This past Wednesday, I was invited to a lunch by my friend
Jack. The destination was Grand Ole BBQ
y Asado, over in a part of town I rarely frequent, and the guest list was a
who’s who of chefs, food writers, BBQ experts, and foodie photographer
gurus. Todd, Michael, Jack, Mercy, Ray,
and Sandi, to be exact. Now, the best
part of this story is truly the food, and the people I shared it with. But the other
really cool thing about this adventure, is that all these people are rock-stars
I met online or on Facebook.
I have been networking Facebook since it began—using it for business leads, sales opportunities, and I even worked a date or two from it. But the recent crowd-sourcing trend that brought our party together for this lunch is my hot button for today. Anyone can create a simple page and build membership, just by clearly and openly just letting people talk about themselves, their experiences, and themselves again. It is a brilliant approach to PR, that when used effectively creates not only a ‘community,’ but also drives commerce and creates fans, relationships, and revenue streams.
Now, my new friend Jack and I had never personally met. We’d had dozens of emails, chats, and even a telephone conversation, but nothing in person. The same was true for the rest of the party as well. A few people whose hands I’d shaken a couple of times, but mostly it was just comfortable internet chat and my gut instinct that made me trust these strangers, and even come to respect and admire them. By the end of lunch, hands were shook, hugs were had, and even some work deals thrown around.
That is the power of food and the power of the ‘Crowd-Sourced” platform. Our host Andy Harris put out a spread that made Mercy and Ray Lampe, aka DR. BBQ, lick their chops. Michael and Jack, some of the best food-writers in town, barely came up for air. I say that because I sat in between them, and I barely came up for air. We are talking about Texas Turkey Breast, Pork Spare Ribs, Kentucky Mutton, Tri-Tip, Hot links, Beeffy-Ribs. I put two extra letters in the beef because the crust was the best ever! The sides, the sauces, and Andy’s hospitality on top of it was pure BBQ love.
I need to give Todd Sturtz the devil’s due as well. I’ve learned a lot from this man already, just watching how he conducts himself. Todd not only orchestrated this gluttony of ‘sluttiness,' but also kind of crowd-sourced the players together in the first place, whether he meant to or not. The box of Nomad Donuts he brought shaved another month off my life. But really, a heartfelt thanks to new and old friends alike from Andy’s rock-star luncheon.
The moral of my story here is that I take the ‘systems’ aspect of things very seriously—including BBQ. I own a company called BioSystemic Consulting, which uses systems-thinking to analyze all the moving parts of food companies and make them work better. Systems have a lot of moving parts, and crowd-sourcing, fan-pages, rock stars and BBQ are among them. Come read more at https://www.facebook.com/Wordofmouthsd/ and tawk amongst ya selves!
I have been networking Facebook since it began—using it for business leads, sales opportunities, and I even worked a date or two from it. But the recent crowd-sourcing trend that brought our party together for this lunch is my hot button for today. Anyone can create a simple page and build membership, just by clearly and openly just letting people talk about themselves, their experiences, and themselves again. It is a brilliant approach to PR, that when used effectively creates not only a ‘community,’ but also drives commerce and creates fans, relationships, and revenue streams.
Now, my new friend Jack and I had never personally met. We’d had dozens of emails, chats, and even a telephone conversation, but nothing in person. The same was true for the rest of the party as well. A few people whose hands I’d shaken a couple of times, but mostly it was just comfortable internet chat and my gut instinct that made me trust these strangers, and even come to respect and admire them. By the end of lunch, hands were shook, hugs were had, and even some work deals thrown around.
That is the power of food and the power of the ‘Crowd-Sourced” platform. Our host Andy Harris put out a spread that made Mercy and Ray Lampe, aka DR. BBQ, lick their chops. Michael and Jack, some of the best food-writers in town, barely came up for air. I say that because I sat in between them, and I barely came up for air. We are talking about Texas Turkey Breast, Pork Spare Ribs, Kentucky Mutton, Tri-Tip, Hot links, Beeffy-Ribs. I put two extra letters in the beef because the crust was the best ever! The sides, the sauces, and Andy’s hospitality on top of it was pure BBQ love.
I need to give Todd Sturtz the devil’s due as well. I’ve learned a lot from this man already, just watching how he conducts himself. Todd not only orchestrated this gluttony of ‘sluttiness,' but also kind of crowd-sourced the players together in the first place, whether he meant to or not. The box of Nomad Donuts he brought shaved another month off my life. But really, a heartfelt thanks to new and old friends alike from Andy’s rock-star luncheon.
The moral of my story here is that I take the ‘systems’ aspect of things very seriously—including BBQ. I own a company called BioSystemic Consulting, which uses systems-thinking to analyze all the moving parts of food companies and make them work better. Systems have a lot of moving parts, and crowd-sourcing, fan-pages, rock stars and BBQ are among them. Come read more at https://www.facebook.com/Wordofmouthsd/ and tawk amongst ya selves!
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