Complimentary Webinar
Developing Supervisors and Managers Before You Need Them
Strong supervisors and managers are rarely developed overnight. Waiting until a leadership position opens often leads to rushed promotions, limited preparation and talented employees being placed into roles before they are ready.
This panel will bring together dining leaders to share how they identify leadership potential and prepare team members for greater responsibility. Panelists will discuss mentoring, cross-training, stretch assignments, coaching and the essential skills new leaders need to manage people effectively.
The conversation will also explore how to create clear advancement pathways, build confidence in emerging leaders, and develop a stronger pipeline of supervisors and managers. Attendees will leave with practical ideas for building leadership readiness before the next opening occurs.
Panelists:
Melanie Tapp, Assistant VP - Culinary Experience, Trilogy Health Services
Jennifer Moore, VP of Culinary Services, Presbyterian Communities of South Carolina
Stacey Sheerin, Senior Regional Director of Dining Services, Charter Senior Living
Moderator:
Harris Ader, CEO/Founder, Senior Dining Association
Complimentary SDA Member Chat
The Chef as a Community Leader
What changes when the chef becomes one of the most visible and engaged leaders in the community?
Join Harris Ader for a live conversation with Chef Brendan Krebs, Culinary Director at Taylor Glen and SDA’s 2026 Executive Chef of the Year.
With more than 35 years of foodservice experience, Brendan joined Taylor Glen during a pivotal period of growth and transformation. In his first year, he helped strengthen the team, improve resident satisfaction, and open two new dining venues, a storefront, and a memory care dining room.
Brendan will share how he leads beyond the kitchen by attending resident councils, communicating at town halls, collaborating across departments, mentoring employees, promoting from within, and providing cooking classes and ServSafe training.
This conversation will explore how an approachable, hands-on culinary leader can strengthen the entire community while creating memorable experiences for residents and employees.
The program includes live audience polls and Q&A and will be recorded for an SDA Member Chat Podcast episode.
Successfully selling and marketing to senior living requires more than knowing your products. Your team must understand how communities operate, who influences purchasing decisions, the challenges dining leaders face, and how to communicate value without relying on a traditional sales pitch.
Senior Dining 101 gives sales and marketing professionals an inside look at community dining operations while helping them develop more effective messages, campaigns, conversations, and relationships.
YOU WILL LEARN:
SESSION DATES & TIMES:
1. Thursday, November 19, 2026, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM 2. Friday, November 20, 2026, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
1. Thursday, November 19, 2026, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
2. Friday, November 20, 2026, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
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FACILITATOR:
Harris Ader
Harris Ader has more than 20 years of operational experience in the senior living industry. His extensive background includes experience in contract foodservice management, the national school lunch program, hotels and restaurants. Prior to founding Senior Dining Association, Harris was the Vice President of Dining Service at Senior Living Communities, based in Charlotte, NC. Harris’ areas of expertise include conceptual development, financial and business acumen, organizational effectiveness, project management, talent development and strategic vision & planning. Harris graduated from Johnson & Wales University.
INFORMATION:
Cancellation: No refunds will be given for cancellations received 5 days prior of the start date. Cancellations made due to unforeseen circumstances are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. email kathie@seniordining.org to cancel your registration.
No-Shows: Refunds will not be issued to participants who do not attend the training.
C.E. Credits - Participants will receive a certificate of completion and a copy of the agenda to submit for C.E. credits
Leading Culinary Excellence in Senior Living
What does it take to build a strong culinary program while creating an exceptional dining experience for residents?
Join Harris Ader for a live conversation with Robert Linder, Director of Culinary at Arbutus Manor and SDA’s 2026 Director of Dining Services of the Year.
Robert will share his approach to culinary leadership, building strong teams, creating a positive dining culture and making the everyday decisions that help elevate the resident experience.
Elevating Hospitality Through Better Conversations, Stronger Teams, and Human Connection
Series Overview
Hospitality is more than what comes out of the kitchen. It’s how residents are greeted, how teams communicate, how leaders set expectations, and how every interaction makes someone feel.
This four-part live virtual series gives culinary leaders practical storytelling and communication tools to create a stronger hospitality experience with residents, employees, colleagues, and leadership.
Participants won’t just learn the concepts. They’ll practice them, apply them between sessions, and learn how to teach them to their teams. The goal is better resident experiences, more engaged and accountable teams, and stronger culinary leaders.
This series is designed for:
What You Will Learn
Participants will learn how to understand and connect with different audiences, identify and communicate their own value, adapt their communication to residents, employees, and leadership, and use storytelling to create stronger hospitality experiences.
This isn’t about becoming a great public speaker. It’s about becoming a more intentional communicator and leader.
Series Dates
Thursday, January 14, 2027 Understanding Your Audience to Create Better Experiences
Thursday, January 21, 2027
Understanding Your Value and Communicating What Matters
Friday, January 29, 2027 Communicating With Residents, Employees & Leadership
Thursday, February 4, 2027 Advanced Storytelling Tools for Hospitality Leaders
Thursday, February 25, 2027 Follow-Up Peer Discussion | 60 Minutes
Time: 2:00–3:00PM EST | 1:00 - 2:00PM CST
Session 1: Start With Them
Understanding Your Audience to Create Better Experiences
The best communicators don’t start with what they want to say. They start with who they’re talking to.
This session introduces audience-first communication and explores how understanding another person’s needs, expectations, experiences, and perspective can change the way we communicate.
Participants will apply these principles to the people culinary leaders interact with every day—from residents and families to employees and executive leadership.
Key Takeaways
Put It to Work
Participants select one important audience in their community and complete an Audience Snapshot: What matters to them? What do they need from us? What do we want them to think, feel, or do?
Session 2: What’s Your Story?
Everyone has a story, but most of us aren’t particularly good at telling it.
In this interactive workshop, participants will learn how to move beyond job titles, responsibilities, and lists of accomplishments to articulate the value they bring to their residents, teams, and organizations.
They’ll identify the experiences, strengths, and impact that make up their professional story and practice communicating that story in a way that is clear, memorable, and authentic.
Participants develop and practice their own “What’s Your Story?” statement and use it in a real conversation before the next session.
Session 3: Same Story, Different Audience
Communicating With Residents, Employees & Leadership
Great communication isn’t one-size-fits-all.
A resident, a 19-year-old server, a sous chef, and an executive director may all need to hear something different from you, even when the underlying message is the same.
This session takes the principles from Sessions 1 and 2 and puts them to work across the relationships that matter most in senior living.
Participants take one real message and create three versions: one for a resident, one for an employee, and one for senior leadership.
Session 4: Lead Through Story
Advanced Storytelling Tools for Hospitality Leaders
The strongest leaders don’t just communicate information. They help people understand why it matters.
The final session brings the series together with practical storytelling techniques leaders can use to make messages more memorable, create stronger emotional connections, recognize employees, navigate change, and reinforce the hospitality experience they want their teams to deliver.
Just as importantly, participants will learn how to teach these techniques to their teams so storytelling and communication aren’t dependent on one leader.
Participants create and deliver a short Hospitality Story they can use with their team, then build a 10-minute huddle exercise to teach one storytelling principle to their staff.
Learning + Application + Accountability
This is designed as a working series, not four webinars.
Each session combines instruction, senior living scenarios, discussion, individual exercises, and live practice. Participants receive a simple Storytelling & Communication Action Workbook that follows them throughout the series.
After each session, participants complete one real-world challenge:
Learn it > Try it > Document it > Share it > Teach it.
Participants submit a short reflection on what they tried, what happened, and what they’ll do differently next time, creating accountability while building their own practical communication playbook.
Follow-Up Peer Discussion | 60 Minutes
Approximately 30 days after the final session, participants reconvene for a facilitated peer discussion focused entirely on application.
Participants share what they’ve tried, what worked, where they’ve struggled, and how their communication has affected residents, employees, and leadership. Together, the group will troubleshoot challenges, exchange successful practices, and identify the habits they want to continue.
The goal isn’t simply to tell better stories. It’s to create better leaders, stronger teams, and hospitality experiences people can feel.
About the Speaker
Andy Siegel is an award-winning storyteller and culture strategist with more than 25 years of experience helping organizations bring their values and purpose to life. He has led storytelling and content strategies for major brands and held executive producer roles with the ACC Digital Network and NBC Sports Washington. Andy is also co-owner of Flour Power Cooking Studios.
Cancellation:
No refunds will be given for cancellations received 5 days prior of the start date (January 8, 2027). Cancellations made due to unforeseen circumstances are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. email Kathie@seniordining.org to cancel your registration.
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