@ProStart
/ProStartProgram
/ProStartProgram
/ProStartProgram
NRAEF.org/ProStart
2013 Invitational Student Practice
Session
Management Competition
Caitie Eggl
National ProStart Coordinator
November 16, 2012
Why Participate
• Scholarship opportunities
• In 2012, $1.4 million was awarded to the top
5 teams in both the management and
culinary competitions at the National ProStart
Invitational®
• Networking for students and educators
Competition Elements
• The Management Competition is divided into
four events: written proposal, verbal
presentation, visual display and critical
thinking
• The events are weighted as follows:
•
•
•
•
Written Proposal – 55 points
Verbal Presentation – 55 points
Critical Thinking – 50 points
Visual Display – 15 points
Team Members
• Current high school students enrolled in
ProStart
• Maximum of 4 students
– 1 alternate allowed in case of injury/illness
• May only compete for two years (may
compete on both culinary and management
over those two years)
Assistance
• Mentors and educators only assist in
competition prep
• May not prepare any of the materials
themselves
• Limited to acting as sounding board and
critiquing practice presentations
• Proposal should be unique work each year
Written Proposal
Preparation
• Fictitious city description includes:
– Population
– Major attractions
– Prominent businesses
• Students will develop a written proposal
including:
– Restaurant concept
– Menu
– Marketing launch
Restaurant Concept
• Concept description - basic information such
as:
– Type of establishment
– Type of cuisine served
– Hours of operation, etc.
Restaurant Concept
• Interior diagram – identify flow/features
• FOH (host stand, bus stations, etc.)
• BOH (safety features, equipment to cook the
items on the menu, etc.)
• Organizational chart – capture all the
personnel essential to running the restaurant
(from managers to janitorial staff)
Menu
• Descriptions of 9 menu items
– Penalty if submit more
• For 3 items, must include recipes and costing
– Can be done in conjunction with culinary team
• Prepare and submit photos of the same 3
items
• Submit a sample of menu presentation
Marketing
• Develop 2 marketing tactics to launch the
restaurant
• Penalty for submitting more
• Include description, goal and budget
• Submit a sample of their tactics
– Such as layout of ad, slogan for t-shirt, etc.
• Alcohol-related activities or promotions
cannot be used
Scoring
• Judges looking for:
– Concept creativity
– How well thought through their concept
– How well executed on the requirements
• Electronic draft of the written proposal must be
submitted in advance
– The draft will not be judged
• Written proposal evaluated by verbal
presentation judges
– The only exception is the recipe & costing judge
• Worth a total of 55 points
Verbal Presentation
Preparation
• Develop 10-minute presentation based on
written proposal
– Treat judges like a panel of potential investors
• Presentation should pull out relevant
information investors would be interested in
– Only use PowerPoint and may not embed any bells and whistles
(such as video, sound, etc.)
– May only use the “no transition” option for slide transitions
– May use a custom design template
Delivery
• Have 10 minutes to present their concept,
menu and marketing
– 1-point penalty per minute over the 10-minute limit, with
disqualification after 4 minutes over
– Visible clock to keep track of time
• Judges have 5 additional minutes to ask the
team questions
– Help determine that students did all the work
Delivery
• Each team member must have substantial
speaking role
– 5-point penalty per student without substantial speaking role
• Will use projector and screen
• Teams check-in presentation on a flash drive
– Work off this copy on the event computer
• The verbal presentation is open to the public
Scoring
• Judges looking for:
– Public speaking skills
– How well team works together
– How well pulled out pertinent information
• Q & A will focus solely on presentation and
proposal
• Worth a total of 55 points
Visual Display
Preparation
• Build visual display that tells the story of concept
• Include relevant information (and samples) from
the concept, menu and marketing
• Restricted in size and material of display
• All supporting materials must be attached to
board
– Cannot exceed dimensions of the display board
– Electronics such as tablets, netbooks, cell phones, smart
phones, mp3 players and digital picture frames prohibited
– Only exception is a display copy of the written proposal
Delivery
• Check in their visual display prior to
competition
• Must use display during verbal presentation
• After verbal presentation, set up display in
critical thinking area
Scoring
• Judges evaluating:
– Whether visual display accurately and creatively conveys the
concept
• 2 judges evaluate visual display
• Worth a total of 15 points
Critical Thinking
Scenarios
• Evaluated on critical thinking skills
• Judges present teams with mini-scenarios
from four categories, such as safety &
sanitation, customer relations, human
resources & staffing, marketing, menu
development & design, concept knowledge
• Categories determined each year by SRA
and NRAEF
– All teams evaluated on same four categories, but with unique
scenarios
Delivery
• Scenarios presented after verbal presentation
• Work together to come up with solutions on
the spot
• Answers must relate to restaurant concept
• Open to the public
Scoring
• Judges evaluating
– Understanding of management concepts
– Problem solving
– Teamwork
• 4 judges total
• Worth a total of 50 points
Workplace Safety
• How address chemical and physical hazards?
• Follow the proper protocol to prevent or mitigate
legal action?
• Safety a component of every decision they
make?
• Example: We see that you have a line cook
position - while the line cook is carrying your
signature soup, he slips in a puddle of water by
the dish area. What do you do?
Food Safety & Sanitation
• HACCP plan in place?
• Follow the proper protocol to prevent or
mitigate legal action?
• Sanitation a component of every decision
they make?
• Example: While pulling out the beef for your
signature ribeye, your prep cook notices that
the walk-in seems a bit warm. What do you
do?
Customer Relations
• Is customer always foremost in teams’
minds?
• Is Rule of 10 taken into consideration?
• Does team follow up with guests?
• Example: We see that mashed potatoes are
the star item on your menu, how will you
handle customer relations if your supplier
does not deliver potatoes?
Human Resources & Staffing
• Disciplinary action follow standard protocol and
legal procedures?
• How are policies communicated to employees?
• Balance need to properly staff restaurant vs. cost
efficiency?
• Look for creative solutions to staffing problems?
• Cross-training factor into solutions?
• Example: You have a party booked in your kid’s
party room, and your lead party server calls off –
what do you do?
Marketing
• Consider impact of all communications on
sales, staffing and public perception?
• Crisis communications plan in place?
• Whole organization a part of marketing plan?
• Example: In the coupon you printed in the
newspaper, you forgot to put an expiration
date. Two months later, a table tries to
redeem it – what do you do?
Menu Development & Design
• How do all parts of the menu work together?
• Menu design represent the concept and
menu?
• How do the prices on the menu relate to each
other?
• Example: You don’t sell as much of the filet
as you anticipated on Friday night, what will
you do with the extra filets?
Concept Knowledge
• How does a quickservice restaurant operate
vs. fine dining?
• How does location of restaurant impact all
other areas?
• Example: Due to your location you serve a
high volume during lunch. However, dinner
tickets are down. What can you do to
increase dinner volume?
Tips
• Don’t dissect what led to current problems,
address how to solve them
– Instead of playing blame game, deal with situation as it is and
put plans in place to prevent repeats
• Work as team to solve the challenges
– If a teammate stumbles, jump in and help him/her out
Resources
•
•
•
•
•
Map to curriculum
Listing of online resources
Samples
Training presentations
Training videos
Strategies for
Success
Keys to Success
•
•
•
•
•
Understand the rules
Find a mentor
Practice
Use your resources
Professionalism
Understand the Rules
• Losing by a technicality is heartbreaking
• Hold students accountable, but provide
guidance
• When in doubt, ask
• Review score sheets
Understand the Rules
• Allowable information
– No financials (except Marketing Budget)
• Required materials
– Costing packets
– Visual display
– PowerPoint
• Menu items and marketing tactics
– 9 menu items
– 2 marketing tactics
Find a Mentor
• Industry mentors provide important viewpoint
• Should advise, not dictate
• Strategies to secure mentors
Practice!!
•
•
•
•
Most important key to success
Simulate competition experience
Varied audiences
Use score sheets
Critical Thinking Scenarios
• Ask mentors to provide challenges they face
on a daily basis and doomsday challenges
– Present solutions to mentors
• Industry people love to tell horror stories –
use it to your advantage!
• Use your own observations – what have you
witnessed happen in a restaurant?
• Industry publications
– Nation’s Restaurant News, etc.
Verbal Presentation
• Develop public speaking skills
• Practice presenting solutions to anyone who
will listen, including other educators, school
administrators, etc.
Professionalism
•
•
•
•
On-time arrival
Uniform
Remember that judges are always watching
Confidence
Questions?
Get Involved!
Call
(800) 765-2122, ext. 5376
Visit
NRAEF.org/ProStart
Email
getinvolved@NRAEF.org
@ProStart
/ProStartProgram
/ProStartProgram
/GoProStart
NRAEF.org/ProStart