ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - March 7, 2003

It has been two weeks of solid travel -- enjoyable ... productive ... and a bit wearing. It feels great to sleep in my own bed for awhile. I have a couple of programs in the local area next week (imagine that!) and don't have to jump on another plane until the 18th.

I wish that meant I could loll about, but with the Pizza Insight program kicking off at the end of the month, Year of the Guest in full bloom and a few dozen other projects, I never lack for a deadline.

RESTAURANT MARKETING BOOT CAMP
My colleague Rory Fatt of Restaurant Marketing Systems is holding his second annual Restaurant Marketing Boot Camp in Vancouver, British Columbia on March 27-28. I will be one of several presenters at this event that has already more than doubled its attendance over last year.

If you would like to learn how some of your contemporaries are doubling their sales -- even in this economy -- this is definitely the place to be. The faculty that Rory has assembled includes several of my own personal marketing gurus, so I will be taking a lot of notes myself.

I was able to talk Rory into reserving a dozen seats to offer to my subscribers but he won't hold them for long. Restaurant people always wait until the last minute(!) but at last count the event was already 80% full and the phone was ringing steadily, so you will need to act quickly. Click on the link below for the full story ... and then join us for what I promise will be an amazing couple of days.

For more information on the Boot Camp, go to http//www.restaurantdoctor.com/ehc/RMS2003.PDF

US DIPLOMAT RESIGNS
Circulating by email: the text of US diplomat John Brady Kiesling's letter of resignation to Secretary of State Colin Powell. It is an eloquent statement of some of the ramifications of our present policies that are not getting adequate coverage in the media ... and it is authentic.

John Brady Kiesling was a career diplomat most recently assigned to the US embassy in Athens, Greece. His letter of resignation to Colin Powell protesting the Bush administration's "fervent pursuit of war with Iraq," faxed to the Secretary of State on Monday, February 24, 2003, was published in The New York Times three days later and was circulating by email within 24 hours of that.

I include it today, not as a political statement, but because the entire issue of war with Iraq will have a profound effect on business, the economy and the world in which we and our children will live in the future. No matter what your personal position, current events are too critical not to look at all sides as we determine what to do ... and how best to do it.

Click here to read Mr. Kiesling's letter,

MISTER ROGERS HAS DIED ...
... and the world is a little less friendly because of it. Fred Rogers spoke softly but never shied away from issues. He helped kids cope with divorce, death and even upsetting news events. His program, Mister Rogers Neighborhood, was Public Broadcasting's longest-running series, enjoying a 33-year run. If you grew up with Mister Rogers you know what a force he became with small children.

There will never be another exactly like Fred Rogers but there are lessons in the way he lived his life. We all leave a wake behind us. How will you be remembered? What legacy are you leaving with the people whose lives you touch?

YEAR OF THE GUEST
By now you should know about our Year of the Guest program. (If not, you can find out more by clicking on the link below.) We have raised over $12,000 for Share Our Strength and still hope to make it $50K before the year is out. Rather than pitch it to you again, I will close with some feedback from Tracy Barnett of Mazzola's Italian Restaurant in Steamboat Springs, Colorado:

My staff is actually looking forward to receiving the YOGA exercises each week. We hired a new host who came on at week 4 and asked for the exercises for the weeks before. Our pizza/pasta delivery driver says that he has started using the same principles when he delivers pizza and dinners -- being present, actually "serving" the food by setting it out on a counter or table and telling them what each item is, asking if they need parmesan or hot peppers. He finds that if people will let him in to actually present the food rather than just shoving it through the door at them, his tips are higher.

Even (some of) the guys in the kitchen are finding ways adapt the principles to fit their situation. (The others are just there for the paycheck and will be gone at the end of ski season.) This stuff really can work magic.

Click here for more information on the Year of the Guest.

THE PERPETUAL QUESTION
What did you learn from your staff today?

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