Jeffrey J Kingman's Blog (52)

Blame It On The Location

I wrote this blogpost for a client; Mocafe, based in Irvine CA. I'm curious what all your esteemed thoughts might be on this topic?

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Location, location, location.

What if your cafe location is wrong?…

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Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on August 5, 2011 at 9:06am — 1 Comment

I have a client in Atlanta who's very intent to have the hottest food truck in that metro area. I wrote her business plan early this year and have helped her research and negotiate a brick and morter restaurant to partner with, per Atlanta's code.

Over the last four months we've been negotiating to get the truck. We finally, about three months ago, settled on a food truck manufacturer. Good to go, let's get started and here's a…

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Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on July 26, 2011 at 7:53am — 1 Comment

Chef Operator Wanted for Dallas Golf Course (on the qt)

Floating out a request from an awesome hospitality consultant I know.

A talented and experienced Chef / Operator is wanted for a golf course in the Dallas area. Not many details yet (more next week), but the operation is in need of healthy change. Golf course has a good reputation.

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on July 19, 2011 at 8:59pm — No Comments

Open Letter to SCAA Members from Coffee Fest Founder

Coffee Fest Show is the first client I

landed for Chalkboarder, a company

I founded early in 2009, that provides social media strategies and

other services. The following is an Open Letter to members of the

Specialty Coffee Association of America, distributed by Chalkboarder on

behalf of our valued client, Coffee Fest. Jeffrey J Kingman,… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on July 13, 2010 at 7:31pm — No Comments

Dessert Professional: Day Two of the World Pastry Team Competition

Cross-posted from Chalkboarder News

I'm in Phoenix Arizona at the Carymax World Pastry Forum, part of a social media team working for Dessert Professional Magazine, covering the Amoretti World Pastry Chef Team Competition.

Eight national…

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Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on July 6, 2010 at 7:38am — No Comments

Dessert Professional Social Media Coverage of the World Pastry Forum This Week

Cross-posted from Chalkboarder News

We’ve got a veritable flurry of social media content messaging happening over the next seven days from our client Dessert Professional Magazine.

Rather than publish a hundred blogposts a day…

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Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on June 30, 2010 at 11:30am — 1 Comment

I screwed up in social media.

I failed a client yesterday.

I learned a lesson about slowing down.

I learned that social media communities will shape a corporate social media voice.

To remit amends to this, I offer a full and transparent apology.

"An Apology to the Dessert Professional Community"

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on June 26, 2010 at 10:20am — 2 Comments

I Disagree With Smart Brief's Survey On Social Media Adoption By Hospitality Industry

"Restaurants are ahead of the curve: 81% are currently using social

media, compared with 60% in other industries."

Smart Brief's 'SmartBlog on Restaurants' published the results of a survey on June 16th. While they do state that the survey is under-represented by the industry.. I think the results are very skewed. Take a look.. I'd love to know what you think.

"State of Social… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on June 22, 2010 at 9:40am — 20 Comments

Web-Browser based POS on iPad/iTouch/iPhone Lets CEO Visit Any Table at Any Restaurant

Over the past two weeks I've been fortunate to play with a POS system demo'd on an iPad, iPhone and iTouch. Developed by a Portland, OR based firm who lists as a partner a former Regional Director of Rockbottom and before that TGIFs, this system is phenomenal.

Imagine you're the CEO of a major multi-unit restaurant outfit. You call one of your GMs and ask "how's the day going?" Of course, you're going to get the response that things are good, things are busy.

Now imagine you… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on May 15, 2010 at 1:01pm — 4 Comments

Coffee & Tea Are Not Cuisine

Yup - that's right. The coffee and tea that is served in USA restaurants and hotels is just that, generic coffee and tea.

Restaurants don't really give a rat's you-know-what about their coffee and tea programs.

Do you agree with that statement?

Does your restaurant spend the least amount possible for the best flavor wholesale coffee or tea from the full-line distributor?

Don't shoot the messenger - the belief that USA restaurants and hotels… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on March 7, 2010 at 7:29pm — 6 Comments

We've Failed: "Increase Revenue"

Have we failed as a society that values entrepreneurship, out-of-the-box thinking, business savvy-ness and capitalism?

Today I "beat the street". No, not Wall Street. I hoofed a significant number of blocks in my local community visiting small businesses to introduce myself. One of the questions I posed to each business asked if the owners would be interested in increasing their revenue.

When I asked this question of front-line staff at businesses the owner wasn't present… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on February 22, 2010 at 4:51pm — 3 Comments

Small Business Social Media

I've become really fascinated with how small independent businesses can take advantage of emergent social web tools. Much of my professional experience has been in the non-corporate world (except for Ritz Carlton, Hyatt, GTE Sprint, and some early career positions); independents generating less than $5 million in annual revenues.

The growth challenges posed to independents are, I believe, much more difficult than that for larger organizations. With larger organizations comes… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on February 20, 2010 at 4:24pm — 3 Comments

Chefs: Web-based Portfolios for your Resume

DAWG Talks (David Rose) recent post Apps Are the New Hieroglyphs brought back to mind my thinking about chefs using the web to stand-out from the competition in searching for employment.

Our craft depends not only on fiscal, operational and organizational management skills - it's also about presentation. Many… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on February 12, 2010 at 10:09am — No Comments

The Top Five Reasons Brands Fear Social Media

I found a great article through Facebook this morning and wanted to share it with you all...

Excerpt

By Ayelet Noff

The Top Five Reasons Brands Fear Social Media

I’ve been in the social media space now for quite a few years and I meet with at least 5 companies each week who have understood the importance of utilizing social… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on February 10, 2010 at 11:15am — 1 Comment

Single Mother Wins $200,000 in Job Bias Case

Culled from Inc. Magazine January 25, 2010

Dena Lockwood says her employer fired her after she stayed home from work to care for a sick child.

In what's being seen as a wake-up call to employers about an emerging area of employment law covering parents, Chicago's Commission on Human Relations has awarded more than $200,000 to a women who was fired from her job after she missed a meeting to care for a sick child.

Here's the link.....… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 27, 2010 at 12:11am — No Comments

New Chef Attributes - do they increase salary valuation?

How many operators are now looking for chefs with social media and marketing skills? Should the following be added to job descriptions? How much would that be worth in additional compensation?

1. Responsible for assisting the strategic vision on incorporating social media as brand extensions for the company and accelerate the growth, increase awareness/engagement across all social platforms. Additionally, will need to effectively communicate the benefits of social communities to all… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 21, 2010 at 10:20am — 2 Comments

From One Chef (former) to Another: Get Real

From a Yelp Review in Portland OR

Since our table was quite long we could not converse with everyone at once. I made a visit to the other end of the table after dinner but before dessert to thank people for coming. One guest had ordered salmon and it was too under-done for her liking. She sent it back to the kitchen requesting it be cooked longer. The chef sent it back, saying that is how salmon should be cooked, refusing to cook it further. Needless to say, the guest did… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 20, 2010 at 2:00am — No Comments

Yelp & Urban Spoon Comments

Guest Experience Staff Training

I'm researching a study of the restaurant industry, using Yelp and Urban Spoon as the main viewframe. While I've written in the past about how operators could use these two sites to their advantage, I feel compelled to share a different observation tonight.

Does your team need a refresher on what makes great experience for customers? I bet if you spent one hour with an all-staff meeting, asked them to all bring their laptops in for… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 20, 2010 at 1:15am — No Comments

The Real Cost of Social Media - by Danny Brown

excerpted from The Real Cost of Social Media - by Danny Brown

Social media is free. Social media is inexpensive. You don’t have to outspend your competition. Social media saves time. Social media will save your business thousands, if not millions.

These are all quotes I’ve seen from various voices recently. Each one pretty much agrees with the other – that social media is a great… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 19, 2010 at 11:07pm — No Comments

Siphon Coffee

Today I witnessed the process of siphon brewing coffee for the first time. I was having conversation with Jason Simon (on Twitter at @coffeeshopchat), who holds a masters in conflict resolution from George Mason and is a specialty coffee fanatic and blogger (Caffeinated Conversations), at one of Portland Oregon's newest espresso shops when a bright light and… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on January 17, 2010 at 10:53pm — 1 Comment