Day 2 of the Connections Conference and Exhibition offered new products; marketing solutions; insights from The Magic Kingdom and hunger. Deep, gnawing hunger.

First, breakfast: tasty, with good juice and decent coffee. A promising start, to be sure. Now, let the games begin.

The first full day of the show had quite a lineup of speakers on tap, starting with no less than Howard Partridge and “14 Proven Strategies to Getting Your Employees to Do What You Want When You Want It!” something that, let’s face it, every employer has an interest in. Rick Gelinas played host for “EncapFest” and its look at the commercial carpet maintenance segment, while Sherman Guffy and Steve Walsh presented “New Trends in Chemistry and Attracting Profitable Customers” to an attentive audience.

It would be now that you think lunch might make an appearance. You would be mistaken.

And then there was a man, let’s call him…Dennis. And we’ll call him that because…it’s actually his name. Dennis is an employee – excuse me, cast member – with Disney, and the presenter of the day’s major keynote address, “Quality Service.” Dennis gave many insights, yes, provoked many ideas and murmurings of “hmmm…” But it’s what he led off with, the initial set up, that showed once again that while implementation may be the real challenge, no matter what the size of the business or the industry in which it exists, the formula for success is almost always the same:

• Leadership Excellence leads to
• Cast Excellence, which leads to
• Guest Satisfaction, which of course ends with
• Financial Results and Repeat Business

It’s the same game; industry doesn’t matter. Under promise and over deliver, sell the service and sell yourself, make customer service the cornerstone and you will find yourself a cut above the competition. In a purely technical sense, anyone can clean a carpet; what is going to make the client call you and, more important, call you back?

It’s just about 7 pm now. Breakfast – lovely, tasty breakfast – took place just about 12 hours ago now.  Lunch abandoned me, like the cruel temptress she is. I’m holding out hope that dinner can erase the horrible memory – not to mention the pains and the incessant rumblings – very soon. I will also be sure to save you the pain of having to read all about it.

Check back tomorrow for more from the show.