Resource: Restaurant Technology Discussion Boards

There are not many free discussion forums to discuss restaurant technology and POS. Here are two forums available:

Foodservice.com’s TechTalk – Restaurant POS / Software
WebFoodPros’ Bits ‘n Bites Foodservice Software Forum

Newsletter: Tech Trends from Nation’s Restaurant News

“Tech Trends – focuses on the fast-changing world of Foodservice Technology. The electronic newsletter features an online-only tech editorial and CIO profile, and is information-filled with updates, news, fascinating features, revenue-generating ideas and technology tips.”

To view an example of the Tech Trends Newsletter, click here.
To subscribe to this newsletter, click here.

Resource: Restaurant & Catering Australia’s Technology Update

This section of Australia’s Restaurant & Catering association web site offers free restaurant technology articles and a free 70 page technology roadmap report.

Report: Technology Roadmap for the Restaurant & Catering Industry:

Restaurant & Catering Australia has, with funding support from Ausindustry, has developed a TECHNOLOGY Roadmap for the restaurant and catering industry. This Roadmap has considered, through consultations throughout Australia, the needs of restaurateurs and caterers and has arrived at eleven recommendations as to the way forward to achieve greater take up of technology.

Sample Summaries of Articles:

March/April 2005 – SALE AWAY – A POS system is a valuable tool to keep orders charged, stock counted and customers satisfied

May/June 2005 – CALL TO ORDER – The must have accessory by the wait staff is electronic order pads but are these handheld units as functional as mounted terminals?

May/June 2005 – UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE – An Auckland restaurant has found that an out-of-date website can be very expensive.

link: Restaurant & Catering Australia’s Technology Update (scroll down for articles and report)

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.

Tool: Google Alerts

"What are Google Alerts?

Google Alerts are emails automatically sent to you when there are new Google results for your search terms. We currently offer four types of alerts: 'News,' 'Web,' 'News & Web,' and 'Groups.'

link: Google Alerts (FAQ)

It is very difficult to keep up with the news and content being posted to the internet everyday. One of the purposes of this blog is to help restaurants use free internet tools to let the web work for them. 

To stay on top of restaurant news, I receive newsletters from related web sites and publications, but I also receive emails from Google Alerts.

I have Google Alerts set up to search for phrases such as "restaurant service". This is useful for any restaurant professional interested in the latest news about specific topics or that use special keywords.

You can also have it stay alert for your company name so that you are notified when there is anything posted to the web involving your business. As a restaurant owner, you would be able to get notified by email when customers are talking about your restaurant or posts a review about your restaurant. This free service will not find everything all the time, but it is another tool that will help you stay current.

Knowledge: Hospitality Technology Magazine

Hospitality Technology magazine is an industry specific publication that offers free subscriptions and content in order to provide access to the specialized field of hospitality technology. The web site offers many attractive, free features such as a newsletter, magazine archive, and research reports. A free registration is required to access some web content.

While keeping in mind the objective of the magazine, this magazine helps give restaurant owners a sense of developing foodservice technology trends. Their latest research report is titled: “Hospitality Technology’s 8th Annual Restaurant Technology Study – Delivering Restaurant Efficiency”.

You can download this free report from Hospitality Technology’s main page, click here. To access their archived research reports, click here.