feb 2, 2010: If your restaurant is in order, then you are ready to go out and get new business. You'll be amazed at the kind of immediate response you can generate by getting out from inside your four walls.

The Way Forward After A Tumultuous Decade Jan 13, 2010: After being "whacked" the last two years, John believes that the new 2010 value proposition for restaurants is very simple...

Your Secret Weapon to Greater Profitability: A fresh perspective from behind the bar Dec 20, 2009: By promoting the sale of liquor alone (mixed drinks, cocktails, shots, etc.) you can start your restaurant down the path to greater profitability almost overnight.

12 Keys to Running a Profitable Restaurant Nov 9, 2009: Have you ever found yourself utterly displeased with a manager who is meeting the minimum expectations? David's "12 keys to Running a Profitable Restaurant" will get you past this roadblock.

Four Ways To Make Sure Your POS System Isn't Just An Expensive Cash Register Oct 6, 2009: A common problem among restaurant owners is that they buy an expensive system, but then don't use any of the time-saving and valuable reporting features. David shares tips on how to avoid having your POS just be an expensive cash register.

Unlocking the Secrets to Analyzing Cost of Goods Sold - Audio Seminar Sep 3, 2009: Operations expert David Scott Peters shares directly with you what it takes to get COGS under control and how to make your restaurant more profitable. (70 minutes)

Tricks for Hiring to Avoid Firing: Sound advice and real life solutions Aug 31, 2009: Looking for a reliable general manager is an overwhelming task. And for those of you who can't recruit from within, David shares some tricks for finding someone who fits.

The Only Differentiator Left For Restaurants Jul 30, 2009: There's really only one place to hang your hat says John. Do it right with passion and enthusiasm and watch the results.

How Four Overlooked Numbers Cost You Money Jul 5, 2009: How to look deeper into the Cost of Goods Sold calculations and take back control of your checking account and improve the bottom line.

28 Restaurant Management Interview Questions Jun 29, 2009: Brian offers a collection of typical interview questions when interviewing for a management position.

13 Steps to Writing a Fool-Proof Schedule Jun 25, 2009: Early in his career, David discovered that writing a schedule could be as easy as putting a simple puzzle together. He shares with you the 13 steps he developed to writing a fool-proof schedule.

Controlling Food Costs Jun 6, 2009

The Time is Now to Grasp Market Share - Yours for the Taking May 12, 2009: John sees a little bit a light at the end of the tunnel. Are you ready to take advantage of it?

Comment Cards - Why They Are Not Much Better Than Nothing! Apr 8, 2009: Capturing honest and true customer feedback is so vitally important, especially today. If you're not satisfying your customers, they are walking -- and not coming back in. Don't you need to know that? John certainly thinks so.

Change Management in the Restaurant Industry Mar 27, 2009: Brian surveyed various restaurant pros on managing change in today's environment. Check out what they had to say.

What You Did Not Do During Good Times Is Biting You Now! (The Lessons Learned) Feb 26, 2009: John takes a look at what we must do this year to fortify our business for years to come.

Who In Your Organization Drives The Guest/Customer Experience? Jan 5, 2009: The customer is king. Period. So who's making sure your restaurant acts this way? John has some ideas.

How to Elevate the Dining Experience Oct 7, 2008: A restaurant is not a Broadway Review, but you do have the live stage and capacity to inspire. John has some how-to tips.

Restaurant Manager Interview Guide Oct 7, 2008: Brian has assembled a guide to assist hiring managers in asking the questions that will leave them with something more than a good or bad feeling after an interview.

Dare To Be Better Sep 22, 2008: Very few reach the excellence plateau. Can we do better? John thinks so.

Employee Background Checks More Important than Ever Sep 22, 2008: Is a background check too expensive? What about the potential negative impact of an incident on your restaurant? Get Brian's take.

Dressing Like the Restaurant Professional You Are Sep 13, 2008: "Remember," says Brian, "no matter what the interview setting, always make sure you are portraying a professional image." He gives specific example and tells the story of one recruit who just failed this test miserably.

Is This The Summer Of Our Hospitality Discontent? Aug 18, 2008: Yes, there is some doom and gloom out there -- but John (as usual) paints an optimistic landscape and leads the cheer for hospitality.

Reaching Out to Recruiters Jul 2, 2008: Brian runs through some questions about how to initiate and nurture lasting relationships with professional recruiters.

Don't Give 'Em a Management Entitlement Program Jun 20, 2008: David shares six keys to writing a great management bonus program.