TUCSON, Ariz. – In February 2020, at the Boardwalk Resort in Orlando, just a month before everything changed, Truly Nolen held its annual franchise meeting for the first time ever separate from the rest of the company. Just one year later, the franchise team had another first – the first-ever “Virtual” annual franchise meeting.
“While 2022 may prove to be different, it was pretty clear a few months ago that staging our meeting through Zoom would be our best way to connect with our franchisees throughout the United States and Canada,” said Lance Washington, Truly Nolen Director of Domestic Franchising. “Our Winston-Salem franchisee Jim Bess’ grand opening was held by Zoom in August and had a bigger turnout than we anticipated, so we felt going ahead with a virtual meeting made total sense.”
Although the meeting was virtual, many of the bells and whistles that the annual in-person meeting has still occurred. “We made sure to have our traditional sponsors represented through our programming as well as announce awards at the meeting and then sent them post-meeting for our franchisees to take pictures of to share with us.”
For example, Bryan Winter, the company’s metro Knoxville, Tenn. franchisee since May 2019, won the Franchise of the Year award for 2020. To celebrate, he shared a photo of him and his son Kevin hoisting the belt that goes with this special accolade.
“Bryan, Kevin, and the entire Winter family had an amazing first full year as franchisees despite the pandemic causing so many changes,” said Washington. “From making local media appearances on TV and radio to participating in “TRULY Spooktacular” with East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in a contactless fashion, the Winter family clearly showcased what we call the Yellow Standard all year long.”
Other award winners included Joanne Reinwald (Community Service) of Southampton, Ontario; Tom Davies & Steve Tschanz (Canadian Award of Excellence) of St. Catherine’s, Ontario; and Stu Benedict, Johnny Whearly, and Chris Mehalic (Outstanding Leadership and Innovation) of Canada, Austin, Tex., and Charlotte, N.C.
“We were recently named as one of Franchise Business Review’s 2020 Top 200 Franchise Opportunities, which marks the 23rd time our company has been named to a “Best of the Best” list since 2006,” said Washington. “Between our successful meeting and this recent honor, we are excited to have more interested prospects learn about what we have to offer as a company.”
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