Later this month, more than 400 club and resort chefs will gather in Nashville for the 2022 Chef to Chef Conference. We will discuss critical issues facing our industry. We will network with one another and with sponsors. We will learn valuable information from a slate of incredible speakers.
To say I’m excited, wouldn’t do it justice.
In the time between the 2020 Chef to Chef Conference and this month’s event, a lot has changed. Most notably for me is the fact that two people I have worked with for the bulk of my media career have decided to move on.
Joe Barks has been my editor since 2007. He has corrected millions of typos in my work. He has skillfully restructured my writing to make my articles better and help you, the reader, understand what I was trying to communicate.
Joe has had an incredible career with Club + Resort Business. Not only did he launch the magazine, but he helped it grow and evolve to where it stands today—as the leading business publication in the club industry.
Personally, Joe has taught me much about what it takes to be a good editor. He’s calm and steady. He’s incredibly intelligent. He’s witty beyond measure. I will miss him (and his love of hyphens).
I think we all owe Joe endless gratitude for what he has done for us and for this industry through his work.
Tom McIntyre, C+RC’s Publisher, has also decided to move on from media sales after more than 30 years in the space.
Tom actually hired me right out of college as an assistant editor for a non-commercial foodservice magazine. He has been a part of nearly every major professional milestone I’ve hit: my first job out of college, my first big raise and promotion, my entrance into the club market, the creation of Chef to Chef, and the building up of the Club + Resort Chef brand.
I remember the first time we had a cocktail. My editor at the time told me “the Publisher” wanted to have a drink with us. I was 22 and so nervous my palms were sweating. Tom was sitting at the bar and he looked both bemused and annoyed when we arrived. He made me sit on the stool between himself and my editor. I don’t think I said more than three words. I remember being so impressed with how he carried himself and how he spoke with my editor. I remember thinking if I could earn Tom’s respect, I might just stand to make something of myself.
In 18 years, Tom and I have done a lot of good work together. And much like Joe, his work in this space has had an impact on us all.
While it will be wonderful to gather at Chef to Chef again, it will be equally bittersweet in that we will have to bid adieu to two incredible people who have been instrumental in building the event into what it has become.
And to Tom and Joe, thank you for all of it.