A link to something new. check it out

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/?ref=dining

Final Post

When looking back over this trimester, I feel as though this class has taught me a lot of what is going on in the food industry service today. I have never really got into the whole blogging trend, but I completely understand that it is just another way of communicating and how it serves as social media. With our presentation, I feel as though social media has become one of the biggest and most influential trend because it allows people to communicate easily. I feel as though I could have taken the blog posts a little more seriously because I did miss a few weeks. I have never really been big into blogging, but this class has showed me how easy it is to blog and how if can help me learn more and more about the food service industry. There is so much information out there in the web and all we have to do is simply find it. I think the best part of about the class was the articles that we found. I have always enjoyed reading especially if it pertained to the food service industry. Culinary textbooks, or even books from Anthony Bourdain and Jacques Pepin's books are to name a few books, all of which I have found interesting. Some of the group presentations were a bit dry, and at times boring but the most interesting groups incorporated all different types of videos into their presentation but also presented with some form of knowledge of their subject matter. For our group specifically, I think that we communicated with eachother clearly, and worked together as a team. I wish we could have some guest speakers come in and talk about the food industry today and how it has changed over the years.

Conclusion

Over all I have learned a lot about the workings of social media, and how they are becoming a part of peoples everyday life. I don’t feel that blogging is something that I will be doing, but I do enjoy reading about new things and seeing how they are being used in the food service industry. Some things that I have enjoyed was, being able to look at past and present trends and seeing how they have made a money, but also how they have lost money. I do not see myself in the future blogging. But I will continue to follow different blogs and keep up with different trends. I have noticed that many corporations are using blogging very strongly in the advertising so this will be something that people will have to become more familiar with it.

One blog that i would enjoy following is Chow they have some very interesting articles
http://www.chow.com/blog/

Final blog

Personally blogging is not for me and I don't feel that its a mainstream thing its more for a niche audience. But I understand that some people take blogging very seriously and that it has become a lifestyle for some people. When we first started fsm 3070 I was not looking forward to blogging since I have always thought that blogging was for middle aged women that were looking for something to do with their lives besides the daily grind. But now I have learned that many corporations and classes use blogging to educate and inform people about things going on in the food service industry. While we were told in class to pick a blog to follow I just don't like listening to what other people think about the food service industry. I also don't feel that you can reasonably predict where it will go since so many factors play a role in terms of what food sells more. But I will go on google from now on and look up more news articles dealing with the food industry since I feel that it will keep my mind active and aware on current trends and any up coming business in the industry. I just want to conclude that these are just my thoughts on the subject and hope that I have not offended any one in the making of this final blog.

What I have learned

Before taking this contemporary issues class, I really did not think about what would be covered. I knew that it would be interesting and hopefully better then most of my classes thus far. I was right. However, one important item that I will take with me is; not to be complacent with my own status. I feel I did okay in the class. I blog, yet wait to write responses, I interact but not as much as I should in class. I feel where I got a lot of satisfaction was via the case studies. I believe I learn well with reading others published work, reflecting and then writing about it. As I was starting to say about complacency was: Feeling is though the perfect grade is going to come without any work. I do feel I did a great job with utilizing my video segment for the presentation, but in the back of my mind as the trimester draws to a close, I feel I let myself down, and possibly let my expectations fall for how I want to hold myself as a professional. I have always held my self at a good standard for all that I do. Maybe its that my last few classes before graduation has made me soft. Then again maybe that statement is just an excuse. The class has been very interesting and now when writing this fair well, very helpful. I learned allot about things going on in the foodservice industry and was able to share a bit of my mind. I think the most important lesson I learned is that this industry is a world of its own, and if you don't take a moment to review what is happening you will be left behind.

Good bye El Bulli

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/el-bulli-to-close-permanently/

It is a sad day now that El Bulli is now closing. I don’t think that they should close. Maybe that they instead, should look at a different way of running the restaurant. But one of the things that Mr. Adrià has always prided himself on was teaching people his techniques that he has learned. So I bleave that the school would be a good investment for him to do. I can only hope that within the next year I have the opportunity to go to Spain and be one of the last to eat at such an amazing place

Good bye El Bulli

dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/el-bulli-to-close-permanently/

Web sales growing "steadily" at dominos pizza

http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2257962/web-sales-steadily-growing

This article is about how Dominos pizza is starting to slow after four years of increased sales growth. Their sales have increased by 40.4 percent ending december 27 2009. The IT cheif at dominos as stated that the plateau for its online distribution as not been reached yet and still has much room to grow. They have stated that they have broken many records in 2009 and that for dominos it continues to grow for them. The article also states how facebook and twitter are starting to really increase the amount of awarness for dominos and their brand allowing them to sell more. "According to Kimberlin, the web represents about 30 per cent of total delivered sales at Domino’s and it is expected to surpass telephone orders in three to five years’ time, though the firm says it will not focus solely on this area." While this is very interesting fact do to that this could suggest that they will do away with telephone orders possibly in the future and that internet and other ways of distribution will become more popular. While they do say in the article that online will not replace call in orders completly they still see it becoming the major source of revenue for dominos in the near future. But in the end consumers demand for which method of distribution will dictate what will be used in the future.

Crispy Pigskins!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/03/dining/03skin.html?ref=dining

Taco Bell's(R) Drive-Thru Diet(R) Menu Answers Consumers' Call for Better Choices in Quick Service Restaurants

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0579100.htm

This article claims though research that american's do want healthier food for fast food from taco bell. My first blog was about how Taco bell was getting negative press for having a healthy meal with seven healthy food options. Most of the negative press was from social media sites and people's views on how the diet was a joke that Taco Bell was presenting. Their research says that 7 out of ten american's order fast food ten times a month and some of their answer were: no where to park, dining area was closed, and weather was bad outside. There intergrating marketing campaign has a segment in social media and other such sites to really help people spread the word about their "Taco Bell diet" and why its so effective. Though Taco Bells main segment is features "Dougherty, a real-life Taco Bell® customer who serves as an example of how to make better choices when ordering at a drive-thru and who has become the face of the seven Fresco-style menu items. During a two-year period, Christine achieved exceptional results by consuming only 1,250 calories per day, a 500 calorie/day reduction, and replacing her regular QSR meals with Taco Bell's Fresco menu offerings. Christine has brought alive her story, and the new choice available for QSR customers, online and through Taco Bell advertising, and is featured in stores through signage and promotions about the Drive-Thru Diet Menu. Christine is featured in Taco Bell's first ever infomercial, a long-form piece that will detail her story as well as some helpful tips done by NBA dietitian Ruth Carey" If their push to really break into the health food market is really worth their money only time will tell...

GoRecommend turns fans into brand ambassadors

http://www.qsrweb.com/article.php?id=17132&prc=66&page=58

While some fast food compaines are having a great time on social media sites some are having trouble with people saying negative things and creating bad press for there company. Go Recommend is looking to change this by using social media to really help compaines make a postive image on these new social media sites. They say that they offer an interactive brand experince that really reaches out to the customer and gets them active to push the sale for that company. They also say this way of marketing of having friends recommend brands really helps since people trust there friends more when it comes to recommendations then some regular ad. Popeyes Program on facebook reached 20,000 people on there own but it was not enough for them. They needed to do something that would personalize facebook for them and reach out to people individually. Thats were Go recommend came in and became another part in there social media toolbox to help them have more then one social media marketing strategy to give them more of an edge on facebook and other social media sites. They also have a solution for smart phones an sms-text survey while there are in that fast food restaurant. Some of the text survey's are simple and others are very detailed but it helps give the fast food company know what they need to work on and how to please there customers. During our project we touched on how compaines were going to use social media and depend on compaines such as Go recommend. Which really shows how important it is how to market on these sites.

Comment to The four basic Elements of Dining

I think that the article was all over at first and i dont know if i understand why they had a conversation. I felt that they could have wrote that differently. I do agree with "just because someone doesn’t know why she feels so grand in a space, so sexy, doesn’t mean that feeling was not consciously built in. It could be the lighting. Or the music. Or the old radiator that reminds her of home." When you look at some restaurants that have been open for may years but the door is barely hanging on, but yet the food is great. It reminds me of a place to eat by my house. You cant call it a restaurant, you cant call it a diner. They have a dish called a "Garbage plate" it is Pasta salad on top of hard home frys on top of two over cooked burger patties. But every time i am home i will go there and eat, and i will love it. It maybe that i am not always in the right mind state, or that the woman that works there called "mom" must be over 100 years old. What ever it is, people will always go there until they close

Anthony Darcangelo

The Four Basic Elements of Dining (and Umami, too)

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/the-four-basic-elements-of-dining-and-umami-too/

Catch Me If You Can - Fishing in South Carolina

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/magazine/31food-t-000.html?ref=dining

Socal Media strikes again

http://www.qsrmagazine.com/articles/news/story.phtml?id=10157&microsite=food_beverage