Ready, Set, Grow! A Recap of the Sodexo Live! 2022 Annual Meeting

Looking Back and Planning Ahead

For a few days in mid-October, your Sodexo Live! North America team gathered in Sacramento to celebrate a fantastic year of opportunity and growth and share ideas and best practices to help accomplish even more for our partners in 2023. The event, held at the dynamic SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in the heart of downtown, featured keynotes, educational sessions, and Sodexo Live!'s annual awards ceremony. 

There’s nothing better than the buzz of a live event, and being able to bring our teams together for the first time since 2019 was electric, said Steve Pangburn, CEO, Sodexo Live! North America. You could feel the passion in the room as we reflected on a fantastic year of incredible live events and as we set our sights on what’s to come. The Convention Center and the city of Sacramento are such good partners to us, and they truly made this event unforgettable.

Under the theme "Ready, Set, Grow," leadership shared their vision for the future and emphasized the company's role in reimagining the live event industry. Sodexo’s Accelerator program, which launched for the first time in North America with the Sodexo Live! team, moved to its next phase in Sacramento. Start-ups and scale-ups from around the world who were selected as finalists had the opportunity to present their innovative solutions and answer on-the-spot questions about how they can elevate the guest experience and optimize operations.

The true star of the show was our Sodexo Live! culinary team. Finding inspiration in the Farm to Fork capital of the country, our culinarians from across the US traveled to Sacramento to showcase their skills, imagination, and their confidence in our executive team—handing over the grill, waffle irons, and blenders to leadership to prepare an impressive (and tasty!) breakfast.

The meeting closed with an awards reception and decadent dinner featuring locally sourced ingredients and the fresh, seasonal flavors of fall in Northern California. The leadership team recognized Sodexo Live! team members who went above and beyond over the year, with one of the highest awards—Spirit of Service—going to the entire culinary team for their role in creating memorable moments and providing exceptional service, especially over what has been a tumultuous few years.

 

Meet your Sodexo Live! 2022 award winners!

Team Spirit

• Trina Brown, District Human Resources Manager

 

Lifetime Achievement

• Vickie Householder, General Manager

 

Rising Stars

• Deanna Hrycak, General Manager, Las Vegas Convention Center
• Sherif Ibrahim, Director of Operations, Delta Skyway Lounge, LaGuardia

 

Culinary Excellence

• Javier Rosa, Executive Chef, T-Mobile Park
• Chris DeJohn, Executive Chef, AMEX Denver Airport
• John Ogden, Executive Chef, Airport Lounges

 

Focus on Growth

• Brian Gaskill, District Manager, Louisville

 

Star Player

• Lindsay Koffler, Senior Human Resources Director West

 

Spirit of Progress

• Robert Fossetta, General Manager, Delta Sky Clubs Atlanta

 

Community Rockstars

• Molly Crouch, Corporate Director of Sustainability
• Haley Hitzing, Marketing and Community Relations Manager

 

Outstanding General Manager

• Dylan Witt, General Manager, University of Florida
• Charles Yu, General Manager, United Airport Lounges West
• Nelson Drake, General Manager, Whistler Conference Centre
• Sheree Spooner, General Manager, Ski
• Stephen Whalen, District Manager, Zoos and Aquariums
• Katie Putnam, General Manager, TCU Amphitheater, Indianapolis
• Michelle Margarido, General Manager, The National WWII Museum

 

Top Gun Award

• Danielle Micciantuono, Resident District Manager, Airport Lounges

 

President's Award

• Jill Crowe, Director of Executive Administration

 

Spirit of Service

• The Culinary Team