Who's At Your Table?

400 years ago, the first Thanksgiving holiday started by bringing people together, and we continue that tradition this week with friends and family often travelling long distances to become one. The world would certainly benefit by focusing on more activities like this that drive a “better together” approach rather than focusing on what makes us different.?

Last week we announced the joining of CEND and PricePoint into one team. Our collective group has the strong belief that this is a 1+1=3 scenario for our customers, our stockholders, and our team. Mergers and acquisitions are nothing new to our industry but very few of those have an exponential impact because they are driven by only a portion of the characteristics needed to create something truly special.?

Like many “deals” we see synergistic relationships between the businesses in three key areas.?

• Technology?
• Data?
• Guest Experience?

We can also envision the ability of becoming a global organization much quicker with more than half of team members already based outside the U.S. and the right technology as the base to support global customers. Those aspects of coming together, however, only represent some of the ingredients of what creates success. They are the “what” much like turkey and stuffing represent the “what” of Thanksgiving. The magic is in the who.??

We are blessed in this situation to have a great history with one another. Mike Fergus, one of the board members of PricePoint was a mentor, and I will always be grateful to him for giving me my first shot in a significant leadership role in this industry. Ryan Keitz, the founder of PricePoint is that same brilliant guy that I hired out of college more than two decades ago. Most of the PricePoint team members are longtime associates and devoted friends providing us with a great foundation of cultural alignment.?

Familiarity does not guarantee success, but trust equals speed. Most M&A activities involve inviting a bunch of strangers to Thanksgiving with not enough food to go around. It usually leaves everyone wishing they stayed home. When you have both the right people and the right meal, however, it is spectacular!!!?

Happy Thanksgiving.?