The highlights of the two-day executive idea exchange, Dine America, were the two education sessions hosted by The Disney Institute today.

Disney Institute facilitator Austin Brock, who has been with the company for 12 years, led the events and emphasized the similarities between the multibillion-dollar Disney brand and the quick-service industry. According to Brock, success in both industries comes from exceeding guest expectations and paying extra attention to small details.

Through numerous movie clips, free-response dialogue with the audience, and anecdotal examples from the Disney World theme park, Brock was able to demonstrate to the event’s attendees how to implement high service standards in their own restaurants.

At the Disney Institute service standards are broken down into four categories: courtesy, efficiency, show, and safety. With Brock’s help, attendees filled in customizable graphs that showed them which service categories they were already excelling in and which could be improved. Each of the four categories should be demonstrated throughout a restaurant’s setting, crew, and processes for the concept to provide an exceptional customer experience.

Specific quick-services named as achieving this experience were White Castle chain and The Varsity, an Atlanta hotdog concept.

According to Brock, the famous Walt Disney quote, ’You don’t build it for yourself. You know what the people want, and you build it for them, ‘ sums up the motivation behind creating a great customer experience.

QSR magazine’s 5th annual executive idea exchange, Dine America, began yesterday in Houston, Texas, at the Hilton Americas Hotel Downtown. There, operators and executives from across the country have gathered to be informed and inspired by some of the foodservice industry’s top leaders.

QSR magazine and its Web site QSRmagazine.com are the leading sources of news and information about the $180 billion-plus quick-service industry.