We went back to where it all started. 858 partnered with Olo to thoughtfully fold technology partners into its annual customer conference. Olo’s platform relies on a strong ecosystem, where partners help drive the next wave of innovation. From more than 400 partners, 858 and Olo brought ten of the most strategic to Beyond4, and all ten said they would return next year.
858 and NEST launched the inaugural Chapter Gathering with fifty brand executives from emerging to enterprise, grouped by scale and complexity. The conversation went where conferences rarely do: loyalty discounts training guests to wait, data abundant but unusable, AI working only where hospitality came first. Candid, commercially grounded, and overdue. Attendees called it business therapy. "Iron sharpens iron," one executive wrote afterward.
Just steps from registration, 858 House debuted as a private lounge where clients and brand executives connected away from the show floor. Alongside it, the 858 × NEST RLC Luncheon returned for a second year: 125 of the most senior brand executives at RLC, seated by shared business challenges, in a room built for conversation. The feedback was direct and consistent — one guest called it genuinely one of the highlights of RLC.
858 headed back to Dallas for the inaugural Off-Premise Executive Leadership Luncheon at Food on Demand. One hundred senior off-premise operators, ninety minutes, no panels, no presentations, just an intentional seating plan and a guided workshop on where off-premise attention actually sits: first-party growth and third-party economics. Competitors traded notes by the end. As one operator put it, "I didn't want our conversation to end."
On the eve of the NRA Show, 858 and NEST brought the Chapter Gathering to Chicago for seventy five restaurant brand executives. An operator-only kickoff, Bird Circle peer sessions on guest data, and a Technomic consumer read led into a fireside with Lettuce Entertain You CEO, RJ Melman, moderated by Jonathan Maze. As one operator put it: "The most useful and informative conference I have been to in 10 years."
858 x CREATE is back for Year 3. CREATE is where emerging and high-growth brands go to scale smarter. Three days on the California coast built around what actually moves a growing brand forward: face time with investors funding the next breakout concepts, curated 1:1s with the right partners and advisors, and candid peer conversation with operators a few steps ahead.
The 2nd Annual CIO Summit kicks off FSTEC with 75 restaurant technology leaders, the people shaping technology strategy are at the top of this year’s priority list. A half-day built around the decisions they're actually making: integration over sprawl, where AI earns its budget, and what to consolidate. Candid breakouts and a luncheon seated by shared priority, so the conversation starts before the first session.
Atlanta closes our 2026 NEST series, the format brand executives rated their highest of the spring. After Dallas opened it and Chicago drew 70-plus brand leaders on the eve of NRA, this is the last Chapter Gathering of the year: 75 brand leaders, a half-day summit, and an evening social. Peer breakouts and intentional seating put you next to leaders facing the same calls you are headed into 2027.
In official partnership with RFDC, the 858 CFO Summit returns to Las Vegas for year two on the Sunday prior. The timing is deliberate: finance leaders gather as they close out 2026 and budget for 2027, reflecting on what worked, where to adjust, and where to invest next, alongside peers in the same seat. Built on the format CFOs called the most impactful event of the week, tightened around what scored highest.
We close the year the way it began, with the 858 community together. A half-day business summit in our backyard, followed by a memorable evening for the operators and partners who made the year what it was. A chance to celebrate, reconnect, and set 2027 in motion. The relationships that carried us, all in the same place in our favorite part of the country.