Source: http://www.naidnews-digital.org/naidnews/20171104?pg=26#pg26
An international celebrity, highly sought-after hospitality industry
guru, and creator, executive producer and star of Spike TV’s
number-one show, Bar Rescue, most people know Jon Taffer as a
larger-than-life television personality who takes a no-holds-barred
approach to helping hotels, restaurants and bars reach their full
potential. What most might not know, however, is that Taffer’s
impressive industry experience dates back nearly four decades—
and includes everything from consulting for hundreds of thousands
of properties and Fortune 500 companies, to creating what industry
experts call “the greatest nightclub in the world,” to changing the
game of football for its fans, forever.
It all dates back to 1978, when Taffer accepted a position as the
general manager of Troubadour, one of Hollywood’s most famous
music venues, where an artist by the name Elton John was first
discovered. In 1979, after news of his success as Troubadour’s
general manager made its way throughout the area, West
Hollywood’s iconic Barney’s Beanery recruited Taffer to serve as its
lead bartender and manager. It was here, behind Barney’s coveted
bar, that Taffer fell in love with the bar industry for good. In 1980,
with a newfound love for the hospitality industry, Taffer left behind
a sunny Hollywood for his home state of New York, where he
accepted a position as the regional manager for Beefsteak Charlie’s.
As part of the new gig, Taffer underwent a 26-week kitchen training
program, which became his first official introduction to the food
business and forever changed the way he looked at restaurants.
Taffer eventually made his way to Grossinger’s Resort and
Country Club in the sprawling Catskill Mountains of Liberty, New
York. Originally recruited to be the property’s food and beverage
director, Taffer was swiftly promoted, earning a position as resident
manager. With 1,700 rooms, the world’s first-ever snow-making
machine, and a venue that housed world- renowned boxing matches
all to its name, there was no resort in the world at the time that offered an all-encompassing experience quite like Grossinger’s—
and Taffer’s hands-on approach to management and keen eye for
effective entertainment proved to be crucial to the unprecedented
success the property saw.
In 1983, Taffer received a call from a headhunter who was looking to
open “the world’s greatest nightclub” in Glenn Mills, Pennsylvania.
Never one to shy away from a challenge, Taffer succeeded in
creating a club that forever changed the nightlife game, all with the
help of a gentleman by the name of Leon Altemose—together, they
opened what quickly became the area’s most iconic and coveted
hangout: Pulsations Nightclub, a 15,000 square-foot venue boasting
10 levels, 11 bars, and 12 VIP hotel rooms.
The best part of the larger-than-life venue, though? A $400,000
custom-built robot by the name of Pulsar. Every night, a massive
spaceship (27 feet in diameter, to be exact), would fly over the
packed dance floor on an I-beam and open its door, out of which—
amongst a haze of fog and state-of-the-art lighting—Pulsar the
Robot would “levitate” down to the crowd, at which point club-goers
would take a spin on the robot, dancing on its base as it made it way
around the wide-eyed room. The remarkable nightly occurrence
quickly became a global hit, with nightclubs around the world
attempting, without success, to recreate the awe-inspiring scene.
Pulsar’s popularity grew so much so that producers on Rocky IV
even had a replica of the robot built for the hit box office flick.
Taffer eventually left behind the greatest nightclub in the world
(and the beloved Pulsar) to join a hotel management company
in Chicago. As part of this role, he consulted for 28 luxury-brand
hotels and broke countless hospitality industry records. His most
notable industry-changing contribution was the creation of Rooms
Inventory Management Systems (RIMS), a formulaic approach to
hotel-room pricing, which, to this day, is considered by experts to be
one of the greatest contributions to the hospitality industry ever. Taffer eventually decided it was time to start his own consulting
firm and, in 1986, opened the doors to Taffer Management (TMG) in
Downers Grove, Chicago. During this time, hotel restaurants simply
couldn’t compete with the quality of product and service freestanding
restaurants offered, and Taffer made it his mission to turn
this trend around. Under the TMG brand, Taffer consulted for over
300 businesses in 30 countries across the world, with a heavy focus
on creating hotel food-and-beverage operations that could compete
with their free- standing counterparts.
As part of this role, Taffer conceived all of the food-and-beverage
operations for Hyatts in Asia, Australia and Jerusalem. Thanks
to Taffer’s hands-on approach to management and invaluable
expertise, restaurants across the globe saw revenue skyrocket
under his guidance—JJ’s in Hong Kong, for example, became the
highest revenue-producing-per-square-foot bar in the history of
Hyatt hotels. Taffer also became the first-ever consultant to put
franchised restaurants in Holiday Inns, Sheraton and other hotel
brands. Taffer’s training programs developed for TGI Friday’s
are still a centerpiece of the brand. With his hands in successful
operations all over the world, it was
during these years that Taffer gained
unprecedented insight and familiarity
with Asian and European Markets,
turning him into the global industry
expert he is today.
With pleas for his international
industry expertise coming in from
all over the country, Taffer decided
to open TMG offices in Minneapolis
in 1989. He immediately took control
of the coveted Target Center—which
was then the home of the Minnesota
Timberwolves—where he managed all
restaurants and 68 suites. He spent
the following years opening two
restaurants in Mall of America, and
opening and operating Mystic Lake
Casino in Prior Lake, Minnesota, the
Golden Nickel Casino in Wisconsin
and a number of other grand casinos
all throughout the Midwest— bringing
the glitz and glamour once only
reserved for the country’s coast,
inland.
The following years saw countless
theme restaurants and successful hotel operations conceived,
opened and operated by Taffer and his TMG team (at one point,
Taffer owned and operated 17 different successful establishments
at once). By the early 1990s, Taffer managed to turn the iconic
Rainforest Cafe into the most successful restaurant IPO offering in
history. During this time, he won the Operator of the Year award,
the Visionary Leader Award and the Property of the Year award
(not once—but twice). He also worked to create the Nightclub and
Bar Show (NCB), the industry’s largest convention held annually in
Las Vegas. He remained on the NCB board for over 30 years and
served as president of the NCB for six years.
In the mid-90’s, Taffer took his expertise to the country’s favorite
playing field, where he served on the advisory board for NFL
Enterprises and changed the game with one Earth-shattering idea:
the creation of Sunday Ticket. The idea allowed fans from all over
the country to finally watch from the comfort of their couch as
their favorite teams took the field each Sunday afternoon. To this
day, Taffer is known amongst NFL executives and football fans alike
as “The Godfather of the Sunday Ticket.” Throughout his decades of globetrotting and industry-shaping,
Taffer began giving internationally acclaimed keynote speeches,
which, by the mid-1980’s, became the most well- known and
sought-after appearances in the industry. It was at one of these
appearances when the idea for Bar Rescue was sparked, after a
fan approached him and told him he should consider being on
television. It was that simple statement that changed Taffer’s career
forever.
He immediately got to work shooting a sizzle reel and pitching his
idea for what was tentatively titled On the Rocks to four major
studios. Within 4 days, Taffer had offers as large as his personality
on the table from all four studios. He accepted an offer from Spike
TV, and On the Rocks quickly became what is today the network’s
hit television show Bar Rescue, a reality show that spotlights
Taffer as he saves failing bars from looming closure, using his four
decades of unprecedented industry experience and trademarked
Reaction Management strategy to consult on everything from menu
design to cost management.
Bar Rescue premiered on Spike TV on June 11, 2011 and, by its
sophomore season, had climbed its way to the top of Spike’s
rankings, securing its spot as the number-one show on the network.
The show’s unprecedented success led to the network increasing
the length of Bar Rescue to 40 episodes in its third season and 50
episodes in its fourth season, which over 91 million viewers tuned
in to watch. In March of 2015, Bar Rescue surpassed a coveted 100 episodes—a milestone that’s extremely rare for a reality show
of its kind. Currently in its fifth season, Bar Rescue is on track
to exceed 150 episodes in 2017, which experts would argue is
nearly impossible. Under Taffer’s lead, the show has become a
workhorse for Spike TV, accounting for nearly 20 percent of its total
programming minutes and becoming the network’s number-two
ad-revenue generator, having brought in over $39 million national
advertising dollars to Spike TV in 2016 alone. When Taffer isn’t in front of the camera on Bar Rescue, you can
find him sharing his industry knowledge with audiences around
the globe. He’s been featured in Forbes Magazine, Rolling Stone,
Vice Magazine, Inked Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Business
Insider, Bar Business Magazine and The New York Times, among a
number of other prominent international media outlets, and has
appeared as a guest on shows ranging from Rachael Ray to Jimmy
Kimmel Live! to Good Morning America.
A coveted keynote speaker and chairman of both Taffer Dynamics
Inc. and Taffer Media Inc., Taffer spends what little off-camera time
he has as a key strategic consultant for the National Restaurant
Association, Anheuser Busch, Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits,
and Diageo. He is one of only six inductees into the Nightclub Hall
of Fame, and is the only American to hold the United Kingdom’s
“Pub Master” distinction. In 2016, he was inducted into the worldfamous
New York Friars Club, a private club in New York City whose
membership is composed of world- renowned comedians, awardwinning
actors and international celebrities. In 2017, Taffer received
the first-ever Dom Perignon Award of Excellence from the William F.
Harrah College of Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada,
Las Vegas.
Hear from Taffer in person as he guides attendees in wise business
practices as the Keynote speaker for NAID 2018 Conference & Expo
in Nashville, TN (April 13-15, 2018). http://www.naidconf.org
About the Author
Profile of Taffer is compliments of Keppler Speakers. Real
People. Real Stories.
Taffer is great. Love his brutal honesty and compassion for helping those in trouble…as long as they’re willing to change to succeed! Wish I could attend NAID to watch him in real life.