---
title: "Wild Birds Unlimited Celebrates First Post-Pandemic In-Person Conference"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/f4928331-e620-4dbc-a5ee-f7c1d38be64d
source: "Franchising.com"
original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20220629_wild_birds_unlimited_celebrates_first_postpandemic_inperson_conference.html
category: "Specialty retail"
industry: "Retail"
segment: "Specialty retail"
published: 2022-06-29T12:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T22:33:03.850Z
image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1551836022-deb4988cc6c0?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop
---

# Wild Birds Unlimited Celebrates First Post-Pandemic In-Person Conference

**TL;DR:** Wild Birds Unlimited celebrated its first in-person conference since 2019, the Enterprise Leadership Conference, in Q2 of 2022. The conference brought together franchisees and the Franchise Support Center team to discuss successes and improvements.

*originally published in Franchising.com on 2022-06-29. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20220629_wild_birds_unlimited_celebrates_first_postpandemic_inperson_conference.html).*

## Story

CARMEL, Ind. - Wild Birds Unlimited is celebrating its successful Enterprise Leadership Conference (ELC) in Q2 of 2022 as the brand marked its first in-person conference since 2019.

The annual ELC event has come to be one of the most important gatherings for Wild Birds Unlimited franchisees to meet each other and discuss successes and improvements with the Franchise Support Center team. WBU has come to be known for its franchisee satisfaction.

“Our brand has built a network of loyal customers throughout the United States and Canada, and that is due to the passion of our store owners,” said WBU’s Executive VP and Chief Development Officer Paul Pickett. “It was so fulfilling to finally gather our entire WBU family together in person for the first time since the pandemic, offering a great chance to reflect on the stability of our brand through the past two years and the excitement moving forward.”

Much of that energy was fueled by new franchisees attending the conference in person for the first time. While store owners had the option of attending in person or virtually, roughly one quarter of all attendees were those who have joined the WBU family since the last in-person ELC.

Those in attendance were treated to several opportunities, including awards for the top performing stores and most improved stores, guest speakers such as Profit Soup founder Barbara Nuss, and more educational opportunities. These recognitions and training opportunities are examples of WBU’s commitment to preparing franchisees for successful store ownership.

“Our success is driven by the relationship between our store owners and our Franchise Support Center, which makes events like ELC so integral,” said Pickett. “The kind of authentic conversations and connections made in this atmosphere have practical benefits as well as the ability to energize our entire system.”

## Entities

- Franchising.com (publication)
- Retail (sector)
- franchise support (topic)
- Wild Birds Unlimited (company)
- franchisee satisfaction (topic)
- Paul Pickett (person)
- Profit Soup (company)
- Barbara Nuss (person)
- in-person conference (topic)
- conference awards (topic)

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Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20220629_wild_birds_unlimited_celebrates_first_postpandemic_inperson_conference.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/f4928331-e620-4dbc-a5ee-f7c1d38be64d).