Conner's Blog

I’m going home this weekend. Back to Montana to see my parents, my brothers, and some of my extended family. I’m going to be gone or a little over a week. I’m leaving here Thursday afternoon and will be heading back here on the following Friday.

For the most part I’m very excited. Except for the driving part. That’s right, I decided to drive home this time as opposed to flying like I have in the past. This means I’m planning on a 15 hour drive through Minnesota, North Dakota, and the most boring part of Montana. This is why I’m leaving Thursday night. I’m meeting my brother in Fargo and we are planning on driving all the way through the night, getting to Bozeman around 6 in the morning.

Back when I was in college this wouldn’t have phased me. But now I’m a little nervous. Will I be able to sleep while my brother drives? Will my car make it? Will I be a functioning member of society when I arrive? How am I going to survive being cooped up in a car for 15 hours? This is insane? I’m booking a flight tonight? Ahhhhh?

Ok, I got that out there. Honestly I think it will be fine. I have plans to download a number of podcasts, load up the iPhone with a ton of good music, and invest in a case of both caffeinated and uncaffeinated energy drinks. I bought carrots this weekend that I’ll be cutting up to bring with me, so I can hopefully avoid buying too much junk. I think I’ll brew a large batch of iced tea or coffee as well.

So maybe that’s the difference. I used to just throw a bag in the car and go. Now I have plans, but with planning comes realizing everything that can go wrong. Then again maybe I’m just going crazy in my old age. Who knows.

I plan on writing while I’m out there, and depending on the cell coverage I may even use Twitter. If I do, follow along at #mtrt2010. It should be fun, lots of time with the family, but I also hope to see what sort of local food scene is happening in Bozeman and Helena. I’ll be reporting here and over at Garlic and Onion.

So I’m posting it today because I want to post something. Here is the response I wrote to Womfire after they responded to the email I wrote to Chili’s marketing department.

Thanks Howard,
I wasn’t really concerned about my email address, my biggest concern was the grammar skills shown by your representative. Additionally, as someone who is passionate about social media I had a hard time with your campaign. It didn’t feel genuine to me at all. Plus, as most of the comments pointed out, free chips are kind of funny considering you get free chips at every Mexican eatery other than Chili’s.

One last thing that I wanted to point out. Though I appreciate you enjoying my blog, I’m definitely not your target market. My blog is full of posts and links about local, sustainable, and healthy food. Your client, Chili’s, is one of the last places I would ever choose to eat. As someone who is passionate about social media, blogging, and marketing, I would hope that if you are doing a campaign like this you would be doing a quick search for “food” in blogs you want to contact. It wouldn’t have taken much time to see that I was more likely to make fun of Chili’s than promote them.

Again, thanks for taking the time to respond to me. I’ll post a comment on the post noting that you responded genuinely and addressed most of my concerns. I do wish you success in your campaign with Chili’s.

They addressed my concern about my email address, they had found it on my blog. They also apologized and advised they wouldn’t contact me again. I’m considering the issue closed.

I got this email today. Though it’s great that they reached out to me, I have some issues.

1st, they spelled my name wrong. Instantly they are on my bad side.
2nd, grammar. I don’t claim to be great at grammar, but even I know that I am not “an excellent of social media insight and knowledge.”
3rd, thanks for letting me know I can spam my friends with an all caps hashtag to earn $50.

Uggh

Dear Businesses:

This is a quick note to thank you for existing. Without you I would be forced to do everything myself. Make my own soap, spin my own thread, and bury my own Internet cable. So thanks.

However, I have a gripe; many of you seem to be entering a world I’ve existed in for quite some time. It’s sometimes referred to as social media, but in reality it’s just another place where conversations can happen. It’s a virtual water cooler that is full of whatever beverage happens to be sitting near at hand.

Some of you get it, and by get it I mean you don’t make me want to throw whale blood on your storefront. The rest of you need to step back and think about what you are doing (or what your consulting company is doing). So here are three questions you should ask yourself one week after launching your social media strategy.

1. Have you engaged with anyone in a multi-reply conversation?
2. Are you targeting the right people?
3. Why are you doing this?

Question 1 addresses whether you are engaging with your audience in a meaningful manner. Anyone can send out messages, good social media should make your customers your conversation partners.

Question 2 might use the word targeting, but it’s a good one to think about. In the last few months I’ve been followed by coffee shops from St. Cloud, businesses from Chicago, and in one case every store that a certain company has regardless of where they were located. Geography is just a part of this of course; just remember that just because it’s free to follow someone doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.

Question 3 is one you should have asked before you launched. Even if you did, on day seven you should ask it again. Is it to broadcast your message? Then make it obvious you aren’t there to engage. There is nothing wrong with broadcasting your daily specials (though it’s less effective), but make it clear you aren’t there to answer your costumer’s complaints. If you are engaging, are you engaging as the business or as an individual? This is an important things to consider and something to decide on right now. It’s annoying when businesses suddenly change their manner on a social media platform for no apparent reason.

There is a lot more to this of course. Even the best planned strategy can fall on it’s face. Still, if you catch things quickly, whether you are doing it in house or paying a so-called expert. You can avoid irritating an influential customer base.

Sincerely, Conner

In an attempt to blog more than once every 3rd blue moon, I’m going to focus my attention on short posts that are too long for Twitter, yet not what I normally wrote.

It wasn’t too long ago that I spent more time at home then I did going out. Right now, I’m pretty sure the birds flying by my apartment see it’s interior more often than I do. I always considered myself an introvert, I liked reading, playing video games, and doing anything else that only required a seat in my house. Now, no one would believe I was introverted if I told them. I’m always out attending an event of some sort or getting a beer with friends. Hell, I’ve even tried my hand at event planning a few times in the last six months.

So what changed? Well, in hindsight I have always been an extrovert. I’ve never been scared of anyone, could always hold a conversation with a brown paper bag, and loved meeting new people. What has changed is my avenues for finding things to do. I became friends with some busy people, started marking things on my calendar so I wouldn’t forget about them, and kept myself informed via whatever methods I could as to what was going on. It’s a snowball effect because by doing more I meet more people and they invite me to more things where I meet more people. In the last two years I went from wishing I had things to do and compensating by being introverted, to being myself.

Now if I can only get that brown paper bag to shut up.

Well, maybe not wholly unexpected, but the truth is I had a great weekend and a lot of it wasn’t exactly written on the calendar. A few highlights.

1. The Mac and Cheese at Wilde Roast Cafe. Delicious and something I’ve been meaning to try for months now.
2. Stopping by a birthday party for my friend Jessica, meeting new people because I knew no one but Jessica, and then hanging out with Sarah Burt talking food.
3. Hitting up both the Mill City Market and Northeast Farmers Market on Saturday followed by the Minneapolis Market and Kingsfield on Sunday. I love the markets, they all have such a unique personality.
4. Crepes by Spoonriver at Mill City, Tacos from the Chef Shack at North East, Falafel from Foxy Falafel at Kingsfield and a few mini doughnuts from the Chef Shack at some point though I don’t remember when.
5. Drinking with my friend Nola and her friend Andrea at the Red Stag Supper Club after the Northeast Farmers Market because it was pouring out and none of us wanted to get soaked.
6. Biking in the rain after finally giving up, going to Aster Café and participating in a photo shoot with Paul, Nicole, Nicky, and Laura. Alex took some great shots of all of us, both indoors and out.
7. Grand Old Days on Sunday. Even though it rained, seeing Dessa, Jeremy Messersmith, Doom Tree, and a few other random acts was awesome. In addition, the people watching was fantastic.
8. Getting a phone call at 7:30 on Sunday night asking if I wanted a set of tickets to Dawes and Edward Sharpe.
9. Watching the lead singer of Dawes bounce around like a school kid because he was so excited to be on stage. One of the best live acts I’ve seen in a while. Actual enthusiasm coupled with fantastic music is the best.
10. The sight of a girl walking up to her bike, which was locked in a way that didn’t allow me to get my bike off the tree. Considering I was a minute away from walking all the way home to get my previously forgotten bike lock and walking all the way back to First Ave to secure it, this was a very happy sight. Even if I was extremely annoyed prior to this.

So that was my weekend in a overly wordy nutshell. How was your weekend? Did you take advantage of the summer weather and do something fantastic?

About a month and a half ago I received the first disc of the John Adams mini-series that was done by HBO. At the time I put the series at the top of my Netflix queue I didn’t realize it was a book before it was a show. It wasn’t until I told a couple people that I was really excited to start watching it that I had a clue. Of course the second I found out I realized there was no way I could watch the series without reading the book first, so during my trip to California I picked up the John Adams biography it was based on and have been thoroughly enjoying it.

In fact I’ve enjoyed it so much that I made a decision I’m probably going to regret. I’m going to try and read a biography of every president this country has had. I don’t know why this seems like such a great idea, but the thought of reading about the history of our country through the eyes of those that ended up in the highest office in the land seems like a great self development tool.

So I’m finishing John Adams in the next few weeks, and since it only really makes sense to read about them in the order they were elected, I’m going back to George Washington before skipping back to Thomas Jefferson. Which leaves me to pose a question to my readers. Have you read any really great biographies of any of our presidents? Any biographies I should avoid? Do you think I’m crazy?

I decided this week that I’m going to retry my garden experiment. It sort of failed last year, but I blame that on a couple things. One, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I did no research, I just thought I could pop some seeds into a jar and suddenly have herbs. Doesn’t work for me very well. Two, I used much to small of pots and stuck different herbs in the same pot. I think the competition was a bit much. Three, I kept having to close my shades to keep my apartment from reaching 95 degrees during the summer.

So how am I going to remedy these? First, I’m limiting myself to only a few plants. I’m going to grow basil, oregano, and maybe some sage or thyme. By keeping it simple I can research my needs quickly and keep them in seperate pots. Second, I purchased an old roll top desk that is going to act as my garden plant stand. It has three levels I can utilize and when I put it where I plan on locating it, I can leave my shades angled a bit and get some sun without doing getting quite such a green house effect as where they are located now.

I’m also going to try growing some tomatoes. I’ve never tried doing this inside, but I bought the pot for them today. I’m going to pick up the plants sometime this weekend. I haven’t quite decided where I’ll get them, but I have all weekend for that.

So here are some questions for my readers. First, any other herbs or vegetables I should try growing inside that don’t take a ton of work? Second, do you know of any great composting tutorials for doing the composting in an apartment with no outdoor access? Third, have you ever had success growing tomatoes indoors? Thanks for any feedback you might leave.

If you don’t know what Foursquare is, or you do and are one of those people who hate it for whatever reason, this post isn’t for you. If you do use Foursquare or happen to run an establishment that may have a place on Foursquare, I’ll invite you to read this post.

I have a problem with Foursquare mayorship offers. As Foursquare slowly becomes a driving force among location based apps, more and more businesses are utilizing Foursquare to increase customer loyalty. The initial way that they leveraged it was to offer deals to mayors. Users can earn mayor status at each vendor on Foursquare by checking in the most frequently over a given time span. Offering deals to them seems like a great idea, it rewards your most loyal customer and makes it a challenge to see who can keep the mayorship.

The problem I have with them is that it excludes other customers who use Foursquare. Especially as the application becomes ubiquitous, limiting your offer to one person is a way to dishearten some of your loyal customers. Some people will go have a drink at their favorite bar every night just to keep the mayorship. They may not spend a lot; they might just take the time to walk in so they can check in and keep that deal. Second, offering a deal to the mayor allows them to walk into the establishment and spend less, and they can do this day after day (of course you can cap the deal, but that is somewhat lame). On the other hand, you might have a couple who comes into your restaurant every Saturday morning for brunch. They don’t come in every day so they don’t earn the mayorship but they are loyal. If they use Foursquare, it could get frustrating being a regular diner yet being excluded from using that orange “Deal Here” button on the app.

What do I think business should offer? I think using Foursquare as a supplement to a loyalty program is a great idea. One local business that excels at this is The Wedge Co-op, instead of giving you a special discount or complimentary beverage; they allow you to enter a weekly drawing every time you check-in. This is a great way to reward all visitors yet keep things from being exclusive to your most frequent visitors. Another idea for a deal could be to offer a discount or complimentary item based on the number of check-ins a person has.

The point is to not reward your most loyal Foursquare customer, but to reward loyalty regardless of status. If someone comes in five times a month to a restaurant they are a loyal customer, and offering specials that reward everyone can keep new customers coming back to get the perks ever if there isn’t a chance they can dethrone the current mayor.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I will state that I have received mayor deals. Once at Barrio I happened to earn the mayorship and was actually the first person to use the deal. I’ve since lost that mayorship. I was also a long time mayor of the Chef Shack and am still treated extremely well by Carrie and Lisa even though I lost my mayorship this spring. Additional, I currently am not a mayor of any venue in Minneapolis. If that makes this post less genuine, then so be it.

This is a cross post from my recently launched food blog, Garlic and Onion.

So I failed at writing about my food experiences while I was in California. It was equal parts being busy, having a horrible network connection at the hotel, and not eating quite as well as I expected. I still ate really well, but it wasn’t the gastronomical delight I intended it to be.

So here is a quick run down of some of the meals I did really enjoy while I was in California.

Caterpillar Roll, this was very good, it had eel and some other vegetables I’m having a hard time remembering. The part that really stood out for me though was the avocado topping it. It was some of the best I had tasted. Buttery, flavorful, and really put this roll over the top. This was from a little strip mall joint that was within walking distance of the hotel.

Tacos, specifically steak and fish. The steak was kind of blah, not exciting at all. The fish on the other hand was really good. Mahi Mahi, pico, cabbage, lettuce, and a sauce that was just the right combo of spicy and savory. To top it off they were 2.25 a piece on Tuesdays. This was from Cronie’s sports bar which was the one place in town I found with extra innings so I could watch the Twins.

Seafood Burrito, this was from a little hole in the wall Mexican place across the street from the office. It was fantastic, a little dingy, an open kitchen, and a serve yourself salsa bar. The burrito was stuffed with rice, beans, shrimp, and fish. Topped with cheese and cheese sauce. It was huge, dwarfing the biggest Chipotle Burrito.

Richard Roll, tuna, lobster, and shrimp. Wrapped in sesame paper and deep fried. Serve with sesame, sweet sauce, and Sriracha. This was fantastic. I’d never had sushi deep fried before, and it was really good. It warmed the outside and gave it a satisfying crunch while leaving the fish perfectly raw and tasty. This was from another hole in the wall place by the office. I was the only one in there when I ate and ended up chatting with the chef about soccer. He was the one that recommended this roll.

This was my favorite meal of the trip. It was a cold seafood platter and it was huge. You had to have two people to order it and it was a good thing they make you do so. Calamari, oysters, mussels, shrimp, smoked salmon, king crab, and ceviche. It was really tasty. I also ordered a cup of clam chowder before the meal and that was really good as well. The place we were at was called Paradise Cove and it was right on the beach in Malibu. Nothing quite beats eating really good seafood while drinking a beer and looking out over this.