The Carriage Works representatives have returned! Just this past week TCW sent Lori Butler, VP of Sales, and Brian Dunham, President & CEO, to attend the Airport Revenue News (ARN) Revenue Convention in New Orleans. This unique event combines educational sessions, an exhibit hall and networking events. It is, according to ARN, “where the airport concessions industry gathers to learn about the latest trends, network with decision-makers, and experience an exhibit hall featuring established and emerging brands and concepts.” TCW was honored to co-exhibit with Dunkin’ Brands, one of our great clients, as they served coffee and donuts to the attendees from a cart system TCW built specifically for this convention.
Luckily, The Carriage Works’-Dunkin’ Donuts cart had a prime location right inside the main entrance. It was the first thing attendees saw when walking in the door. It was many attendees’ first stop in the morning with a lot of repeat business throughout the day. Our Dunkin’ friends’ objective was for everyone to have a “grand Dunkin’ experience”. Their welcoming, friendly style, combined with a great looking cart, rich coffee, tasty donuts and the perfect location certainly accomplished this. 
The Carriage Works’ objectives were to show off our work and raise our profile. This objective was not only met, it was exceeded. In addition to talking about The Carriage Works to people coming up to check out the cart, our team also got to meet with some current clients, re-engage with past clients and introduce ourselves to some future clients! In fact, the highlight of the trip for Lori was to be able to meet clients face-to-face, some for the first time. At The Carriage Works, we don’t always get to meet our clients in-person, so it was a special opportunity for Lori to match faces with names. In some cases, we had worked with clients for five years and just last week met for the first time!
On a personal note from Lori, “While the conference kept us busy during the day we did find some time to explore New Orleans. The historic French Quarter is home to the 175-year-old, 14-room Antoine’s restaurant, where the TCW and Dunkin’ teams ate dinner one night during the event.” We are glad it wasn’t all work!
All in all, this was a very successful trip. Not surprisingly, there is a lot of activity around airports and The Carriage Works looks forward to continuing to be a part of it.