» Being “real” – Authentic

HFTP gets acquainted with social media.

Clay Loges — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:58:11 +0000

Recently we were invited to introduce Social Media and WOM10 (Word of Mouth on Steroids) to the HFTP association. To the left is Marney Zeller who took the initiative to invite us to speak.

We’ve had the opportunity to work get acquainted with Marney as we’ve shared a couple of restaurant clients with her. And we social media evangelists always appreciate the thought-leaders who step out ahead of the crowd and closely examine the shifts going on in the business world.

HFTP is the Hospitality, Finance, and Technical Professionals. These are people who work in and around the hospitality industry. Anyone who has attended a hospitality industry meeting can appreciate that the hosting members go all out in the food served and service of the food.

So we leaped at the opportunity to speak to the dinner meeting for HFTP. And we were rewarded with a tasty dinner and superb service. Our hosts — The Convention Center — were well represented by the service staff. Our bartender was Richard, and when next you encounter him, enjoy the good service along with a nice mix on the drinks. Richard manned the bar throughout the evening, and he allowed no glass to suffer a drought.

Our table service was supervised by Stanya. She was polished in the presentation of the food, and she was discreet in the clearing of the tables. A “shout out” to two people who made the evening a great experience.

For my part, I enjoyed the opportunity to make our presentation — the crowd was attentive and interactive with questions. We covered the decline of traditional media and then examined the reasons that social media is pushing the old model.

But most importantly, we addressed that the very nature of the hospitality industry and the type of people who populate it fit well when matched with the leading characteristics of social media. Hospitality is all about people , the experience, and the stories that surround both. Social media thrives on personalization, authenticity, and engaging stories. The hospitality industry is a very rich pool of potential content that could be shared through the new internet tools offered by social media.

Thanks for Marney for inviting us to speak, thanks to the Convention Center for hosting the event, and thanks to Richard and Stanya for their professional presence.

Bookmarks

We’re back…

Blaine Millet — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:42:51 +0000

We have to apologize to our readers for going “dark” the past few months. It was not that we didn’t want to write and talk to all of you, we were just slammed with client activity, new relationships, new partnerships and a lot of other great activities. All put in place so we can have more time to share our experiences, ideas, thoughts and humor with you.

The good news is that we have built some phenomenal relationships along the way and have lots of “stories” to tell that I think you will find both valuable and useful as you move along your own journey in Social Media. We have, in the meantime, kept up some of our activities on our other blog, Social Media for Executives. Let’s make sure you know the difference between our two blogs so you know what to expect from each one.

This blog, BlaineandClay.com is the place we share our own viewpoints, experiences, what we are seeing out there that works and doesn’t work. This is our “reality messaging” as far as what we feel is going on in Social Media, Communications, Marketing, Clients and anywhere else our travels take us. This blog might be a bit “raw” at times because we will be telling you the way it is from our perspective – good and bad. I hope you enjoy it. But please let us know – leave comments and tell us what you think.

Social Media for Executives is focused more on “lessons learned” in how to make Social Media work for you and your organization. It is designed to give you suggestions, “how-to’s”, advice, examples, case studies and anything else that will help you be better at executing Social Media, communications and marketing. Let us know what you think and what you want us to share as well on this site.

So we’re glad to be back and promise to be active, engaging and relevant. Thanks for waiting…

Blaine and Clay

Bookmarks

El Gaucho Bellevue – leading the pack…

Blaine Millet — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:17:05 +0000

There is about to be a leading edge event tomorrow from 11:30am – 1:00pm – a “Taste and Tweet” event for El Gaucho Bellevue. This is the first of its kind we have seen where a very high end, well established restaurant is merging with the power of social media, Twitter to be exact.

They just opened their new Bellevue location in the City Center building where Microsoft is going to be occupying virtually all of the building. The restaurant is fabulously designed and very high class but not stuffy. Anyway, I digress. They are trying to introduce people to their new location and also their new luncheon menu. We suggested they use Social Media (what else?) to get the word out, have some fun and let people know they are there.

So we set up a “Taste and Tweet” event where about 35 people (mix of media personalities/writers and large twitter users) would be tasting some of their menu items (which can be found her at their Chef’s Blog) and then tweeting what they think to their followers. We don’t know how it will turn out but we know it has certainly created a lot of “buzz” in the media so far and will certainly be something others will want to copy – way to go El Gaucho, you’re the leader!!

My hat goes off to Chad Mackay and Kerri Lewis for being such forward thinkers to recognize you can take something that is such a powerful brand and mix it with the new revolution in communications, Social Media. They “Get It” for sure and will set the bar for others to copy. Regardless of how successful it is and how much press they get, the jumped in the water and will soon be the envy of many others – just watch.

You can follow the event on twitter by following El Gaucho Bellevue at @ElGauchoBell. You can also check out their awesome food items at El Gaucho Bellevue Food. Check it out – it is going to be a lot of fun and very entertaining.

Blaine

Bookmarks

Is that really you behind the curtain?

Blaine Millet — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:41:28 +0000

Whether you are an experienced blogger or just starting out, one thing is critically important to your success at building followers – individualism and authenticity. I know, these words are popping up everywhere it seems these days. But what do they really mean?

To me it is all about building a “Persona” with your audience – helping them understand who the “real person is behind the curtain” as we saw in the Wizard of Oz. If you don’t know the real person behind the text, how can you really build a relationship with that person so you are compelled to follow them and their rants and raves? You can’t.

Who writes your blog entries – you or someone in your organization? If it isn’t you, then it isn’t you. Meaning, if you have a “ghost writer” or “editor” or anyone else that messes with the way you write, then you aren’t developing your own persona or individualism – it’s that simple. The audience will eventually find this out and eventually stop following you. And worse, they will tell others it really isn’t you and you won’t get their followers either. End result – your blog will eventually die.

So write when you feel like writing but make sure it is your writing. If it isn’t, don’t publish it unless you let your audience know it isn’t you. More on how to use “Guest Writers” effectively in another post…

Blaine

Bookmarks