agenda at a glance October 22-24, 2025 | Austin TX

This is the place to talk about the hard stuff. These small-group sessions, moderated by FBR executives and strategic partners, are an opportunity to come together to tackle operational realities, create deeper connections, and find solutions to the challenges specific to your franchise operations role. 

• Structured agenda with flexibility to dig deeper into the topics that matter most to you
• Combination of roundtable discussion, hands-on exercises, and networking
• Practical action steps you can start implementing in your organization immediately

This is the place to talk about the hard stuff. These small-group sessions, moderated by FBR executives and strategic partners, are an opportunity to come together to tackle operational realities, create deeper connections, and find solutions to the challenges specific to your franchise operations role. 

• Structured agenda with flexibility to dig deeper into the topics that matter most to you
• Combination of roundtable discussion, hands-on exercises, and networking
• Practical action steps you can start implementing in your organization immediately

This is the place to talk about the hard stuff. These small-group sessions, moderated by FBR executives and strategic partners, are an opportunity to come together to tackle operational realities, create deeper connections, and find solutions to the challenges specific to your franchise operations role. 

• Structured agenda with flexibility to dig deeper into the topics that matter most to you
• Combination of roundtable discussion, hands-on exercises, and networking
• Practical action steps you can start implementing in your organization immediately

More info coming soon

More info coming soon

Info coming soon

Franchise success requires the right system, the right technology, and the right people to work in harmony, and when it does, your operations team is a triple threat that can take your franchise to the next level. In this session, you’ll learn how to bring all three together. 

1. Drive operational excellence by developing efficient systems that ensure consistency, eliminate waste, and promote high standards every day
2. Integrate technology that does more than just simply work—it sharpens your competitive edge, improves operations, and enhances customer experiences 
3. Embrace accountability by fostering a results-driven culture rooted in clarity and personal responsibility, starting with setting clear expectations, using transparent metrics, and establishing feedback loops.

A strong culture isn’t just a feel-good initiative, it’s a business strategy. Join us to explore how HR leaders can align people strategies with business objectives to create a measurable, lasting impact on performance. We’ll discuss how leadership behaviors, employee feedback, and trust-based workplace strategies can inform key decisions, helping organizations scale effectively while maintaining a strong culture. You’ll learn how to develop KPIs that connect cultural initiatives to business performance, including retention and revenue growth, identify strategies for using data to build a compelling case for executive buy-in on culture-driven programs, and foster engagement at both corporate and franchise levels. The session will include an exercise where you’ll design an employee engagement initiative focused on recognition programs or communication channels tailored to your organization that you can implement right away. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Connect cultural initiatives to business performance, including retention and revenue growth.
• Use data to build a compelling case for executive buy-in on culture-driven programs.
• The role of employee listening and feedback mechanisms in improving retention.

New franchisees have very different needs than mature ones, which means operations teams need to tailor a support model that meets each franchisee where they are. We’ll break down the stages of the franchisee lifecycle and identify strategies for developing a support model that matches each stage. In this working session, you’ll break out into roundtables based on your sector to map a “support journey” for franchisees at three key lifecycle stages: onboarding, growth, and plateau/turnaround.

Key Takeaways:

• Solid understanding of the unique support needs at the different stages of the franchisee lifecycle
• Practical strategies that work for your sector: what onboarding should like for services vs food vs home services brands
• A map you can take home and implement to enhance support for your franchisees wherever they are in their franchise journey

Multi-unit ownership is a smart way to expand your franchise system, but it does require specialized systems and support to ensure that successful single-unit owners can maintain success across two, three, or more locations, and franchisees joining your system with plans to open multiple locations have a solid foundation for success in place. Learn what multi-unit owners need from field support teams, and how leadership teams can arm franchisees and business coaches with the skills and tools they need to succeed.

Frontline employees see it all… customer frustrations, operational roadblocks, and the everyday moments that define your brand. These employees are the direct link between your business and its customers, yet their insights often go unheard at the corporate level. In this session, we’ll explore the real-world wisdom frontline teams bring to the table and how HR and corporate leaders can better listen, learn, and act on their perspectives to improve operations, employee experience, organizational culture, and customer satisfaction.

Discover how to bridge the gap between frontline realities and corporate strategy by leveraging employee feedback, fostering a culture of trust, and implementing changes that drive both engagement and business success. You’ll leave with actionable strategies to amplify frontline voices, improve communication between teams, and create a stronger, more human-centric organization.

Key takeaways:

• How to capture and apply frontline insights to improve business outcomes.
• Strategies to strengthen the connection between corporate teams and customer-facing employees.
• Best practices for building trust and engagement with frontline teams to reduce turnover and enhance performance.