Partnership | KRG Hospitality

Two people sitting outside on a bench, dressed professionally, discussing goals and business

September 27, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Someone to Rely On: Accountability

Someone to Rely On: Accountability Partners

by Jennifer Radkey

To share or not to share, that is the question. More specifically, should you share your goals with others or should you keep them top secret?

I find there are three different groups of people when it comes to goal setting. There are the people who like to shout their goals from the mountaintop for everyone to hear. Then there are those who share with just a few select people. And, of course, the people who keep their goals entirely to themselves.

Is one approach better than another? The answer to that question depends on who you are telling your goals to, if anyone.

Be Strategic

You need to be strategic with whom you share your goals. Before you tell someone an intended goal you need to consider if sharing with them will affect your chances of reaching it.

There has been quite a lot of research recently on goal setting. One of these studies was done by NYU psychologist Peter Gollwitzer, and it included four tests.

In these tests subjects wrote down their goals, and then worked on them for up to 45 minutes. They were allowed to stop working on their goal at any time. Half of the test subjects kept the goals they had written down to themselves; the other half announced them out loud to the group.

Here’s the interesting thing: Those who had kept their goals to themselves spent the entire 45 minutes working on their goal, and still felt they had a ways to go before reaching it. The study participants who announced their goals to the group averaged only 33 minutes of working on their goal, and felt that they were close to completing it. So, they didn’t feel the need to continue working on it.

Essentially, they gave up on it.

Be Cautious

What does all this suggest? Well, due to how our brains work, sharing our goals gives us the same psychological satisfaction as actually achieving them. Therefore, we don’t do the same amount of hard work to reach them.

Hearing a lot of personal praise from others when we share a goal gives us that hit of satisfaction, making the process of achieving it less necessary. On the opposite end, hearing disapproval of our goals may make us doubt ourselves, and give up before even getting started.

So, should you keep your goals top secret? While research is still being done on this topic, it appears that sharing your goals with carefully selected individuals and reporting on your progress with them can actually aid you in achieving your goals.

You need an accountability partner.

Be Selective

When seeking an accountability partner you want to choose someone who embodies three main traits. They need to be impartial, honest, and positive.

An impartial accountability partner is not personally invested in whether or not you reach your goal. They come from a neutral space, and while they are rooting for you to succeed, there’s nothing in it for them either way.

They are able to provide unbiased observations, and offer a very helpful outsider perspective that often allows for greater clarity.

Friends can serve in this role if they don’t have a personal stake in whether you reach your goal. They would like you to because they want to see you succeed, but there’s nothing in it for them, no matter the outcome.

If your goal is to open a new restaurant, your spouse, as supportive and amazing as they are, may not be the best accountability partner. This is because the outcome of you achieving or not achieving this goal is going to have implications on their own life as well.

An honest accountability partner can be relied on to tell you the truth, and to ask the questions needed for you to be honest with yourself. They don’t tell you what you want to hear; they tell you what you need to hear.

In order to reach goals you need someone who will spark light on reality, someone who will point out what you are doing well, and what you may not be doing competently. They are honest in a helpful way, never in a degrading way. I don’t believe in being brutally honest; we should all be honest while remaining respectful of others.

Be Mindful

Lastly, the best accountability partners have a positive mindset. They will help you seek ways in which you can improve and grow.

A great accountability partner will cheer on your successes, and help you create action plans when reaching your goals becomes challenging. An accountability partner is there to help you thrive, not bring you down.

Effective accountability partners can be difficult to find. This is one reason why the coaching industry has taken off like it has. A good life coach becomes an accountability partner, a sounding board, and creates space for self-discovery and planning.

Unless you are organized, resilient, and dedicated to taking action, you may want to share your goals with an accountability partner who can help you stay focused and motivated along the way.

As for the social media blasts sharing your newest goals…maybe hold off on those until you have reached the goal. As good as it may feel to share with everyone, you may actually be doing more harm than good.

Cheers to personal and professional growth!

Image: Medienstürmer on Unsplash

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Scoops of Salt & Straw's 2024 Upcycled Food Series ice cream flavors

April 8, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Salt & Straw Celebrates Earth Month

Salt & Straw’s Upcycled Foods Series Returns

by David Klemt

To celebrate this year’s Earth Month, innovative small-batch ice cream shop concept Salt & Straw is bringing back their Upcycled Food Series.

Last Friday, three returning flavors and two new creations hit Salt & Straw locations in five US states. Currently, the artisanal ice cream shop chain operates in California, Florida, Oregon (the brand’s home state), Nevada, and Washington.

Among other important operational elements, Salt & Straw is known for innovative, chef-driven flavors. This is, in part, due to the concept’s commitment to ensuring at least 20 percent of the menu is dairy-free and vegan-friendly.

However, the brand also shines a spotlight on sustainability and combating restaurant food waste. In 2023, Salt & Straw launched their first Upcycled Food Series. A key element of the LTO menu’s execution is collaboration. Specifically, collaborating with partners that focus on upcycling ingredients.

For example, the bananas Salt & Straw uses to craft one of this year’s brand-new flavors come from Urban Gleaners. That non-profit rescued bananas from grocery stores and restaurants before they were tossed out.

After doing some digging, I found that it’s believed about 40 percent of the entire food supply in the US goes to waste per year. That’s 60 to 80 million tons of food, wasted. Supposedly, 60 percent of the food supply goes to waste in Canada.

So, I think it’s admirable that Salt & Straw leverages Earth Month to expose the alarming issue of food waste. More importantly, the brand shows that a little creativity can go a long way to fight this serious problem.

2024 Upcycled Food Series Flavors

Returning Creations

Three flavors are back for the 2024 Upcycled Food Series.

Day-Old Bread Pudding & Chocolate Ganache: Urban Gleaners partners with Salt & Straw on this flavor, collecting bread throughout Portland, Oregon, before it’s thrown out or otherwise goes to waste. The result is an enticing layering of custard bread pudding ice cream and chocolate ganache, as the name implies.
Malted Chocolate Barley Milk: In collaboration with Evergrain, a business focusing on sustainable ingredients, this vegan option is produced in part using the spent grains from the beer-brewing process. Malted Chocolate Barley milk is a “malty, fudgy, ooey-gooey vegan dream. This flavor takes us behind the curtain into beer brewing and answers the question: What happens to the spent grains after they brew beer? The brilliant food scientists at EverGrain are revolutionizing ways to extract the immense nutrients left in the grain and using it in our everyday foods, like protein-packed barley milk. We churned this barley milk with cocoa, making for a dense and creamy textured chocolate base before drizzling in a homemade fig fudge that make those rich, jammy flavors pop.”
Salted Caramel & Chocolate Brownies: This returning flavor is also vegan and a collaboration with an upcycled food company called Renewal Mill. As described by Salt & Straw on their website: “Behold the ultimate trifecta of salty, sweet, and bitter thanks to our friends at Renewal Mill. Their chef-crafted baking mixes are made with okara—a delicate soy flour upcycled from plant-based milk production. We fell in love with their unbelievably moist and chewy chocolate brownies, baking them in our kitchen before generously frosting them with a rich caramel. These delectable treats are folded into a sweet bed of oat milk for a vegan flavor you have to taste to believe.”

New Creations

There are two brand-new flavors on the Upcyled Food Series menu for this year’s Earth Month.

Chocolate Caramel Potato Chip Banana Bread: Of all the flavors, this is the one I’m most eager to try. Salt & Straw expands their partnership with Urban Gleaners for this creation, this time tasking them with saving bananas. However, a second partner helps out to make this flavor possible. Uglies provides the potato chips, which are produced using “imperfect” potatoes. To craft this one, Salt & Straw roasts “bunches and bunches of bananas in honey and spices to make a jammy banana bread ice cream you simply can’t resist. Next, we coat “Uglies” potato chips made from potatoes with slight imperfections in the most beautiful chocolate possible and drizzle in a perfect ribbon of handmade caramel.”
Passionfruit Yuzu Mochi Donuts & Whey Curd: To create this flavor, Salt & Straw takes frozen yogurt and enhances it with The Spare Food Co.’s upcycled whey base. I expect powerful but pleasant tanginess on the palate from this flavor based on the website description: “Bright, acidic flavors with a decidedly delicious twist. Our friends at The Spare Food Co. are concocting drinks of liquid gold by working with Greek yogurt makers around the country and turning their whey, a typically overlooked by-product of yogurt making, into a super-drink. We lean into the yogurt whey’s natural pop of acidity and the unique flavor of their sparkling tonic by making a whey-infused frozen yogurt with a passionfruit-spiked lemon curd, and then fold in homemade butter mochi donuts glazed in yuzu frosting. This flavor sings on your tastebuds and makes you think of new wheys to use traditionally wasted products.”

Images: Salt & Straw

Photographer's hand holding DSLR camera by neon sign

February 9, 2024by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Working with Local Influencers

Community Collaboration: Working with Local Influencers

by David Klemt

One of the standout educational sessions from WSWA Access Live 2024 focused on finding and working with local influencers.

Natalie Migliarini, a.k.a. Beautiful Booze, and James Stevenson, a.k.a. Little Lane Media, presented “Successfully Engaging with Influential Content Creators in Your Community” in Las Vegas, Nevada, last week. The duo made the case for seeking to collaborate with influencers in your community.

“Local influencer” may give the impression of less popularity and less reach. After all, another designation for these people is “micro-influencer.”

However, there are several reasons why working with local or micro-influencers is a smart move for your bar, restaurant, nightclub, cafe, or hotel.

It helps to understand that some marketing experts categorize influencers by follower count:

Nano: 1,000 to 10,000 followers
Micro: 10,000 to 100,000 followers
Macro: 100,000 to 1,000,000 followers
Mega: 1,000,000-plus followers

I don’t know about you, but I think reaching a potential 10,000 followers local to my area of operation is an excellent value proposition. If you’re curious, Migliarini’s Beautiful Booze Instagram account falls into the macro category.

Of course, there are other appealing benefits as well.

Effective Marketing

What do You Want?

What are your goals when marketing your business? I’m willing to wager there are at least three:

To be discovered by new people.
Boosting traffic.
Increasing revenue.

And what’s one of your greatest concerns when it comes to your marketing efforts? I’ll bet that it’s budget.

Well, Migliarini and Stevenson believe local or micro-influencers (and I’d say nano-influencers, as well) can tick all of those boxes.

What do You Want to Spend?

Local influencers will likely be much more affordable than their macro or mega counterparts. There are celebrities—part of the mega-influencer category—that can make millions of dollars for a single promotional post. Macro-influencers can command five figures for just one post.

Now, think about social media. Depending on the platform (Migliarini and Stevenson favor Instagram), these pricey posts can have a lifespan as short as 15 minutes. That’s a lot of money to spend on marketing for just minutes or hours of relevancy.

Then consider engagement. According to Migliarini and Stevenson, engagement is more important than reach.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Beautiful Booze Cocktails (@beautifulbooze)

Who do You Want to Reach?

I’m sure the thought of people across the globe knowing your restaurant or bar is appealing. But would that really translate to more traffic and greater revenue?

Eventually, sure. But in the here and now, when building your brand and getting discovered, your local community is more important.

If you’re operating in the Chicago suburbs, will your revenue and margins improve because some social media users in Vancouver found your venue online? Or, would your business be better served by locals and people in the surrounding area visiting your spot on a regular basis?

I think you know the answer.

Well, this is where nano- and micro-influencers come into play. You want support from locals. Garnering that support via social media means you want influencers who are engaged with your community.

The partners you’re after are local influencers, not global (or national, until you’ve become a must-visit destination for tourists).

As Migliarini and Stevenson say, an influencer may be “micro” by follower count but “macro” in terms for their effectiveness in a particular market.

Effective Partnerships

How to Find Collaborators

The great news is that it’s not difficult to find local influencers. Let’s use Instagram as an example for finding collaborators.

When you pop open the app, you’ll see the search icon at the bottom of the screen. To make this very simple, it’s the magnifying glass to the right of the house icon.

Once you tap the magnifying glass icon, you’ll be able to search for basically anything in the search field. From this point, you’ll see several tabs to scroll through: For you, Accounts, Audio, Tags, Places, and Reels.

Of those fields, Tags will likely deliver some of the best results. Migliarini and Stevenson suggest following hashtags relevant to you and your business. From there, you’ll come across influencers local to your area of operation.

How to Select Collaborators

All engagement is not the same.

It’s going to be tempting to look for huge follower counts and tons of likes on posts. Well, Migliarini and Stevenson find a different metric far more effective in gauging an account’s engagement.

Instead of likes, look at comments. An influencer may have hundreds or thousands of posts. And those posts may have hundreds or thousands of likes.

Does that really mean much? If you use Instagram, think about your behavior on the app.

It’s likely that you scroll dozens of posts whenever you open Instagram. You probably hit the heart icon, liking a number of posts as you scroll.

Do you remember every post that you like? After liking posts, do you think about the account that posted it? Probably not.

Now, let’s say you liked a post so much that you felt compelled to take the extra steps of commenting on it. If that was a post about a dish or drink from a bar or restaurant, that comment may convert into a visit or delivery order.

When you’re looking for a local influencer and going through posts, look at the number of comments. Hundreds or thousands of likes with just a handful of comments may indicate there’s not much engagement. But dozens or hundreds of comments? That’s a great sign.

Of course, you should also sift through the comments. Doing so can show you if the posts are mostly attracting bots. Further, you want to make sure the comments are positive.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Little Lane Media Productions (@littlelanemedia)

How to Engage Collaborators

It’s important to remember that this is going to be a professional relationship.

Stevenson says there’s nothing wrong with sliding into a potential marketing partner’s DMs. However, it’s wise to share your business email address when reaching out. This way, the conversation moves to a more professional platform, and important messages likely won’t get lost.

Once the conversation has turned to the business at hand, both sides need to be crystal clear regarding expectations. How many posts are expected? When will the influencer post them? What’s the budget? What will working on site look like?

Be as detailed as possible to avoid confusion, frustration, and disappointment; both sides will benefit when every expectation is understood.

There’s another key to these collaborations that Stevenson wants operators to understand. Social media influencers aren’t salespeople, they’re marketers. This is a marketing exercise; you’re paying them to communicate and help people discover your business.

Going deeper, there’s another difference. There are influencers, and there are content creators. An influencer is paid to influence, and a content creator is paid to create content for others.

Another way to look at it: Influencers are in front of the camera, content creators are behind the camera. The distinction is very important.

In their partnership, Migliarini is in front of the camera, operating Beautiful Booze. Stevenson is behind the camera, running Little Lane Media. Both partner with restaurants, bars, hotels, resorts, and brands. However, they do so in different ways.

Now that you know what to consider, go forth and find your local influencers.

Image: Max Bender on Unsplash

May 18, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

SevenRooms and Marriott Partnership

SevenRooms and Marriott Reveal Global Partnership

by David Klemt

Fresh from launching the innovative Pre-Shift pre-service tool, SevenRooms today announces the platform’s latest partnership.

The announcement, which you can read in its entirety below, shows the confidence that some of the most recognizable hospitality brands in the world have in SevenRooms capabilities.

Specifically, the platform is now a preferred restaurant technology provider throughout Marriott International‘s portfolio. In fact, Marriott is leveraging the SevenRooms suite of tech solutions at several of their brands in more than a dozen countries. This translates to over 8,500 properties using the platform’s powerful booking, relationship management, and marketing tools.

Among the brands utilizing SevenRooms tools are The Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, EDITION Hotels, The Luxury Collection, and W Hotels.

The latest news to come from SevenRooms again underscores the platform’s commitment to growth and longevity. After more than a decade in operation and service to hospitality operators, it’s safe to say the company has reached ubiquity.

You may not operate a hotel or operate within a hotel. You may not oversee a multi-unit or multi-concept business. This news should be no less important to you.

When developing your tech stack (a service KRG Hospitality provides) it’s important to choose platforms that are here to stay. Otherwise, your investments of time and money go up in smoke. Likewise, the disruption to operations and service as you seek a new platform are harmful to you, your team, and guests.

So, it can be wise to not just dig into the platforms you’re considering, it can be smart to see what companies trust them as partners.

SevenRooms is a platform that we’re comfortable recommending to many of our clients. And no, we’re not paid or otherwise compensated to do so.

To learn more about SevenRooms partnering with Marriott International, see below.

SEVENROOMS SELECTED AS A MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL PREFERRED RESTAURANT TECHNOLOGY PROVIDER

The global technology platform will power personalized guest experiences to increase revenue while providing deeper guest insights for the global hospitality company

NEW YORK (May 18, 2023) – SevenRooms, a guest experience and retention platform for the hospitality industry, today announced its agreement with Marriott International to become a preferred restaurant technology provider. SevenRooms is currently live across 25 countries at Marriott brands including W Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Sheraton, JW Marriott, Le Méridien, Westin, Marriott Hotels, Renaissance Hotels, EDITION Hotels, The Luxury Collection and Gaylord Hotels. This will unlock additional opportunities at the more than 8,500 Marriott International properties worldwide.

SevenRooms is a data-driven guest experience and retention platform focused 100% on building operator-focused tools. The platform offers solutions to global brands that not only increase revenue generation, but help them build long-term relationships with guests.

For restaurants, bars, and other F&B outlets in Marriott-branded hotels, the SevenRooms platform offers a suite of tools to help drive incremental revenue, increase operational efficiencies, and offer exceptional guest experiences. Through SevenRooms’ Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Marketing Automation capabilities, Marriott’s hotels are not only able to cultivate meaningful, direct relationships with guests, but access a 360-degree view into the guest journey to foster deeper guest loyalty.

“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Marriott International as a preferred restaurant technology provider, helping them deliver more personalized experiences for their guests around the world,” said Joel Montaniel, CEO & Co-Founder of SevenRooms. “Today, consumers expect more out of their F&B experiences whether they’re staying local or traveling abroad. They want to engage with hotels, restaurants and bars on their own terms, and are increasingly discovering and booking where to eat and drink across an array of channels. With SevenRooms, operators have access to tools that help them reach these guests while driving operational efficiencies by connecting F&B into their overall hotel strategy to generate revenue and increase profitability. Our suite of products not only helps operators of Marriott-branded hotels provide guests with exceptional experiences that enhance positive sentiment and drive increased loyalty, but enables them to do so at scale, automatically. We look forward to working with Marriott as we enable them with technology to build longer-lasting, more profitable relationships with their guests.”

Marriott International properties can now incorporate much of SevenRooms’ suite of tools and solutions, including Customer Relationship Management (CRM), on-premise table management, waitlist management, marketing automation, email marketing, order management and review aggregation.

“Marriott’s hospitality roots began in restaurants, and we want to provide exceptional, unforgettable restaurant experiences for our guests,” said Matthew Von Ertfelda, Senior Vice President, Food & Beverage at Marriott International. “With SevenRooms, we’re not only able to provide guests with the experiences they crave, but we can leverage a robust suite of tools to help turn one-time guests into lifelong guests.”

To learn more about SevenRooms, please visit www.sevenrooms.com.

About SevenRooms

SevenRooms is a guest experience and retention platform that helps hospitality operators create exceptional experiences that drive revenue and repeat business. Trusted by thousands of hospitality operators around the world, SevenRooms powers tens of millions of guest experiences each month across both on- and off-premises. From neighborhood restaurants and bars to international, multi-concept hospitality groups, SevenRooms is transforming the industry by empowering operators to take back control of their businesses to build direct guest relationships, deliver exceptional experiences and drive more visits and orders, more often. The full suite of products includes reservation, waitlist and table management, online ordering, mobile order & pay, review aggregation, email marketing and marketing automation. Founded in 2011 and venture-backed by Amazon, Comcast Ventures, PSG and Highgate Ventures, SevenRooms has dining, hotel F&B, nightlife and entertainment clients globally, including: Marriott International, MGM Resorts International, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Wynn Resorts, Jumeirah Group, Hard Rock Hotels & Resorts, Wolfgang Puck, Michael Mina, Bloomin’ Brands, Giordano’s, Australian Venue Company, Altamarea Group, AELTC, The Wolseley Hospitality Group, Dishoom, Live Nation and Topgolf. www.sevenrooms.com

Image: SevenRooms

Exterior of Ocean Casino Resort at sunset

May 15, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Ocean’s Summertime Celebrations

Ocean Casino Resort Summertime Celebrations

by David Klemt

Ocean Casino Resort is celebrating an impressive milestone all summer long through creative local business partnerships.

This summer, the resort will reach its fifth anniversary. The festivities will begin May 26, a month before Ocean’s “birthday.”

However, rather than focus solely on the resort and casino, Ocean is choosing to celebrate the community it serves as well. These fifth birthday activations and initiatives are an excellent lesson for operators across all hospitality business categories.

I’m sure operators—all hospitality professionals, really—will agree that restaurants and bars are integral elements of any community’s bedrock. Increasingly, the same can be said of hotels. In fact, large hotel groups are investing in the development of smaller imprints that are tasked with the mission of serving locals and local businesses.

When a restaurant, bar, hotel, or nightclub reaches annual milestones, it’s largely due to community support. Sure, businesses in destination cities benefit greatly from tourist visits. However, for most markets, longevity is anything but assured without local backing and buy-in.

It’s clear that the importance of local support isn’t lost on Ocean. This summer’s celebrations include several local partnerships and community initiatives to pay that support back.

Local Partnerships

Last year, the Ocean leveraged the demise of the Choco Taco. So far in 2023, Ocean has supported Philly and KC during the Big Game, and gotten creative with cocktails that raised funds for the Girl Scout Troops of Southern and Central New Jersey.

Local partnerships are key to Ocean’s five-year celebration:

The Seed: Created Seeds of the Ocean for Ocean’s five-year anniversary.
Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall: Seeds of the Ocean lager will also be available at this local beer hall.
Rhythm & Spirits: Joining forces with Little Water Distillery to feature their gin in the Oceans 5 cocktail.
Little Water Distillery: Their Rusted Revolver Indigenous Gin is the star of the Oceans 5 cocktail, mentioned above. The distillery has also created the Chocolate Cake Martini, featuring Bar 32 chocolate shavings.
Hank Sauce: For those who prefer their celebrations spicy, Ocean and Hank Sauce have collaborated on Across the Boards. This hot sauce will accompany food items at restaurants inside Ocean.
Tony Boloney’s: They’ve created the High 5 pizza to celebrate Ocean’s birthday. This is another collaboration within a collaboration, as it features Seed of the Ocean lager and Across the Boards hot sauce.
Bar 32: What celebration is complete without something sweet? Bar 32 (a bean-to-bar chocolatier) and Ocean will be offering three commemorative chocolate bars: the Berry Pretzel Bar, Party Pretzel Bar, and Salty Peanut Butter Bar.
Mudgirl Studios: Ocean has commissioned several handmade, one-of-one pieces from this non-profit that will be featured not just in common areas on the property but also in some of the guest rooms.
Atlantic City Arts Foundation: To help celebrate its fifth birthday, Ocean has collaborated with the ACAF for a three-panel mural that will have a home at Tennessee Avenue Beer Hall.

Creative & Compelling

What I find most notable about these local partnerships is how several of them intertwine.

Not only did Ocean commission an exclusive beer, a local restaurant chain is using it for a pizza. That same restaurant chain is also using a hot sauce Ocean had created to celebrate their milestone. There are other collaborations that bring Rhythm & Spirits, Little Water Distillery, and Bar 32 together.

However, Ocean is doing more than just supporting a select group of local businesses. Mudgirl Studios employs and empowers at-risk, homeless and formerly incarcerated women. The ACAF, as one would imagine, inspires and empowers people to pursue the arts. Both support and strengthen communities throughout Atlantic City, and Ocean is giving back by supporting them.

In addition to all of that, the celebrations kick off on Memorial Day Weekend with a $300,000 sweepstakes. All in, there will be more than $5 million in promotions and giveaways in play over the course of this summer. From June 24 to July 4, Ocean is putting up one million dollars for a second sweepstakes.

Then there are Tesla giveaways, birthday fireworks, the Birthday Bar Pop-up Experience at 1927 Lounge inside Ocean Resort Casino, and Ocean’s sponsorship of the Atlantic City Beer and Music Festival.

Nola's Bar & Lounge inside Ocean Casino Resort

Look for Ocean’s birthday drinks at property bars like Nola’s Bar & Lounge

Again, it would be easy for Ocean to have simply planned a celebratory weekend, week, or month, focusing solely on themselves. Instead, they’re involving several small businesses and community organizations.

Takeaways

Do I expect restaurant and bar operators to somehow offer $5 million in giveaways to celebrate a milestone? Or even $300,000? Perhaps a Tesla?

No, of course not.

However, I do think operators should really put thought into celebrating their annual milestones. Surviving the first 12 months is a huge achievement. Making it through the first 18 months and hitting the two-year anniversary is just as challenging.

So, operators should take four to six months to plan their celebrations. Additionally, they should view these events as a way to thank the community for supporting them. And, of course, that includes being grateful for beneficial business relationships.

When considering marking these achievements, it’s wise to include local businesses. Craft brewers and distillers, local farmers and vintners, non-profit organizations… All the better if the selected partners can collaborate with one another to make the celebration and partnerships that much more impactful.

Operators should take a page out of Ocean’s celebration handbook and look for creative, thoughtful collaborations. Doing so lifts up others and pays local support forward, in turn making the entire community stronger.

It’s perfectly acceptable for an operator to be proud and celebrate milestones. But it’s even better for operators to celebrate those who help them thrive.

Images courtesy of Ocean Casino Resort

December 6, 2022by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

SevenRooms and CSV form Partnership

SevenRooms and Competitive Social Ventures form Partnership

by David Klemt

Guest experience and retention platform SevenRooms will kick off 2023 with a partnership with Competitive Social Ventures.

This new partnership is yet another example of SevenRooms’ continuous growth. For technology in general and our industry in particular, this is excellent news.

Consider how long it has taken, up until recently, for hospitality to embrace tech innovations. Navigating tech solutions can be daunting. Equally intimidating can be the cost of implementing new tech in a restaurant, bar, or hotel.

Watching a tech platform continue to innovate and grow, therefore, is good news for operators and their teams.

SevenRooms traces their founding to 2011. In comparison, many “solutions” never escape the vaporware stage, existing only on paper. With more than a decade of operation under its belt, SevenRooms is established and positioned for longevity.

In other words, the platform is worthy of operator consideration and investment. We make no secret of our preference for SevenRooms at KRG Hospitality. Unless they prove we should think otherwise, the platform is our favorite tech-based guest retention solution.

Beyond functionality, ease of use, and effectiveness, the company’s continuous growth motivates our support. Look at how SevenRooms grew in 2021 alone:

The platform also started 2022 with the hiring of a chief revenue officer, Brent-Stig Kraus.

Social Entertainment

With its headquarters in Alpharetta, Georgia, Competitive Social Ventures blends sports, socializing, and entertainment.

In fact, the company refers to the brands it has brought to market as “competitive socializing entertainment concepts.”

Last year, CSV brought Fairway Social Alpharetta and Roaring Social Alpharetta to market. The former focuses on sports simulators. Roaring Social, on the other hand, delivers a speakeasy experience combined with bowling.

Arriving in 2023, the real estate holding company plans to launch Pickle & Social concepts throughout the Metro Atlanta. As the name suggests, the concept features indoor and outdoor pickleball courts. Guests will also have access to table tennis. And like Fairway Social and Roaring Social, Pickle & Social will feature live music and an elevated F&B experience.

CSV already makes use of SevenRooms’ reservation and guest data management tools. Going into 2023, this partnership will evolve into review aggregation, marketing automation, and table waitlist management. The latter makes it easier for any concept to handle walk-ins as painlessly as possible.

Most importantly, the partnership with SevenRooms empowers CSV to pursue their growth plans. While the growth of SevenRooms is impressive and confidence-inspiring, their commitment to client growth is the real story here.

When choosing their tech stack, operators need to know the relationship is mutually beneficial. In fact, they need to be confident that each platform is here for long-term success.

In fact, operators should look at every relationship through this lens: Is every partner working to help you grow?

Image: Ben Hershey on Unsplash

May 16, 2022by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

How Big Brands Can Help Small Brands

How Big Hotel Brands Can Help Small Hospitality Brands

by David Klemt

The intriguing topic of big hotel brands helping smaller hospitality businesses grow came up during HD Expo 2022.

Several speakers spoke about serving and improving local communities. However, established brands can also help local business communities.

Job creation can take place outside of a big brand’s four walls, for example. But going even further, smaller independent brands can also receive a lift from big brands.

As we all grapple with what business can be moving forward, some in hospitality are proposing operating with a purpose.

Conversations Help

Everyone with several years of experience in this industry has seen some things. That’s putting it lightly, most likely.

That is to say, hospitality professionals gain metric tons of useful experience working in this industry. As we know, experience and knowledge are incredibly valuable in business.

Great mentors help others by sharing their knowledge with others. They gain that knowledge—at least in part—through experience. That means that time is truly invaluable.

So, when’s the last time you shared your knowledge with someone outside your business’ four walls?

Damon Lawrence is the co-founder of Homage Hospitality, the first Black-owned hotel brand. As he said during HD Expo 2022, honoring and engaging a given community requires time and effort. This includes engaging with the community’s business owners.

According to Lawrence, just mentoring people and providing what you’ve learned in this industry for free can help small businesses.

Now, it may sound too simple to say that sharing information is enough to help a small operator. However, what seems like a small nudge in the right direction can be powerful.

It may seem inconsequential to an established, large brand operator or executive. But you may be holding the piece of the puzzle that will show a smaller operator their next step.

Giving someone a few moments of valuable time can lead to a flourishing local business community, which in turn helps the community at large thrive.

Active Development

The managing director of Horwath HTL, Todd Wynne-Parry, pointed out the old hotel and resort model during HD Expo 2022. For decades, the approach was to keep each guest on property for as much of their stay as possible.

Now, as Wynne-Parry says, the aim is to encourage guests to explore the areas surrounding hotels and resorts.

With that in mind, hotel groups and designers are seeking to create destination properties. Almost by default, that requires the community to become a destination as well.

As far as Crystal Vinisse Thomas, a VP at Hyatt Hotels, is concerned, that means global hospitality brands need learn to work with small businesses.

If a hotel brand really wants to engage the community, featuring local brands is a powerful strategy. Doing so not only resonates with locals, it provides a more authentic experience for travelers.

However, meeting the demands of a hotel can prove daunting for a small business. So, while it may seem like a great idea to design a space for a local coffee shop to operate out of, they may not be able to afford the initial outlay.

Vinisse Thomas recommends big hotel brands lower the cost of entry for small businesses to work with them.

Larger brands can also actively help accelerate the growth of small businesses. If a big hotel brand isn’t interested or capable of acting as an incubator, they can still help entrepreneurs.

Again, removing barriers to entry or lowering the costs of entry is a great start. Hotel brands can also create grant programs to develop smaller hospitality businesses.

There was a lot of talk about community during HD Expo 2022. Global brands need to take the next steps to ensure it wasn’t all talk.

Image: Samson on Unsplash

Front of house staff member using SevenRooms

December 9, 2021by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

ThinkFoodGroup Partners with SevenRooms

ThinkFoodGroup Partners with SevenRooms

by David Klemt

Reservation and guest engagement and retention platform SevenRooms and ThinkFoodGroup announce their new partnership today.

This announcement marks at least the third high-profile partnership involving SevenRooms.

One partnership from earlier this year is with online ordering platform Olo. Another is between SevenRooms and TheFork.

As is normally the case when it comes to SevenRooms partnerships, the relationship will be collaborative.

ThinkFoodGroup be onboarding the restaurants in their portfolio onto the platform. This maneuver will deliver several benefits through the full SevenRooms suite:

Reservation, waitlist and table management
Marketing automation
Online ordering capability
Rating aggregation

Additionally, ThinkFoodGroup will be joining SevenRooms in an advisory role. The platform will benefit from the expertise of Chef José Andrés and the ThinkFoodGroup team.

In short, ThinkFoodGroup will gain valuable insight into their guests throughout their entire portfolio. SevenRooms will gain valuable insights they can use to improve their platform and better serve the hospitality industry.

Interestingly, ThinkFoodGroup appears to have been using SevenRooms prior to this newly announced partnership. The platform is already in use at:

The Bazaar by José Andrés at the SLS South Beach
Bazaar Meat by José Andrés at The Sahara Las Vegas
China Chilcano in Washington, D.C.
China Poblano at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
é by José Andrés at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
Jaleo at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

From Joel Montaniel, CEO and founder of SevenRooms:

“With the hospitality industry returning to full-speed, it’s more important than ever for operators to prioritize technology platforms that are hyper-focused on helping restaurants thrive. We’re thrilled to welcome the ThinkFoodGroup team to our SevenRooms family, helping them build upon their incredible guest experiences across their properties. Most importantly, we look forward to learning from José and his team’s incredible expertise and unique perspective. Supporting and advocating for the hospitality industry has always been at the core of our business. There is so much work for us to do as the industry recovers, and we look forward to walking in lockstep with José and his team to build back better.”

From Chef José Andrés, CEO, co-founder and executive chairman of ThinkFoodGroup:

“Providing outstanding experiences for our guests has always been a priority. In light of the challenges brought on by COVID, we realized just how important it was to have a partner who can help us bring them to life in a seamless way. I am excited to bring SevenRooms into our restaurants globally, and for ThinkFoodGroup to also join the company as an industry advisor.”

From Sam Bakhshandehpour, President of ThinkFoodGroup:

“Pushing the limits of what’s expected in hospitality is at the core of our business. SevenRooms is completely transforming the restaurant technology platform, and we’re thrilled to partner with a like-minded company who thinks progressively and has the cutting-edge technology to challenge the status quo. Together, we will collaborate on building solutions that put operators’ success at the forefront.”

This year’s SevenRooms partnerships, announcement of a new CFO, and innovations (such as their Direct Delivery module), show the platform’s commitment to improvement and supporting the industry.

When operators are selecting the platforms to include in their tech stacks, ease of use and integration, along with growth, should be among their considerations. So, too, should be industry advocacy.

SevenRooms continues to prove that they deserve top marks for each of those crucial elements.

Image: SevenRooms

Quotes provided by SevenRooms via press release