Hello Team,
Earlier this month we hosted the 2024 Formula One Miami Grand Prix at our iconic Hard Rock Stadium. This was our third F1 hosting experience and, from menu selection and décor, to purchasing coordination, and kitchen design, there is no doubt this was the best one yet.
With the highest ever attendance at 275,000 fans over three days, our 2,000+ Experience Makers across operations, culinary, human resources, food safety and more managed to deliver a world-class experience in a world-class venue. That’s not easy at the best of times, but when you’re doing that across 65 mobile kitchens and 30 temporary structures for A-listers and die hard F1 fans, walking countless miles in the heat and the humidity…well, that takes a dream team.
But here’s the trick… next year will be better. Not just because that’s what is expected by our partners and guests, but because it’s what we must expect of ourselves if we are to earn the right, every day, to keep doing what we’re doing.
As I sat with Tom Garfinkel on race day (Vice Chairman, President and CEO of the Miami Dolphins and Hard Rock Stadium, and Managing Partner of the Formula One Miami Grand Prix), he asked, “what can I do for you right now?” Before I could even think, I found myself saying, “just keep letting us be a part of this.” Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of things I can think of that Tom could do for us (😊) but if you haven’t recently been in awe of what we do, where we get to do it, and who we get to do it with, you might just be asleep.
We are in the company of dreamers. From our founder, to our partners, to the teams we lead, and the teams we are a part of… dreams are all around us and it is our responsibility to nurture them and realize them.
They say, “the world needs dreamers and the world needs doers, but above all, the world needs dreamers who do.” Keep being a dream maker for our iconic partners, venues, and teams, and you will never need to question if what you do matters.
Belinda
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Welcome, Danielle Gallaway!
Danielle joins us at Cincinnati Athletics as General Manager, bringing over 20 years of experience in a professional kitchen to the team. She joined the University of Cincinnati in 2022 as a Senior Executive Chef, and before that, worked the University of Kentucky and the University of Pittsburgh. She is a culinary school graduate from Johnson & Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina.
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Welcome, Chris Kinsaul!
Chris joins Sodexo Live! as Executive Chef at the Colorado Convention Center. He has a vast background and experience in culinary, having worked at Gaylord Hotels, Hyatt Regency Aurora-Denver Conference Center, and DoubleTree by Hilton Tech Center, among other great venues. He also holds a degree from Le Cordon Bleu Chicago.
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Congrats, Daniel Derice!
Daniel has been with Sodexo Live! since August 2023 starting out as a Hospitality Manager. He is now supporting our Jacob’s Pillow team as General Manager ensuring continued service excellence and leading our team to success.
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Congrats, Andrew Robinson!
Andrew joined our team at Zoo New England (Franklin Park & Stone Zoo) in 2024 as an Operations Manager and has been promoted to General Manager. Prior to working with our team, he worked at Fenway Park with Aramark.
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Sodexo Live! and Cincinnati Athletics Kick Off New Partnership
Cincinnati Athletics selected Sodexo Live! to manage premium fan hospitality at all of its athletics facilities. We will be operating Nippert Stadium, Fifth Third Arena and UC Baseball Stadium, as well as the new Indoor Practice Facility and Performance Center for athletes, set to open in 2025. This is in addition to a variety of other venues across campus that will be handled by Sodexo campus services. Read more
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Hollywood Bowl and Sodexo Live! Extend Partnership
Sodexo Live! and the Hollywood Bowl announced a long-term, milestone extension through 2034! In tandem with the Lucques Group (James Beard Award-Winning Chef Suzanne Goin and Restaurateur Caroline Styne), we’ll continue to curate the renowned Hollywood Bowl Food + Wine program that delights music fans with gourmet summer supper menus, extensive wine lists and a best-in-class picnic box program that’s become a quintessential part of the experience.
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Orange County Convention Center Client Gifts A Hit
Our team at the Orange County Convention Center sends out client gifts to their top 20 OCCC clients, along with a few community VIPs twice per year – once in Nov./Dec. for the holidays and once in April for Earth Day. In the past, they’ve sent local infused honey, housemade pickles, and a pickled veggie assortment. This April’s gift was three unique tea blends made with herbs from the onsite garden (they used a local Master Tea Blender who worked with OCCC’s new farmer to create each of the blends), a special glass tea mug with a built in influeser and an Earth Day card from the team, along with a menu card showcasing the ingredients for each of the tea blends.
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Mehdi Ahmadi Receives IACC 2024 Award of Excellence
Congrats to Mehdi Ahmadi, our USPTO Assistant GM, for winning the International Association of Conference Centers Award of Excellence! He’s spent the past six years volunteering with IACC and spent the past two years as Vice Chair on the Board of Directors. The award highlights his service and efforts in producing their 2020 virtual conference during the pandemic.
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Sodexo Live!’s Ski Team Takes CWSAA 2024
A few of our ski team members had a great time at the 2024 Canada West Ski Areas Association Spring Conference & Trade Show meeting with influential attendees from across the industry! And, we got to hand out some special Apres Ski chocolate bars from our best-in-class culinary team.
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Big Soup Event: Virginia Beach Convention Center
Our team at the Virginia Beach Convention Center participated in their third Big Soup event with Nestle Professional to make 50 gallons of chicken noodle soup that was delivered to local shelters in support of Sodexo’s Stop Hunger Foundation. Great work!
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Discovering Leadership Styles Through DiSC
Our Sodexo Live! leaders across Indianapolis did a team building activity to learn how to communicate across many different personalities and management styles through DiSC – an acronym that stands for the four main personality profiles described in the DiSC model: (D)ominance, (i)nfluence, (S)teadiness and (C)onscientiousness.
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First Place in the First Bayou Boil-Off
Our Sodexo Live! team took first place at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center inaugural Bayou Crawfish Boil-Off Competing against five other teams, our team captured first place in all four categories against some great competition. Great team bonding and fun times all around!
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289,000 Pounds of Food Donated in Orlando
The Orange County Convention Center and our Sodexo Live! Team proudly donated 289,000 pounds of food to local nonprofits in the 2022-23 fiscal year through the venue’s donation program, honoring its commitment to make a meaningful impact in Orange County. Great work to Peter Minervini and team for leading these efforts!
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Experience Maker Shoutout: Beth Woods
Marco Zuniga Gutierrez, a Baptist Health South Florida executive and partner to Hard Rock Stadium, shared a shoutout to Beth Woods our Experience Maker at the F1 Miami Grand Prix: “For as long as I can remember, Beth and her team had been personally servicing many of the suites at Hard Rock Stadium, including a personal favorite — Flagler Technologies — for the University of Miami / Miami Hurricanes Athletics college football season. Little did I know though that I was going to meet Beth this weekend again and that she will greet me with the same big and beautiful smile that she kindly extends every time we meet. And, while Beth was extremely busy at the Start/Finish line suites, she did not hesitate to ask for my children and all the sweet treats that they enjoy while on her court. Such a beautiful unplanned encounter and one that made my day as well.” Great work, Beth!
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Safety Moment: Compliance vs. Committment
Compliance is about doing things because we have to, while commitment is about doing them because we want to. Let’s aim to emulate the second team in the video , embodying a culture of genuine commitment to safety rather than mere compliance. We want our team to get it!
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NFL Draft Cocktail Specials at Huntington Place
The NFL Draft took over Detroit and our team at Huntington Place made some bright and refreshing cocktails to celebrate. The 42 Blue (pictured) features vodka, blue cura ao, ginger beer, and lime – the strength of Detroit in Honolulu Blue!
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Discover Veggie-Forward Dishes Being Served at the Paris Olympics
Fans and athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympics will be treated to a wide range of delicious vegan and vegetarian food as Paris tries to host the most sustainable iteration of the sporting event yet. Sodexo Live! Executive Chef Charles Guilloy will be running the Olympic Village restaurant for athletes and believes that the stereotype that French cuisine is meat, meat, and only meat is false. He’ll be serving delicious, seasonal, local vegetable dishes for the competitors this year. Learn more
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Gold Burgers and Donuts Shine at Whitecaps 50th Anniversary Match
Our team at BC Place created bright, delicious gold burgers and donuts to celebrate 50 years of the Vancouver Whitecaps for their anniversary match. The match also hit an attendance record of 32,465! See more here
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25,000+ lbs of Food Rescued After F1 Miami Grand Prix
In the days following the F1 Miami Grand Prix, Sodexo Live! and South Florida Food Rescue packaged about 25,000 lbs of leftover food to donate to local missions and shelters. 125 volunteers worked in shifts to get everything done in a timely manner, rescuing additional food from the Paddock and other clubs as well, totaling about 75,000 lbs all together.
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Need to make a graphic design request? Submit here!
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For the appropriate venues, always use Spark for the latest documents and updates. All vital resources are also provided on Sodexo_Net.
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Belinda Oakley
