I recently ventured back for my fourth visit to this fab event and found it my most rewarding time yet – and felt compelled to share with you the top 10 things I learned at Foodportunity this go-round:

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1. Social media relationships come to life when you actually get to meet IRL (in real life!). There were a handful of Twitter followers I had only interacted with online, albeit frequently! But Foodportunity delivered them in living color, right before my very eyes!  I finally was able to chat IRL with fab photographer Jackie Baisa (@JackieBaisa), food writer Julien Perry (@tastebud1), Seattle Times writer Marc Ramirez (@typewriterninja) and Taste director/chef Danielle Custer (@dcbites).
2. Many of my Twitter friends had new jobs - and I had missed the memo!  But finally getting in the same room caught me up to speed quickly – one has left social media freelancing for a full-time Yahoo gig, another is switching newspapers (and cities!), and yet another has moved from her solo PR gig to helping a local cooking store with marketing and events. But remain connected through this funny little thing called Twitter.
3. A la Mode Pies (@alamodepies) is the bomb! This amazing little company had slipped under my radar, even though I was following them on Twitter – but I am now their #1 raving fan!  Imagine fresh baked pies DELIVERED to your door (free in Seattle and Bellevue)…amazing flavor combinations…and the best, PIE ON A STICK!  Yes, the LolliPie is sure to be a new wedding/party favorite and destined to kick cupcakes to the curb. Okay, maybe not that last one, but this Pie on a Stick concept has some serious potential.  Stay tuned…
4. You can send a beer to a friend – even if they live hundreds of miles away.  Huh??  For real – check out Beer2Buds and check out this cool and frosty concept.  There are almost 40 bars/restos in Washington signed up now - who knew?!
5. I have a groupie (LOL!) and she is a very nice person.  Yes, it’s true – the lovely Jenn Davis (@AmateurGourmand) had told the world recently that I was her “Twitter Idol”, much to my surprise.  I was a little taken aback, yet flattered, and very curious…and when I finally met her at Foodportunity, she couldn’t have been any nicer.  And someone I am proud to boast as my groupie – and it isn’t creepy at all.
6. Many people are afraid to approach chefs and/or authors one-on-one, even when the event is set up for that format. I talked with several repeat attendees who longed for the “old days” of Foodportunity, when the 4-5 featured speakers were on a panel and took Q&A from the entire group for 20-30 minutes.  The current set up had featured guests in a separate room and you had to be bold/brave/dumb enough to walk up and talk with them directly. I think most would prefer hearing all the questions and responses in a public way, to gather the most of the awesome knowledge/talent in the room. We aren’t all as bold as you think. Me included.
7. Some of my “old” friends made via Twitter, that I hadn’t seen in awhile, are alive and doing well!  (as I expected…) That would be you @jeffreykingman, @taylor_tweets, @carissaang, and @yasharwinemongr, to name a few.
8. Many foodies and restaurants are still not sure how to make the most of their efforts on Twitter – and several might be inclined to use my consulting services in the near future. I am ready and waiting for your call…you know who you are.
9. The most popular bites of the night were the Beef Tongue Crostini from Luc/The Chef in the Hat and the Pork Belly Banh Mi from Matt’s in the Market. Hands down, no questions asked - nearly every attendee commented and tweeted about these tasty treats.
10. Keren is taking her Foodportunity show on the road, debuting in Portland on Sept. 13 (@foodportunityOR).  I’m thinking an Amtrak kind of weekend might be in store…

So, if you were at Foodportunity, I’d love to hear what YOU learned…the forum is open below!

An iPad in your restaurant is worth many customers at your tables

One of the common complaints I often hear from my restaurant clients – or potential clients – is that they lack the time, personnel and/or web access to successfully use Twitter to promote their business.  My suggestion – have your host/hostess use a smartphone or netbook computer at the check-in point of the restaurant – was usually dismissed for many reasons (which I’ll leave for another post!)

So I was thrilled, and inspired, when I read “5 Good Reasons to Buy an iPad for Your Business” on American Express’ Open Forum this week.  I wish I’d thought of it earlier – restaurants can easily use an iPad, as opposed to a smartphone or netbook!  It’s cool, it’s fun and it’s definitely a conversation-starter – all things restaurants want to be known for!

With that in mind, here are my 5 reasons to buy an iPad for your restaurant:

1. Your host/hostess can use the iPad at their front station to monitor Twitter (or Facebook) in slower times, to listen to what people are saying about you – asking questions, looking for specials, making positive comments, etc.  And they can actually respond in real-time, or close to it, making you look responsive and attentive to them. And training your host to use the iPad as an integrated part of their job eliminates the need to hire yet another staffer (except a one-time consultant like me to train you to use it – ha!)
2. The iPad would be a fantastic way to advertise current promotions/specials and to draw people into the restaurant that wouldn’t otherwise be headed there.  For example, on a rainy Monday evening when the resto is slow and you have tables to fill, you can Tweet out a special such as “next 5 people who come by and say ‘twitter’ get a free appetizer.  Or, you can promote a special entree that is only available that night or has limited availability
3. You can set up a open search on Twitter to see who is looking for something particular but might not know about you yet. For example, if you have a search for “happy hour Belltown”, you’ll find tweets from people trolling Twitter to see what’s going on – and then you can reply “come see us, we have the best cocktails in town, tonight it’s the XYZ” or “you want the best burger in town? we have ABC and it’s 1/2 price tonight!”
4. You can use the iPad to monitor reservations and other other details from Open Table, UrbanSpoon or Foursquare without having to run to the back office and log on to your big clunky computer.  In fact, UrbanSpoon has launched RezBook, an iPad app and online reservations platform that will allow restaurants to manage their tables and reservation books.  Need we say more??
5. Last but not least, the cool factor.  It will definitely set you apart from your competitors to be seen using an iPad at your front station – we’re trendy, current with technology, connected to our customers, just plain cool.  And it will open the door to better conversations with your customers, who will be intrigued and fascinated with your ability to do so much all at the front desk!

So there you have it – five quick and easy reasons to buy an iPad for your restaurant.  There’s an amazing return on investment (for the $499+ cost) with a little time and effort. I’m sure there are many more benefit to restaurants using this new tool and I’d love to hear what you think too!

Obviously, corned beef and cabbage would make the list, along with some form of potatoes, green beer, Guinness in one of many forms (beverage, stew, cake) and of course, the highly coveted Shamrock Shake (from McDonalds!)

But I’m hoping you have some new creative ideas for a fun new decade.  What says “St. Patricks Day’s” or “Irish Food” to you?  Please add your thoughts to the comments below and let’s see what we can whip up – that goes beyond the old green food coloring trick!

NOTE: You might be amused by the “Find the Shake” web site that posts “sightings” of the Shamrock Shake across the country…but I have to wonder, is it really an endangered species?!  And yet, such a great childhood memory…

People like to talk about beautiful, delicious food on Twitter

Sometimes it’s good to be reminded of the basics, such as, what exactly are we doing here on social media? 

I listened in on a teleseminar presented by the National Restaurant Association this week, and Stacey Kane, director of marketing for California Tortilla, presented some great, simple tips about why restaurants should care about and use social media.  You’ve probably heard them before, but for those few timid souls who have still not made the leap to Twitter or Facebook yet, here’s a short recap on why you should use social media:

1. Viral marketing - your message spreads fast and has wide reach
2. Virtually free - social media tools are free and the cost is only your time and energy
3. Immediate – you put a message out there and people see it/respond right away
4. Continuous customer engagement – you stay connected even after customers leave your restaurant, and you have access to follow up with surveys, thank you for visiting messages, trivia, specials, etc

And if you now “see the light” and are ready to Tweet away or create a Facebook Fan page, what’s next?  Here’s a few more bites from Stacey about how to get started:

• Decide who will handle the duties of tweeting/posting – they must be able to speak in your “voice” and have time to participate
• Listen!  Check out the major social media sites and listen to what people are talking about, investigate what they are already saying about you, do your homework
• Pick a platform – decide what target market you are trying to reach and which sandbox they play in (Twitter or Facebook or other), and then go and play where they like to play!
• Decide if you will offer discounts, specials, etc. to followers – and be sure everyone in your company knows about it and how to execute those offers

And I would add one more key component - develop a social media strategy and stick with it!  You really need a road map of where you want to go and how to get there – or you may end up in Poughkeepsie when you were headed for Tallahassee!  There are many social media consultants and advisors (like myself) who live and breathe these activities every day – use us!  Let us help you, and then you can do what you do best – make delicious food for your awesome customers – win-win for everyone.

Class dismissed

Related post: 5 Reasons Why Restaurants Should Use Twitter

Seriously, what’s not to like about 28 great restaurants offering fantastic 3-course meals for just $30?! But I’m confused about something, in regards to this fabulous lineup of restos, and I’m hoping some of you can help me out. 

Why do you think nearly 1/3 of the restaurants on this list choose not to use Twitter as a visibility vehicle, not just for this event but year-round? As social media fans (most likely you, if you are reading this!), we’re all pretty proud of the incredible culinary community we have on Twitter, and we truly love to talk about it constantly. But I’m always frustrated when I can’t find an establishment on Twitter, either to mention something cool they are offering, to ask them a question, or just to see what the buzz is about them from other Twitter foodies.

To wit, of this year’s 28 participating restaurants in Dine Around Seattle, 10 are not on Twitter – unless they are hiding and I can’t find them (that would be pointless, right?!)  And these are some of the best dining spots we have locally – Barolo, Chez Shea, Earth & Ocean, Mamma Melina, Nell’s, Nishino, Palisade, Restaurant Zoe, Steelhead Diner and Szmania’s.

So to these restaurants (or maybe their PR firms!), I beg and plead you to jump in and join us – the water is fine! We will support you, talk about you (we already are!), brag when we visit you, promote your events, share your special offers, and do whatever we can to support you in this wacky economy.  It’s just not the same without you…

I look forward to your comments below – what do you think is missing? How do we get them to come play with us on Twitter?

Warning – Shameless Plug: If you are one of these restaurants I’ve mentioned, or know one of them, I am more than happy to meet with you to discuss how you can use Twitter (or other social media) to increase your visibility and communicate with your fans.  Really, that’s what I do.

The event is called Dining Out For Life, and it’s produced by the Lifelong Aids Alliance, which provides a variety of care services to people living with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses.

Now in its 17th year, Dining Out For Life takes place Thursday, April 29 in Seattle. To support this worthy cause, all you have to do is dine at a participating restaurant, grocery store, cafe, or bakery on this day, and 30% of your purchases will be donated to Lifelong AIDS Alliance, and the fight against illness and hunger in our community.  There’s also a special prize drawing for two free tickets on Alaska Airlines, for those that dine at a participating restaurant that day.

There are about 90 local merchants signed up already — we can do much better than that! – and you can view the entire list here. I’ve already forwarded the information to all my clients (and several others!) and I encourage you to do the same. This is a great opportunity for restaurants to help their communities and build goodwill with their customers.  As they say, it’s a “win-win” for everyone.

For more information, contact Trevor DeWitt at 206.957.1638 or TrevorD@llaa.org to sign up your restaurant today! Individuals can also participate as a volunteer. I hope to see you out and about April 29!

FROM DOFL: Dining Out For Life® is an annual fundraising event involving the generous participation of volunteers, corporate sponsors and restaurants. In exchange for their financial support, restaurants are listed in a city wide marketing campaign in an effort to increase customer traffic.

In 1991, Dining Out For Life® was created by an ActionAIDS volunteer in Philadelphia. Dining Out is now produced in over 55 cities throughout the United States and Canada.

More than 3,500 restaurants donate a portion of their proceeds from this one special night of dining to the licensed agency in their city. Nearly $4 million dollars a year is raised to support the missions of agencies throughout North America. With the exception of the annual licensing fee of $1,000, all money raised in these cities stays there.

Tidbit Bistro has the most Twitter followers (9964) among restaurants in Seattle

Which restaurants in the Seattle area have the most followers on Twitter? 

A client asked me this recently, so they could gauge where they rank among the 200+ restaurants using Twitter locally. So I decided to do a quick inventory – and I apologize in advance for anyone that was overlooked!  I’ve listed all those that have more than 900 followers, but if you know of anyone I’ve missed, please add the info in the comments section below.

• Tidbit Bistro – 9958 followers
• Skillet Street Food – 3545
• Marination Mobile – 3179
• Herbfarm -3151
• Delancey Pizza – 2935
• Pagliacci Pizza – 2551
• Blue C Sushi – 2270
• Monsoon East – 1894
• Seastar – 1645
• Mobatta Crepes – 1572
• Ruth’s Chris Steak House – 1410
• Heavy Restaurant – 1281
• Icon Grill – 1205
• Blue Moon Burgers – 991
• ART Restaurant – 979
• Maximus Minimus – 935

If you’d like to follow the restaurants in the greater Seattle area, you can follow the list I’ve created here. If you’d like to know how to get more followers - to increase your visibility and income! – on Twitter, maybe we should set up a meeting and talk about working together!  I’m just sayin’….

My nephews send the best birthday flowers!

Yes, it’s my birthday today and as much as I wanted to skip writing a post today, I didn’t. 

And why not, you ask? Because I’m committed to honoring my “31 posts in 31 days” project, and today is only the second day – I can’t break the streak so soon!

So today I will write about celebrating birthdays in the Seattle food community with a special focus.  What do local restaurants offer customers who are celebrating their birthdays?  I know there are web sites that list lots of national chains and their offerings, but I was looking for local and/or what I was sent personally to my email.

I also posed the question on Twitter several times, and much to my surprise, received fewer than five replies. And as someone with a fair number of followers (and I follow nearly 200 restaurants locally), I was a little disappointed.  There are probably several reasons for this, but first let me list what I did find:

• Epulo Bistro (Edmonds) – free cocktail or dessert on your birthday
• Dukes Chowder House (several locations) – free entree within the month AND free dessert for my entire birthday party up to six people
• Lombardi’s Neighborhood Italian (3 locations) – free entree within birthday month to VIP Club members
• Waterfront Seafood Grill (Seattle Pier 70) – $25 dinner coupon
• The Herbfarm (Woodinville) – personalized birthday greeting in silver frame to take home
• Tom Douglas Restaurants (6 locations) – free dessert, must sign up in advance, valid for one month
• Dairy Queen (national) – free 16 oz Blizzard (valid for one week)
• Melting Pot (national) – free chocolate fondue for two (on next visit)
• Baskin-Robbins (national) – free scoop of ice cream (valid for five days after birthday)

And I’m done now.  Really.  That’s all I came up with – but I’m sure there are more out there, but they just didn’t see the request for the info…or worse yet, they aren’t on Twitter.  Gaaaasssspppp!  True, some aren’t.

What’s my point? Since I am focused on helping restaurants communicate and promote themselves effectively (especially via social media), I think it’s a huge missed opportunity to not reach out to birthday celebrators!  Why? For the cost of an entree or dessert, you earn loyalty, appreciation, and most likely some great recommendations via Twitter and Facebook. And, possibly more importantly, those birthday boys/girls usually bring FRIENDS with them when they come to celebrate - turning a small investment by you into a big return thanks to a large dinner party who might not have dined with you otherwise.

And for those of you who DO have birthday clubs and promotions, but make them so darned hard to find on your web sites, etc., please make it easy for us to come celebrate at your establishments!  Put it right up front on your home page or send it to us via email or post it occasionally on Twitter. You know customers love “free” and it looks good on you to make us feel special on our birthdays. 

And I promise, we’ll come celebrate with you on your birthday too – no sign up required!

My point is that meeting places are significant in a number of ways, and venues offer opportunities to people to connect on many different levels.  As a restaurant, you represent a meeting place, a venue, a connection place for people to develop relationships – not only with each other, but with you.

And there we have the point of a Tweetup, and the reason it should matter to you as a restaurant, bar, winery, etc.  A Tweetup is a scheduled, casual social event for people on Twitter to meet up; thus the phrase “tweetup”!  Many people that know each other on Twitter have never met in person - yet – and you get to be the good guy by providing the means to get them face to face and build a better relationship.

As a restaurant, hosting a Tweetup offers you a number of benefits:

1. 

   Appetizers are good Tweetup food!

   The opportunity for people to visit you for the first time (“I’ve been meaning to eat there someday…”)

2. A chance to deepen your relationship with current customers and build a loyal clientele
3. Establish yourself as the “hot spot” for happy hour or lunch meetings or whatever status you are hoping to gain
4. Create goodwill by providing a venue for a like-minded community (Twitterers!) to meet, often for the first time, in a relaxing, welcoming place
5. Help build community and encourage networking – later those very people will bring back their meetings and parties to your venue, because of how hospitable you were and because they’ve seen a fun, successful event there
6. Increased exposure and visibility for you – when these Twitterers are in your restaurant, they’ll likely be “tweeting” out messages about the food, the venue, the people, etc. which can add up to a constant two-hour “commercial” for your business. And many have blogs and websites where they will later write about their experience, giving you further attention

So, you might wonder, what do you need to offer for the Tweetup to be successful?

1. A private room is nice, but at least a designated area in your restaurant for the group to mingle freely and not interfere with your other clientele
2. A few complimentary food items are always nice, but at the very least, offer special pricing on beverages and/or snacks. These people have come to meet each other, but also would like to sample your food too (and they aren’t there to critique it!)
3. A dedicated server is helpful, to show that you value the group and want to be sure they are taken care of
4. If your owner is onsite, have them come out and welcome everyone, talk about the establishment and answer any questions.  It’s also a huge bonus to have the chef come out to say hello, chat about the food and just be visible even for a few moments
5. Consider offering a discount coupon for a future visit – you have a group of captive, hopefully happy (!) customers, and if you hand them a reason to return with more friends, it’s good for everyone
6. Nametags!  Remember, we only know each other by our Twitter names (@incrediblechef) and we may not recognize faces right away

To give you a real-life example of how Tweetups can work, I was invited by Barbara Evans (@SeattleWineGal on Twitter) to a recent Tweetup at Alexandria Nicole Cellars.  I had never visited that winery (bonus #1), I’d been anxious to meet the very effective Twitter fiend SeattleWineGal (bonus #2) and there were 10-12 other active wine/food enthusiasts attending that I hadn’t met but knew from Twitter (bonus #3).  And I must add, there was a major “strike 1″ in addition to the 3 bonuses - the Tweetup was scheduled on an NFL playoff day!  And being the huge football fan I am, it took A LOT to convince me to leave the TV that day, but the 3 bonuses (above) – and gentle nudging to “get a life” – won out.  And I’m so glad it did.

The winery earned great exposure with a smart group of enthusiasts that are vocal on a very public forum (Twitter), so the PR gain there was huge! Plus ANC was able to give us some behind-the-scenes info and educate us about all the great things they offer.  And to top it all off, they invited Rob Williamson, the general manager of Russell’s Dining & Bar, to tantalize us with appetizers from his restaurant, specifically created to pair with each wine – how’s that for added value?! 

Everyone came out a winner in this Tweetup, and it’s only one example of the opportunities out there by hosting Tweetups. 

Next week (Feb 2) I’m hosting a Tweetup with Epulo Bistro in Edmonds, so we can continue to build better face-to-face community in our little seaside town – many people attending do ”follow” each other on Twitter but have never actually met.  So Epulo has the opportunity to provide that meeting venue for us, entertain us, get to know us, and most likely, to earn our ongoing patronage.  And that is something most of us will remember for awhile…(see first paragraph!)

So tell me, what do you think makes a good Tweetup? What have you like about past Tweetups you’ve attended and what would make them better?  We’re all ears (below)

Veggie risotto at Andaluca (@andaluca)

It’s been a few months since we updated this list, and it’s sooo 2009!  So with a brand new decade, we bring you a brand new list! 

Here is the most recent list of Seattle-area restaurants on Twitter – at least those that we know about!  This encompasses Seattle, Eastside, North/Snohomish County and various other cities. Are there chefs and/or restos missing?  We don’t want anyone to be left out, so speak up!

Please post any corrections or additions in the comments below, so we can all continue to follow (and dine with!) our favorite establishments.  Bon appetit!

p.s. You can find this list (with a few other additions) at http://twitter.com/incrediblechef/restaurants