Let's start simple. For someone who has never walked a NEXT floor, what is this show?

It's a working show. That's the shortest way I can put it. NEXT is two days where restaurant owners, chefs, exhibitors, distributors and the people who keep this industry rolling are in the same building at the same time, and the whole thing is built around them getting something out of it. Not a simple trade show where you collect pens and samples and leave. You come in with your challenges and you leave with something that moves your business forward. More profits. More foot traffic through the front door. Better social media marketing that moves sales. Better business decisions. A clearer picture of the resources you may already have access to. This expo is all about you and helping you succeed.

Oh, and before we go any further, I have to say this one out loud. Square is our title sponsor, and that means something. Square has been in this industry with operators, not above them, for a long time now, and the folks over there get it. They understand what a Friday night looks like in a restaurant. They understand what an owner is actually worried about. Having them put their name on NEXT tells you what kind of show this is, because Square doesn't attach itself to anything or anyone. They attach themselves to the best. Go find their team on the floor at NEXT and talk to them. They're some of the best people in this business and they'll give you their honest take, not a pitch.

Why Calgary, and why the BMO Centre?

Because Alberta is a major hot spot for the foodservice industry and hasn't always had a show that is like NEXT. Calgary is a serious hospitality city and it's majorly growing. You've got independents doing world-class work, you've got restaurant groups scaling, you've got a supplier base that's hungry, and you've got markets from Red Deer, Lethbridge, Edmonton, Saskatchewan, BC and Manitoba growing as well. The BMO Centre also gives us the room to do this properly. It's a real venue for a real show, or expo, as I like to call it, and yes, it's in the logo. Nobody's crammed into a hallway or a small venue to just sell you items. NEXT is about driving your dreams forward.

What's different about 2026?

Scale, and the intention. The team has been deliberate about what's on that expo floor. Domenic Pedulla and Kandrix Foong, the co-founders, and I have had a lot of conversations about this, and the rule has been the same every time: we need to keep the mindset of what this expo is all about. First, something for everyone, from the dishwasher to the owner of a multi-chain group. NEXT is for everyone in our industry. Then it's all about helping you succeed further, helping you make more money, save money, and a big one, save time. NEXT is about helping you succeed and helping you strive for that good life. That's the heart of this expo, and it changes everything.

Look at what we've put into these two days. There's $20,000 in prize money on the line across the Culinary Stage and the Bar and Beverage Stage. Real competition, real talent, and real money for the people who take it.

Then we've got four workshop rooms running: Marketing Solutions, Tech Solutions, Business Basics, and Labour and HR Solutions. Those are the four things operators bring up with me more than anything else, so that's what we built the rooms around. Go sit in one. Go sit in all four if you can.

And then there's the four new test kitchens. That's a spot you'll want to be at throughout the day. Don't just walk past once. Come back, because what's happening in there keeps changing.

Plus the main stage, which will have talks and panel discussions running on it all day.

Here's another new one for 2026. The FBA, the Flair Bartenders' Association, is bringing their competition to NEXT. For the first time in over 20 years, they're back in Canada. If you've never watched flair done at a high level, clear your schedule. These are athletes. The speed, the control, the showmanship, it's incredible to watch and the crowd around it is going to be electric. But it's more than a show. Bar programs are where a lot of operators are leaving money on the table right now, and having the FBA in the building puts that talent and that thinking right in front of you. Bring your bar staff. Let them see what the top of this craft looks like.

And there's one more piece of this I care about deeply. We've got numerous spots throughout the show where you can donate to the Burnt Chef Project. If you don't know them yet, they're doing the work nobody was doing for a long time, taking mental health in hospitality seriously and putting real support behind it. Every one of us knows somebody in this industry who was struggling and nobody caught it. That's the part of this business we don't talk about enough. So when you see one of those donation spots on the floor, stop. Give what you can, whatever that looks like. This industry takes care of everybody else all day long. It's time we took care of our own.

The other big shift is that 2026 feels like the year people want to gather more than anything and are done hiding behind the scenes. They want to see product, taste amazing ideas, get help with menu pricing, and find out what the deals are that the distributors will have for them. That's the energy of NEXT.

You're the media and marketing voice of NEXT. What does that actually mean on the ground?

It means I'm not standing behind a booth. I'm on the floor talking and helping us celebrate this amazing industry and expo. I'll be walking around with my new video team recording, helping you see the amazing content we've built. We'll be interviewing folks and exhibitors, chefs and owners, to share their story, asking them what they came for and what they found that was awesome. Ashton Media will be there to showcase at our booth what we do in the industry and the exciting things we have coming to Canada.

A trade show used to end when the doors closed. Now the content lives for months after, and we'll be sharing a ton right through to the NEXT 2027 Expo. Hold tight, we've got a few surprises too.

What should an operator do to get real value out of two days?

Come with a list. I'm serious. Four challenges you're trying to solve. Labour, food cost, a piece of equipment that's dying, a POS you're looking to change, and what awesome food idea you're looking for. Write them down before you get in the car. Then work the floor to see all the solutions that are there to help you.

And talk to people. Not just exhibitors. The operator standing beside you at a booth is running the same fight you are. Some of the best things I've ever learned in this business came from a five-minute conversation in a lounge on the floor with somebody I'd never met. That's free. Take it.

And for the brands and suppliers exhibiting?

Get ready to listen to these amazing people. The exhibitors who win at NEXT are the ones who ask an operator what their week looks like. Operators can smell a script from twenty feet. Bring your best people, bring something they can taste or touch, and be ready to answer questions with heart.

Also, be findable after the show. I've watched brands have an incredible two days and then go silent for a month. The follow-up is where the money is. And stay connected. Start pitching the show now, get it out on your social channels, tell the world you'll be at NEXT and tell them what they need to see from you, what's new and what you're all about. Build that human touch before the show, during, and after.

Tell me about the dream board.

That's one I'm excited about. We're putting up a dream board, a huge cube, at the show and asking people to write down what their dreams are for their business or career. The actual dream. The second location. The kid taking over the family place. The line cook who wants his own kitchen one day.

This industry doesn't stop to do that very often. We're heads down all the time and we forget why we started. So you've got two days in a room full of people chasing the same thing, and you get to put yours up on a wall and see it sitting beside everybody else's. That's the heart of this show in one spot. Go write on it. Bring your team over and have them write on it too. You may be surprised one day at what shows up on your doorstep a few months down the road.

What are you most looking forward to?

Honestly? The floor at about ten thirty a.m. on day one, when it's full and loud and you can't hear yourself. That noise is the industry being healthy. I've been to a lot of shows in this industry and that particular sound never gets old.

That, and the conversations I don't plan. Every show, somebody grabs me and tells me something about their business that ends up being an episode on the show next month or in one of our newsletters. The people I get to hug and see, and hear about what they've been up to. That's my favourite part of the show, the amazing community of our industry.

What do you want people saying on the drive home?

"That was the best show ever!" Every owner who walks through those doors gave time for us and that means the world to me. If they get to the parking lot and they're already texting a supplier or rethinking a menu item, we did our job. This expo has heart everywhere, and having folks come here is something we don't take for granted and never will.

Last words?

Come. Bring your chef, bring your GM, bring the next manager you're trying to develop into their own dream. September 13 and 14, BMO Centre, Calgary. Two days that will change how you see this industry, not as a challenge but as an opportunity to build your dream stronger.

You'll find me on the floor. I can't wait to see everyone. Come say hello.

That's the whole reason I do this. The amazing people of the industry I truly love.