The other night I was channel surfing and paused briefly on ‘Rawhide’, an old black & white weekly western series. Wishbone was servin’ up the grub. Rowdy, Scarlet, Mister Favor, the whole gang was sitting around the campfire, eating beans off of metal plates and soaking up the sunset. I was there with them,… Continue reading Profitability Through Play
Tag: events
Recognizing Your Customers and Avoiding the Fail
Some of the worst Customer Service failures occur when a worker isn’t able to recognize who their customer is. In a well-run commercial kitchen, each station has a different customer. Yes, the Guest is everyone’s customer, but in order for that Guest to have an optimum experience, the entire team has to function at its… Continue reading Recognizing Your Customers and Avoiding the Fail
An Incomplete and Informal Glossary
We very much intend to stay as jargon-free as possible on this site. If you’ve back-linked to this page, it means we couldn’t avoid the use of a word that has come to have a particular meaning in our industry. We fully expect this page to evolve. Hopefully it will never be very long. … Continue reading An Incomplete and Informal Glossary
How to Grow a Festival, Part Two
In part one of this conversation, I mentioned that because a festival is an experience, it is the responsibility of the participants at a festival to help create real growth. But what about those shows where the participants are doing everything they can, but the Festival Management drops the ball? It happens. Someone doesn’t order… Continue reading How to Grow a Festival, Part Two
How to Grow a Festival (part one)
What is it that makes festivals work? We like to throw the responsibility onto the Promotions and Marketing Departments, but a festival is an experience. Real growth in a festival is the responsibility of everyone involved. A couple of business truisms should be considered here: 1. It is easier to sell to existing customers. However… Continue reading How to Grow a Festival (part one)
Reality Check: Fantasy Building Designs Must Meet Local Codes
There is some discussion in the industry about whether or not it is beneficial to have building inspectors involved when trying to mimic a 400 year old village. We are designing retail spaces that look like they belong in an English village in the 1600s. Levels and plumb-lines can make a structure look a bit “too crisp”.
Queen’s Pantry, my fall gig
… the manic highs of a high-volume restaurant mean that I can get paid for my adrenaline addiction, rather than scheduling my next river rafting or skiing adventure. Besides … it’s only 8 weeks in October and November.
Dropping a Wedding Cake
No matter how slow-motion the event seems … there is never quite enough time to keep it from happening. A turned ankle … and one of us was going down while holding a 12” wedding cake that folks were going to be cutting into in 15 minutes.
Menuspotting, a definition
Menuspotting is the search for the next great festival food item … many festivals must be attended, and many yummy things must be tasted … it’s all part of the job. Higher-end festivals protect unique food offerings, so the goal is to discover or create the next Turkey Leg or Funnel Cake. Well, my goal… Continue reading Menuspotting, a definition