How To Build Modern Guest Relationships With The Right Technology

As vice president of marketing and brand integrity for Sage Restaurant Concepts, Heather Dratler oversees all marketing, public relations, social media and brand-related functions for the portfolio.

A 12-year agency veteran, Heather has a reputation for strong execution and creativity. During her agency career, she developed, managed and executed integrated strategies for clients in a wide variety of industries, with a focus on travel, hospitality, restaurants, F+B and general consumer brands. Heather has worked with brands large and small, including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Orbitz.com, American Airlines, The Capital Grille, Auntie Anne’s, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Texas de Brazil, TGI Fridays, Next Level Burger and many more.

Heather is adept at building and managing brands, creating and sustaining brand love and engaging loyal followings. Her expertise also includes traditional and social media strategy and execution, content development, influencer work, events and partnerships. Most recently serving as vice president for Allison+Partners in their Washington, D.C. and Portland, OR offices, Heather previously built her experience with independent and mid-sized agencies in NYC and Washington, D.C., including Peppercomm, Janine Gordon Associates and Sage Communications. She began her career in-house for retailer Steve & Barry’s, promoting celebrity fashion lines by Stephon Marbury, Sarah Jessica Parker, Amanda Bynes, Venus Williams, Bubba Watson and Laird Hamilton.

Heather’s past volunteer work includes supporting the World Food Travel Association’s bi-annual FoodTrekking Convention, serving as the chapter co-lead for Travel Massive Portland and serving on the social media and communications committee for Women in Travel (WiNIT). She also formerly penned a weekly column for travel writer Chris Elliott’s consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org, and served as a lead judge for the US Travel Association’s ESTO Awards, recognizing excellence in destination marketing.

Heather holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications, with a concentration in Psychology, from Cornell University. She likes to spend her free time hiking in the mountains on the Front Range of Colorado with her husband and two dogs.

His love for food first began in his grandmother's kitchen. A first generation immigrant from Catania, Siciliy - Jonathan's grandmother Mary showed him the importance of incorporating fresh, seasonal ingredients into his cooking. His love for food continued for decades to come, as he later went on to attend classes at the International Culinary Center in Soho. He went on to work alongside his mentor, Michael Chernow - as part of the opening managerial team for Seamore's in NYC. In early 2020, Jonathan and his husband George began raising capital for their first venture into the hospitality world - NANAS. The couple pivoted their business plan and approach by opening out of a ghost kitchen and operating strictly as takeout and delivery. Anzaldi and his partner just wrapped up their LA-based pop-up stint in August and are going into a second round of crowdfunding for the expansion of the NANAS brand.

With over 25 years of experience in small-business marketing, Darcy will orchestrate planning and development of BentoBox's product and brand marketing initiatives. Based in Atlanta, GA, Kurtz previously worked as Vice President of Global Product Marketing at Mailchimp, where she helped reposition the company from an email-only provider to an end-to-end marketing solution for SMBs. Darcy will seek to further BentoBox as a fixture of the restaurant community by creating dynamic, engaging stories highlighting how its world-class solution and experience solve the problems of restaurants.