In changing times, the new Pizza Expo 365 platform serves as the industry’s guiding light
n mid-January, Pizza Today formally launched a new platform unlike anything the industry has ever seen. We call it Pizza Expo 365, and it’s an immersive digital experience that’s designed to provide pizzeria owners with valuable educational content, networking opportunities and even support from the industry’s leading suppliers. All this at your fingertips 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.
With large-scale live events like International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas unable to take place in 2020, we knew we needed new and innovative ways to help pizzeria operators reach their goals during the ongoing global pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak has certainly hit below the belt, but the resilience of our industry is proven; and we felt like our audience deserved a platform that could provide some of the same educational and networking components found at the show. To be clear: this is not a replacement for Pizza Expo. It is not a virtual tradeshow, per se, either. This is a functional, around-the-clock engagement mechanism designed with pizzeria owners and operators in mind. We’ve built in virtual “booths” so that you, dear reader, can set appointments with key industry suppliers any time you want to learn more about their products and services. With this feature, the knowledge of those who supply pizzerias is readily at your fingertips. With a few keystrokes you can request product samples, ask to chat with a sales rep or merely initiate a discussion about that company’s product line.
We’ve also taken nearly 50 hours’ worth of seminars, food demonstrations, panel discussions and workshops from Pizza Expo and loaded them onto the platform for your research. Expertise that once was only available if you attended the show in person is now at your fingertips, for free! Additionally, each month brand new, never-before-seen videos will be loaded onto Pizza Expo 365 — so there will always be something fresh for you to check out. We’re tapping contributors far and wide to provide you with in-depth knowledge you can’t get anywhere else.
To register for your free Pizza Expo 365 account, simply visit www.PizzaExpo365.com. From there, you’ll be able to tour the Expo Hall, search for new products or look up info on products by category. You’ll also find an extensive Pizza Expo 365 On-Demand library that features content from speakers such as Tony Gemignani, Mike Bausch, Sammy Mandell, Jeff Smokevitch, Dan Collier and so many more.
The On-Demand library, which will grow each month, currently includes topics such as flour blends, branding, employee management, Detroit-style pizza, growth system implementation and more.
We realize you have a pizzeria to run and can’t dedicate 50+ hours per week conducting research, viewing videos, interacting with suppliers about new product developments or initiatives that can help grow your business. As the needs of your day-to-day operations continue to grow during the pandemic, we recognize that you do not just want — but need — to be able to access this information on your own timeframe. That’s exactly why we did not place parameters such as a start and end date to the Pizza Expo 365 platform and created the On-Demand Library vs. uploaded content that is viewable for only a limited time.
We are eager to hear your thoughts on Pizza Expo 365, as well as your input on what types of content you’d like to see loaded onto the platform in the future, so please reach out to us through the Contact tab on the site to give us your thoughts!
