Michael L. Atkinson's Blog – August 2009 Archive (4)

Social Media is Changing Our Industry

I call this Social Shock™, the inflection point where executives and entrepreneurs finally start to understand the value of social media and begin to use it. It's the start of acceptance, post denial, where suddenly, practical and tactical solutions seem obvious. It’s when social media (social networking) start to make sense. But, for this to happen, we need an anchor, or some type of familiar “hub” where we can visualize Social CRM for your business and dream of the… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on August 17, 2009 at 4:40pm — 21 Comments

Old School Still Works in Southern Indiana

I met a very dynamic and charismatic restaurateur on the plane to Chicago this Tuesday. John Fondrisi is the owner and founder of Rocky's Italian Grill in Jeffersonville, Indiana.

John is as old school as it gets; 32 years in the business, no cell phone, no email, no Twitter? OMG! Now, while I highly recommend a social media strategy for every restaurant operator, I applaud John's success as… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on August 13, 2009 at 11:03am — 1 Comment

Claiming Blog Posts Online

I am always looking for ways to extend our reach and my reach online. Technorati suggested that I add this code to have them verify my blog. So, fine me!

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Added by Michael L. Atkinson on August 13, 2009 at 9:49am — No Comments

Who Will Start the Dialog?

I enjoyed lunch yesterday with celebrated two-star Michelin chef, Laurent Manrique. Laurent recently left San Francisco’s award winning Aqua to pursue other culinary opportunities, including spending more time working on his winery in Spain. Chef Laurent is also a founding partner of Café de la Presse, a very successful French bistro located at the gates of Chinatown. Yes, location is important, but the Café is a big hit, especially for homesick visitors from Europe.

This was less of… Continue

Added by Michael L. Atkinson on August 5, 2009 at 9:33am — 7 Comments