Jeffrey J Kingman's Blog – October 2009 Archive (11)

Social Web: Mobile Devices Are Changing the Industry

After reviewing an article on the mobile device wars - this paragraph jumped out at me:

"Today, Gartner predicted that this year, worldwide smartphone shipments would grow by 29 percent year over year to 180 million units, exceeding laptop unit shipments. From this year, Gartner predicts that end users will spend more on smartphones than they will on notebooks. The analyst firm expects that most PC manufacturers will move into the smartphone market (where Apple already is with… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on October 28, 2009 at 8:03am — 3 Comments

Wine Tastings Through Social Media

In this industry, we all look for unique ways to create events that bring customers in the door. As a former Executive Chef, I’ve hosted a number of Winemaker Dinners over the years, hosted a sanctioned ten-block ice-carving competition on top of “On Golden Pond” in deep-freeze February and other creative ventures in efforts to increase visibility, reputation and volume.

Recently I stumbled across a gentleman down in San Antonio Texas, a Front of the House Manager with years of… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on October 22, 2009 at 12:59am — 1 Comment

Talking social tactics at BlogWorld for the restaurant business #bwe09 from Paul Barron (FohBoh member)

Oct 15 / 2:05pm
Talking social tactics at BogWorld for the restaurant business #bwe09
via youtube.com

Great video from the pros at Blogworld. Justin Levy and Paul Barron talk about how restaurants can use social media. How his unknown restaurant became connected to one of the powerhouse social brands on the internet.

From Paul Barron's Social Coco

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on October 15, 2009 at 2:25pm — No Comments

Foursquare - The Next Twitter? Totally geared to Restaurants!

From Mashable.com just now:

EXCLUSIVE: Foursquare Launches in 15 New Cities

Whether or not you’re actually playing the incredibly addictive location-based game Foursquare [iTunes link], you’ve probably seen the buzz surrounding it and heard something about its notable investors, or why it may be the next Twitter.

While Foursquare certainly isn’t the first mobile app to let you check-in at venues… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on October 15, 2009 at 11:29am — 1 Comment

Blog World Expo (Las Vegas): ROI = 'Return on Ignoring If Not Into Social Media"

I'm following Blog World Expo through Twitter starting last night, and admittedly, am a bit jealous of all the heavy social media hitters all being together in such a fun spot. If you want to follow also - just search the Twitter hashtag #BWE09. By the way, Paul Barron, Publisher of Fast Casual is there tweeting away at us...

Here are some quotes from just this morning:

If you aren't into social media, then just call ROI "Return on Ignoring".

Paul Barron, in a… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on October 15, 2009 at 10:32am — 6 Comments

Don't Listen To Customers - You Don't Need Too

Did that grab your attention? Good. Read on and follow the link.

Excerpts:

"These three social media marketing mistakes are made over and over by companies that just don't want to believe that customers really are in control, and that what matters most about your brand is what comes up in Google."

"If you don't want to listen and respond, don't use (sic) start a Twitter account, or a Facebook page."

Here's the article… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on October 9, 2009 at 7:57am — 6 Comments

Emergent Social Technology Is Changing Hospitality Right Now: Supply Line

Tuesday’s front page FohBohist Amanda Hite shared an outstanding video produced by The Economist – titled “Did You Know 4.0 – The Media Landscape”. The video visually and effectively describes the cresting radicalization of mobile and social web technologies that are already changing the Hospitality Landscape. Are you prepared for this tsunami to affect your operations?

How will emergent mobile and web technology change the… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on October 7, 2009 at 10:38am — No Comments

Some Top Restaurant Twitter Accounts

About two weeks ago Chalkboarder.com released a study of social media use by restaurants in fourteen major USA markets. We thought it would be fun to help out some of those restaurants that just got into using Twitter - by sharing their addresses.

We've posted the entire list over at Chalkboarder.com (sorry FOHBOH - but the effort to reformat it all seemed significant).

Here's the show headliners… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on October 2, 2009 at 6:05pm — No Comments

Light-Hearted Humor in the Restaurant

We all need humor in our lives. Think about the many reasons besides needing to eat that people come to your restaurant. They come to flirt, discuss, share, commiserate, mourn, love, rejoice and be in community. What's the thing we crave most? Humor. Good gentle mirth with each other.

Do you exude a gentle humor to your customers? Do you provide the opportunity for your customers and crew to feel that positive energy and experience, especially when all hell is about to break… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on October 2, 2009 at 3:48pm — 1 Comment

Website Music = FAIL

A bit of caution to operators and their websites. Do you have your website automatically playing some catchy song you think will attract potential diners to your restaurant?

You might never get them in the door and probably are scaring them off your website.

Much of our society work 9-5 in offices. We all know they're taking mini-breaks through the day, browsing for a great restaurant - which might be you.

What do you think they're going to do when they… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on October 2, 2009 at 2:48pm — 1 Comment

A Sea Bass Journey in Social Media: Purveyors

Cross-posted on Chalkboarder.com.

Could a Full-Line Distributor Use Social Media to Drive Restaurant Sales?

Imagine for a few moments a scenario that might happen in the next few months – the journey of a Chilean Sea Bass through social media. Before I get to that, I want to ask how full-line distributors, such as PFG,… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on October 1, 2009 at 3:38pm — 4 Comments