It’s the Most Wonderful Time of Year…

by Meredith McKee, Vollmer Dallas

At least for foodies strapped for cash.

We are in the middle of Restaurant Week 2009 or Restaurant Month as the case may be. Love it or hate it, everyone has something to say about it. I personally love it and see it as a great way for restaurants to gain some new customers. Over the years I have seen this to be a public relations firestorm. With the abundance of food blogs, Restaurant Week is the hot topic and the goal is to get good reviews from the harshest critics, the diners. Here are some tips for restaurant managers and owners to survive the month:

1. Enjoy the Week. I know as a diner and not a restaurant worker that is easy for me to say. However, no one wants to read their favorite food blogs and find out that you hate participating and what a burden it is. Don’t let your staff or “unidentified servers” say it either. I could easily go spend my $35 elsewhere with someone who is happy to have me.

2. Love the Charity. Here is the perfect out for that leading question: Don’t you hate Restaurant Week? Answer: We love Restaurant Week.  We get to see lots of new faces and we’re always happy to support causes like [INSERT CHARITY NAME HERE].

3. Get Yourself Out There. I can’t imagine what a logistical nightmare this week/month really is for a restaurant. But aren’t you glad to see all those full tables? To get customers in those chairs, announce that you are participating everywhere – in the restaurant, on you Web site, blog and Twitter feeds. Publish the menu so everyone knows what to expect and let people know when you are booked. The ones that book early seem like they are the place to be.

4. Gain a New Customer. This is the perfect opportunity to win over a new customer over. I admit that I participate in Restaurant Week every year and I go to restaurants that wouldn’t normally see me on a Friday night. However, for those restaurants that I have enjoyed I will go back and I always recommend to people. For instance, last week I was able to dine at Nobu Dallas. I learned three things – they make the best Alaskan Black Cod I have ever had, they have superior service and they have a $45 three course menu on a regular basis. Hello Nobu, I will see you again soon!

5. Show Off! Offer your best dishes and have the staff in tip top condition. The restaurants participating in Dallas are the best of the best, and customers will tell their friends. But if it’s not a great experience you’ll read about it somewhere.

I hate to see restaurants have disappointing service or bad food during Restaurant Week.  And while you might not care about Restaurant Week diners, you don't want foodies all over town reading a bad review. 

We’d love to hear about your experiences of Restaurant Week. Feel free to email me at mmckee@vollmerpr.com. And go check out the Alaskan Black Cod with Den Miso at Nobu – you’ll love it!

What are you doing?

by Allen Caudle, Vollmer COO

When my social media team came to me and told me I had to sign up for a Twitter account, I dug in my heels and refused. I explained, I receive more than 200 emails a day, countless phone calls, people line up at my door to ask me questions, I have a Facebook page that has dredged up people from my past that I vaguely remember and certainly don’t recognize anymore and now you want me to post “what I’m doing” so followers know my every thought? Am I starting a religious cult? Can I reduce my very essence to 140 characters? No thank you!

With my complaints out of my system, I reluctantly agreed to learn more. I signed up for a Twitter account and have posted a couple of Tweets. But more importantly, as I spend time with this tool, I’ve learned the many ways it can be used and am slowly becoming an advocate. First, I noted how the media is using it to compete in a not just 24 hour-a-day news environment but an up to the nano-second news environment. Then, I realized how companies, as well as individuals, can use this device to point “followers” to additional information. So this whole 140 characters thing is not the whole story. Then I noted how a concept can be tested and feedback can be gained from individuals who have chosen to care enough to follow an organization or individual. There is some really powerful stuff going on out there in the vapors of Twitter land.

And now as we begin the task of developing communication plans for 2010, I find myself including the use of Twitter as a valuable tactical element for almost every plan. And certainly for every crisis communication plan we write, it’s included to point followers (the media) to the website containing more information about an incident.

Recently, we were conducting crisis training and discussing various communication policies for a particular company. We asked if they felt there was any risk of photos or videos being taken inside their plant and making it to the internet in the event of a crisis. They responded, absolutely no risk, we have all our visitors leave any photo or video equipment at security before they are granted access. We asked how many at the table had cell phones; how many of those cell phones had cameras; and how many had video capabilities. At which point one of the trainees volunteered that he now enters a plant with two cell phones so he has one to leave at security and one to use. It was at that point they realized their vulnerability and how fast bad news could travel. If you’re not matching the speed at which news can travel with your capability to get your message out fast, you’ve lost control of your message.

I admit, I’m a little slow to embrace this technology. But…

Twitter is here and it has endless possibilities. It offers a competitive advantage for those who embrace it.

“What am I doing?”

I’m testing the water. And so far I like it.

Follow Allen on Twitter @abctx

It's a Small World After All

by Mike Swenson, Barkley Public Relations, Vollmer IPREX Partner

Yes. I know. You now are going to be humming that song the rest of the day. But the song is right. Our world grows ever smaller each and every day. And while all of us basically have access to the entire world via Google or other online resources, it is still nice to know that we can reach out to real people anywhere in the world to help us do our jobs.

That is where IPREX comes in for Vollmer, Barkley and the 80 other offices of our fellow IPREXers around the world. While our two firms have the staff and expertise to develop and execute any public relations program we can dream up, IPREX can be an asset for us.

It can begin right up front with research. IPREX members are only an email away from being able to participate in an online brainstorm to help identify that one, unique insight to build a program around. Or there may be a specific need to understand regional differences in the USA or cultural differences around the world. Again, IPREX members are ready to help us understand the nuances of their area that we might never interpret correctly on our own.

And even though our two firms are staffed to execute any program just about anywhere in the world, it is nice to know that we can tap into 80 offices worldwide and receive support from IPREX pros on the ground wherever we need them. In essence, IPREX makes us global.

IPREX can also be a new business asset. Everything described above in terms of client work can just as easily be applied to helping us win new business. Additional brains to offer strategic insights can be the difference between winning and losing a new business pitch. In some cases, it may be the simple fact that we have global partners that levels the playing field for us against the global holding companies. Or joining forces with fellow IPREX members to pitch a piece of business together can leverage all the advantages of the IPREX partnership and lead to new business for everyone.

The little things matter also. Any of us can pick up the phone, email or even text an IPREX partner with a quick question on day-to-day issues. Or maybe you just need a sympathetic ear on a bad day. These are the kind of relationships you can develop through IPREX.

Barkley has been a partner since the early 1990s. Vollmer was already in IPREX when we joined and Helen, Allen and Carolyn were among the first people I really got to know. It was a comfort to me as we were building the PR firm at Barkley to have people like them willing to listen to my concerns or ideas and receive honest feedback. IPREX also became a good measuring stick to see how we were progressing against some of the finest PR firms in the world.

As with any volunteer organization, your rewards are based on your investment. IPREX requires each of us to give a little so that we can all gain a lot. See how you can get involved with IPREX and I assure you it will be good for your own personal growth as well as for Vollmer.

Mike Swenson is Chief Marketing Officer of Barkley and founder of Barkley Public Relations in Kansas City. He was Global President of IPREX from 1999-2001.

Sometimes You Just Have to Pick up the Phone

by Judy Haveson, Vollmer New York

“When words are infused by the human voice they come alive.” Maya Angelou

How many times have you read an email and wondered what the person really meant?  Or better yet, opened the email to see paragraphs and paragraphs of dialog and you decide to pick up the phone to talk to the person instead of read through countless lines of words? It’s undisputable that technology has created an instant communication world, but sometimes in business, and our personal lives, the old-fashioned telephone still remains the most important tool to getting the job done.

With the ease of email, texting, Facebook and instant messaging many of us seem to have lost the ability to simply pick up the phone. There are definitely pros and cons to any type of communication so you have to understand your stengths. If you’re better at the written word,  the phone might not be best for you, but if you find yourself better at speaking you should stick to the phone.

For a service industry such as public relations all forms of communications are critical to business whether you’re talking to a client, potential client, a customer, shareholder or the media. Believe it or not, though, the phone actually helps you break through the electronic clutter. Sure there are those who say they never return voicemails so don’t leave one, but what about those who say they never answer all their email?

If we only allowed ourselves to communicate through email or texting, and no one ever responded back to us, can we really say we’ve spoken to them? It would be a one-way conversation with no results. When this happens in business it slows down productivity and companies lose a lot of money. That can’t be good.

I once had a client who questioned whether or not we were calling the Wall Street Journal to give background on his company. We assured him that we were reaching out on the company’s behalf, but were not getting a response. He automatically assumed our preferred choice of communication was email so he bellowed, “you can’t be in the Wall Street Journal if you don’t CALL the Wall Street Journal!” We called the next day.

There are countless success stories of how instant response technology has allowed businesses to be more productive thereby saving time and money, but when it comes to communications nothing beats the spoken word. Eventually you have to speak to a live person.

With today’s new communication platforms people expect an instant response to their instant message and often times get furious if they’re ignored longer than an hour. Here’s a tip: if you want an instant response pick up the phone!

Back to School

by Carolyn Mayo, Vollmer President

This time each year I can't help but think about all those shining faces headed back to school, primed and ready to learn (one can only hope!). Some things never change. I still love cracking open brand new notebooks, selecting just the right pen and sniffing the distinctive scent of a freshly sharpened number 2 pencil.

Learning doesn't stop with the school bell, so while we may not be marching off to class these days, we should take a peek into our virtual backpacks. Balance business and fun. Combine reading up on Kim and Mauborgne's Blue Ocean Strategy with learning how to refinish antique furniture or a trying the yoga program on your kid's Wii. Think of it as your own personal curriculum.

So - what's in your backpack this year? Love to hear back from you. carolyn@vollmerpr.com

From the Vollmer Social Media Desk...

by Mary Kate Smither, Vollmer Dallas

From developing dialogue with target audiences for vital feedback to spreading the word about an event or product launch there are myriad of benefits to using social media tools as part of a public relations strategy. However, when reviewing objectives with clients and creating a strategy, what I often find most valuable about social media is its ability for customization. Whether you’re targeting an audience of 500 or 50,000, we now have the ability to find those people and communicate with them more directly than ever before, while also to simultaneously narrowing and broadening the scope of our messaging to not only further build brand loyalty but also educate new audiences. Recently, Vollmer launched a campaign for StripesGAMER, a free online space that serves as a unique, all-inclusive community where men and women in the U.S. military can communicate on forums and message boards, form online video gaming teams, compete in gaming tournaments, and obtain the latest game industry news and commentary from industry experts.

Despite current security concerns by the military and Department of Defense over social networking sites, these very networks have helped us to spread the word about StripesGAMER.com. Through press release SEO and a comprehensive social media release that included links to videos, Web sites, blog posts and more, we have been able to promote the site for its ability to connect people around the world. The site is targeted primarily at members of the military and their families, and we’ve received coverage on gaming and military sites like Gameonn.com and Armchairgeneral.com. However, because of tools like Twitter we’ve also been able to quickly and easily reach out to a much broader audience, shedding light on the importance of providing networks such as StripesGAMER.com to help support military personnel and provide much-needed camaraderie, no matter where in the world they are stationed or their family members are residing. Visit StripesGAMER.com at https://www.stripesgamer.com.

Dog Days of Summer

by Helen Vollmer, CEO & Founder of Vollmer Public Relations

Ahhhh, the dog days of summer have arrived! I know because each afternoon I come home to find our 10 year old mutt, Zoe, panting like crazy as she pushes past me to be the first in the air conditioned house. Other signs that, like Zoe, the rest of us are feeling the effects of 90 degree plus heat? Friends and business colleagues have disappeared to the mountains of Colorado, Montana and New England. There's a lot less traffic in the heat of the day, making it actually easier to get to appointments on time. And, am I possibly noticing more dawdling around the water cooler as though it is an oasis from summer doldrums? Mostly, I'm fascinated that I wear more sweaters in summer than I do in winter as office AC systems have been cranked down to the Arctic range. Maybe the Europeans have it right-maybe we should all take August off. But in case you, like most of us at Vollmerville, are busy keeping the business world running, take a little breather by enjoying this month's Vollocity. Be cool and "see you in September!"