Article: “Check, Please!”: Reality TV that believes a viewer’s heart is in his stomach” (Aug.2006)

excerpt:
It’s a television show that has attracted entries from 20,000 people who want to appear on the air. And it’s not “American Idol.”

It’s “Check, Please!” on which a mix of three everyday diners — instead of food critics — each get to pick their favorite restaurant and wax rhapsodic, then bicker about them.

Creator and executive producer David Manilow calls it “Zagats meets Siskel and Ebert” and he hopes that it inspires viewers to leave their comfort zones and try new restaurants or cuisines…”

source: “Check, Please!”: Reality TV that believes a viewer’s heart is in his stomach” by Tara Burghart (Associated Press, Aug.2,2006)

related link:
“Check, Please!” web site

Media: Restaurant Podcasts

Podcasts are significant because it opens access to radio shows and restaurant industry content that were only available locally. This is a new and interesting media resource for restauranteurs in a portable format. You can download the show and listen to it in the car, during lunch, or in the gym. Also, these podcasts are also marketing vehicles for restaurants and related businesses.

NRN Podcast Central (created by Nation’s Restaurant News)
“Foodservice News Delivered in Fresh New Ways”

Podcast Grill
“Where restaurant meets business - trends, expert interviews and more to make your restaurant more profitable than ever”

Pizza Radio
“Pizza Radio is your source for sound bytes from pizza experts.”

The Restaurant Guys
“Co-hosts Francis Schott and Mark Pascal—who own Stage Left Restaurant in New Brunswick, NJ—have interviewed food luminaries like Gourmet editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl and chef Charlie Palmer in between other animated discussions. Their podcasts are adaptations of three 40-minute episodes from their radioshow on WCTC-1450 AM.”

BarServ’s Raising the Bar on Service
“Raising the Bar” tackles a variety of topics relevant to the hospitality service industry and occasionally features high-profile industry guests from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The program will offer insightful ideas to empower hotel, restaurant and bar owners and managers to improve service and increase profitability.

Article: “TV ads on the cheap for small biz” (Jul.2006)

excerpt:
“Findley’s meat market in suburban Atlanta had always relied on newspaper ads, direct mailings and quick radio spots to reach consumers. But after discovering Spot Runner’s do-it-yourself commercial tool for small businesses, the butcher shop ran a commercial on local cable TV ahead of Easter and again before Mother’s Day.

The commercials cost Findley’s $349 and $499 and the shop spent about $2,100 in March and $1,100 in May to air the spots on ESPN, Food TV, Fox News Channel and Fox Sports.

“We found out that it was very affordable and they help you work with a small budget,” said Findley’s owner Dolores Barr.”

source: “TV ads on the cheap for small biz” by Jessica Seid (CNNMoney.com, Jul.14,2006)

“At Spot Runner we make it easy, simple and affordable for everyone to take advantage of local TV advertising. We started Spot Runner because we saw three important opportunities:

• Small and medium-sized business people want to advertise on TV but the costs of creating ads are prohibitive.
• Choosing a media plan, negotiating the price, and tracking your advertising can be time consuming and difficult.
• Great TV advertising could be made more quickly and at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising agencies.

We put these elements together and Spot Runner was born.”

link: SpotRunner.com

Article: “Ads With That?” (Jul.2006)

excerpt:
“Bringing outside advertising to your customers can bring revenue to your restaurant.

OOH (Out Of Home) Vision Networks (ovn), an advertising and marketing firm, has partnered with Helius, Inc., a business-class data broadcasting company, to pump video advertisements into more than 100 retro diners in the Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey areas.

OVN CEO and President Craig Presser doesn’t mince words about the possibilities of this new advertising strategy. “It’s an exploding market, not even an emerging market,” he says. “Whether you’re in casual or quick-service, you’re going to see place-based media on screens.”

The chrome diners, which seat about 200 and are located in affluent areas, have been outfitted with five liquid crystal display televisions strategically located in order to grab the attention of as many patrons as possible.”

source: “Ads With That?” by Quinn Bowman (QSR, Jul.16,2006)

Media: Podcast Grill covering the NRA Restaurant-Hotel/Motel Show 2006

If you are not able to attend the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant-Hotel/Motel Show 2006 in Chicago, then you can listen to the Podcast Grill:

excerpt:
"This year is a show you will not want to miss. The NRA (National Restaurant Association Show) is the largest that it has ever been! What even more awesome is that we will be live on the show floor hosting and posting our podcasts.

Ten exciting episodes with wrap-ups and so much news you won't want to miss it."

link: Podcast Grill

The NRA also has a site with reports from the 2006 Show in Chicago with interviews, video, exhibitor index, and more:

link: The National Restaurant Association Restaurant Hotel-Motel Show

Media: Podcast Grill covering the NRA Restaurant-Hotel/Motel Show 2006

If you are not able to attend the National Restaurant Association's Restaurant-Hotel/Motel Show 2006 in Chicago, then you can listen to the Podcast Grill:

excerpt:
"This year is a show you will not want to miss. The NRA (National Restaurant Association Show) is the largest that it has ever been! What even more awesome is that we will be live on the show floor hosting and posting our podcasts.

Ten exciting episodes with wrap-ups and so much news you won't want to miss it."

link: Podcast Grill

The NRA also has a site with reports from the 2006 Show in Chicago with interviews, video, exhibitor index, and more:

link: The National Restaurant Association Restaurant Hotel-Motel Show

Media: Restaurant Podcasts

In the past, if you missed a radio show, then you missed it, better luck next time. Some radio shows are now downloadable to your portable audio device for listening anytime, and are often called podcasts. Here are some restaurant related podcasts that you might find interesting:

The Restaurant Guys
"Co-hosts Francis Schott and Mark Pascal—who own Stage Left Restaurant in New Brunswick, NJ—have interviewed food luminaries like Gourmet editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl and chef Charlie Palmer in between other animated discussions. Their podcasts are adaptations of three 40-minute episodes from their radioshow on WCTC-1450 AM."

Food for your ears
"The San Francisco Chronicle's award-winning food department brings you podcasts for your ears as well as your stomach. Hear about their favorite places to eat, excerpts from interviews with celebrity chefs and other delectable content."

Bob Lape's Dining Diary
"Bob Lape is a well-known broadcast journalist, writer, restaurant reviewer, and food critic. His food column in Crain's New York and Dining Diary broadcast on WCBS focuses on general lifestyle subjects, travel, categories of wine, and fine dining."

Resource: Restaurant Podcasts and Radio Shows

 
Earlier we mentioned the Podcast Grill, a restaurant radio show that is downloadable to your portable audio device for listening anytime, and since then we wish to add other restaurant radio shows. These podcasts are significant because it opens access to radio shows and restaurant industry content that were only available locally. Also, these podcasts are also marketing vehicles for restaurants and related businesses.

The Restaurant Guys
"Co-hosts Francis Schott and Mark Pascal—who own Stage Left Restaurant in New Brunswick, NJ—have interviewed food luminaries like Gourmet editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl and chef Charlie Palmer in between other animated discussions. Their podcasts are adaptations of three 40-minute episodes from their radioshow on WCTC-1450 AM."

BarServ's Raising the Bar on Service
“Raising the Bar” tackles a variety of topics relevant to the hospitality service industry and occasionally features high-profile industry guests from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The program will offer insightful ideas to empower hotel, restaurant and bar owners and managers to improve service and increase profitability.

Bob Lape's Dining Diary
"Bob Lape is a well-known broadcast journalist, writer, restaurant reviewer, and food critic. His food column in Crain's New York and Dining Diary broadcast

Media: Vaso Azzurro appears in The Wave Magazine

Congratulations to our client Vaso Azzurro for being featured in The Wave Magazine's Special Dining Issue.

excerpt:
"Rich in flavor and attentive service, Vaso Azzurro delivers Italian classics with an upscale and contemporary feel…"  

source: pg.108 (The Wave Magazine, Apr.19,2006)

In one of the photos on the page, a WaiterBell sits on the table unobtrusive, yet ever present.

  

Congratulations again to Vaso Azzurro Ristorante, we are honored to be working with them.

Resource: Podcast Grill

excerpt:
"Where restaurant meets business - trends, expert interviews and more to make your restaurant more profitable than ever"

link: Podcast Grill

WaiterBell Angle: The Wikipedia states the following about podcasts:

"the subscription feed of automatically delivered new content is what distinguishes a podcast from a simple download or real-time streaming

Subscribing to podcasts allows a user to collect programs from a variety of sources for listening or viewing either online or off-line through a portable device, whenever and wherever it is convenient."

Here are some comments already posted about Podcast Grill's first episode:

"Very good info, when will the next episone be posted? "

"just listened to the show, I agree with the trends. Very intersting that you mention the third place, we have been looking at this for the past few months. Love the show."

This is a new and interesting media resource for restauranteurs in a portable format. You can download the show and listen to it in the car, during lunch, or in the gym.