The International Franchise Expo (IFE) starts TODAY (May 31st) and runs through Saturday, June 2nd at the Javits Center in New York City.  The IFE is one the largest franchise expo in the country.  This is an opportunity for franchise systems to market their brands face to face with prospective franchisees and for prospective franchisees to research brands and investigate potential franchise opportunities.  However, the IFE is not simply an franchise sales expo.  The IFE offers many additional opportunities as well.  For example, many franchise brands attend the expo to walk the floor and obtain valuable information on potential competitors.  There are social and networking opportunities for vendors in the evening.

However, most importantly, the IFE also offers educational workshops during the day tailored to every potential attendee.  Prospective franchisees will find workshops with tips and traps on buying a franchise.  Emerging franchise systems will find workshops on improving franchise sales, best practices for multi-unit operators, and avoiding franchise disputes.  Established brands can find resources on expanding internationally and tips on tasking your system to the next level.   Megan Center and Alex Radus of our franchise practice group will be presenting a workshop at the IFE on Thursday at 12:30 pm entitled the “Top 10 Provisions to Never Negotiate in a Franchise Agreement” where they will discuss the potential long-term effects of seemingly harmless revisions to franchise agreement provisions featuring the most common arguments franchisees will make and how and why to rebut them.    For those franchise industry practitioners looking for credits towards obtaining a CFE (Certified Franchise Executive) designation from the Institute of Certified Franchise Executives, then the IFE workshops are an opportunity to do so.

The cost to attend the IFE is very affordable. If you have not registered to attend the IFE yet, then you can do so here.

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