Foursquare

Many think that Foursquare is silly because they assume it is just about “checking in,” being a mayor of a location or getting badges (though those are all fun too), but that is not the case; it is also about sharing tips and suggestions. When checking into a restaurant, the user can see tips, including reviews AND suggested menu items, left by other food fans. People can also upload photos of their dishes and surroundings, helping decide on restaurants and orders based on presentation and ambiance. Quite a few restaurants also upload menus onto Foursquare so no need to go inside and ask to view. Also loving the deals for checking in! I’ve received a free cookie and free appetizers with this app! I’ve also received discounts at retail stores too.

I guess you are the company that you keep because my friends also love eating out, so I like to go where they have been. When I was in Los Angeles awhile back and knew I wanted sushi, I was unsure of where to go as there were about 10 sushi restaurants near me. I clicked the “explore” option and searched for sushi near my current location and Foursquare showed me not only a list of nearby sushi restaurants, but also which ones my friends have also tried. Now that’s a food community!

Foodspotting

Foodspotting is an application more visually focused on dishes compared to some that are more focused on the establishments themselves. With this app, the user can search for dishes to try based on photos that others uploaded—“spot dish.” It is like an Instagram for meals, adding in reviews.  The specials tab also offers discounts to partner restaurants in the area.

If you have been watching “Around the World in 80 Plates” sponsored by Chase Sapphire Preferred on Bravo, Foodspotting also allows you to participate on a local level.  Eight plates were selected at 80 restaurants that showcase dishes from the show’s destinations and Foodspotting users can take photos of feature plates and vote for their favorites. Learn more here.

Urbanspoon

The non-thinking man’s food app. I use this when I’m at a total loss of where to eat. I like that you can choose based on location, genre and/or cost. Users can lock the categories in which they care most about. Using the slot machine style look and feel, the user then shakes the smartphone and the app will give you one restaurant suggested based on your (or lack thereof) preferences. There are also options to search restaurants based on types of food and features, to make reservations at participating restaurants and to search based on location. I must admit, however, that I do not use this one too often and mainly use it when I really don’t know where to eat and I feel like merely shaking the phone to think for me.

Other apps to check out: AllRecipes (if desiring to cook) and Yelp (duh!).

Playing some Ultimate

At HKA, we are doing something, and the key is that for everyone, something is different. I can be found most days after work playing ultimate frisbee. (Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.) Nick has started running during his lunch hour and is up to five miles, just at lunch. Way to maximize that hour! Stephanie has taken up ballet barre classes for strength training; Robyn can often be found at spin class after a day at the office, and Hilary goes to yoga before I even wake up in the morning! It’s pretty inspiring to see everyone in the office changing into gym clothes at some point in the day.

We continue to be motivated by each other to make healthy choices, and many of our clients are also a source of inspiration. Farmers & Merchants Bank recently launched a branch-wide wellness program that encourages health and fitness. The program kicked off with a walking challenge and continued last month with a low-cal recipe contest. Susan’s Healthy Gourmet offers healthy and delicious options for busy individuals and families, and with innovative culinary creations each year, their meals continue to satiate even the most health and taste bud-conscious. Fairhaven Memorial Park & Mortuary even has an early-morning exercise program for their grounds crew.

The moral of the story: you don’t have to run a marathon or dedicate hours each day to intense training; you just have to move! And don’t get discouraged: taking a walk is better than not walking at all. Just move! What are you doing to incorporate wellness into your life? Walking to pick up lunch? Standing while on the phone? Jumping jacks during commercials?  Share your tips, and who knows, maybe you’ll inspire someone else to start moving.

Q2 is shaping up to be a promising quarter for the little guy. According to ADP’s National Employment Report, private businesses with fewer than 50 employees added nearly half of the 119,000 new jobs created in April.  A recent survey by Wells Fargo asserts that small business owners are at their most optimistic since July 2008, projecting an increase in hiring, cash flow and revenues for 2012.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan bill (apparently this is not an oxymoron) to help small businesses raise investment capital by easing federal regulations has cleared the Senate and is expected to easily make it through the House and onto the desk of President Obama, who also supports the bill.

While the entire picture of this nascent recovery remains unclear, these heartening new developments suggest that America’s small businesses will play a significant role in it. So how can you, the small business owner, maximize this opportunity? Here are a few suggestions:*

Image is still everything: One of the cardinal sins among small businesses is neglecting your perception in the marketplace. No matter how valuable your product or service might be, it has to look and sound valuable as well. Update that website, develop those key messages and redesign those brochures. Clients want to be associated with a brand they can be proud of…it may as well be yours.

Image may be everything, but it doesn’t need to cost everything: Now for the good news, there are a variety of cost effective resources at your disposal that will enable you to overhaul your brand without breaking the bank. From website templates to free wire services, you’d be surprised at the difference even a small investment can make.

Think big. Think small: Perhaps the greatest advantage to small businesses post-Great-Recession is the flight to quality client relationships. Many firms are leaving relationships with larger, more bureaucratic companies to take advantage of the service, flexibility and customization of small businesses. Why not play to your strengths in these areas? In today’s fragmented marketplace, it’s huge to be small.

Make your presence known; then don’t stop making presence known: There’s never been a better opportunity to stay in front of your clients and prospects. The widespread access and easy implementation of blogs, social media and email marketing makes it easy to maintain a consistent presence for both business development and customer service. Just be strategic and sophisticated in your communication and always offer something of value, not just a sales pitch.

Yes, the warm, radiant rays of opportunity are soon to be shining down on small businesses across myriad sectors. Take some time to think about how you can best position your business to soak them all in.

* Do you like these recommendations but still aren’t sure about how to implement them? Give us a shout and we’ll be delighted to give you a little more insight.

For one thing, I had to re-learn to drive. I hadn’t been behind the wheel since high school, so during my first few weeks here, I learned quickly by navigating the 55 freeway during rush hour and hailing rainstorms, dealing with California road rage and discovering shortcuts on back roads, which all forced me to build up my driving confidence again. I’m starting to know my way around Tustin, Irvine and Newport Beach almost as easily as I could recite the stores along 14^th Street.

In my spare time, I’m thinking about, tasting or touching food. I love dining out and also enjoy all kinds of cooking and baking. Mario Batali’s Pappardelle with Peas and Parmesan is my favorite to recreate. Orange County living has blessed me with a kitchen of my dreams (well, almost – it has a full-size dishwasher and is bigger than a closet, something you rarely find in NYC) to house a new KitchenAid stand mixer and Cuisinart food processor. I also hike and practice yoga – must stay active to burn those calories!

I’m excited to be here. I welcome any nightlife or dining recommendations and love trying easy one-dish recipes!

Dr.  F. Sherwood Rowland was one such individual. After an illustrious career, Dr. Rowland passed away at age 84 on March 10, causing me to recall my good fortune in knowing him many years ago.

Known to most as just “Sherry,” Dr. Rowland had a commanding 6’ 5” presence, a booming voice and sported long bushy sideburns. Dr. Rowland was a professor of chemistry at UC Irvine when I worked as a UCI Public Information Officer (pre-dating HKA, Inc. PR). As the office’s PIO/Science Writer, I was fortunate to work with UCI’s School of Physical Sciences when Dr. Rowland warned the world that manmade chemicals (chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs) were destroying the earth’s ozone layer. And someone better start paying attention!

It took quite a few years for scientists, and the public, to heed his caution. After all, aerosol spray cans (propelled by CFCs) were ubiquitous and, at first, even fellow scientists doubted the ozone layer was really in jeopardy. But Rowland proved that, indeed, an ozone hole had ripped open above Antarctica, and people realized this could lead to a greater incidence of skin cancer as damaging ultraviolet rays increasingly were reaching Earth. Things began to change, and aerosol sprays and industrial coolants came under scrutiny and finally were banned.

Dr. Rowland won the Nobel Prize many years after I worked on press releases announcing his findings. Long overdue! But I remember I admired his perseverance, in the face of peer doubt, and his absolute confidence that his research was accurate and needed to be taken seriously.  Over the years, every time his name surfaced in the news, I smiled as I remembered the big man who was so important to the world’s well-being but who treated me with respect when I was just beginning my career.

I didn’t smile when I saw the news of Dr. Rowland’s passing. But I did stop and think about how wonderful it was to work with someone who made such an indelible mark with his life.

How ‘bout you? Would love to hear about game-changers you’ve encountered along your journey.

How many stickers can you fit on your board?

I kept seeing Nike products and despite throwing their marketing weight behind their action sports arm, the brand still seems a little out of place at action sports events. They represent some great surfers, snowboarders, skateboarders, etc., but are the fans coming around?

According to a New York Times article published last year, Nike did its homework and has been relatively successful at breaking into the tight-knit world of actions sports: “Big brands that want to enter the action sports market have to contend with the somewhat insular culture of certain sports and with the athletes’ loyalty to smaller, edgier brands. For the last few years, Nike has been on a steady mission to penetrate the market by creating sub-brands like Nike 6.0 and buying smaller brands like Hurley.”

Nike Chosen ad

Brands like DC, Burton, Volcom all seem to inspire an intense loyalty among fans as well, so it will be very interesting to see if the huge dollars Nike is pouring into sponsorships and products will move the action sports needle.

Either way, check out this video: Mark McMorris Slopestyle Gold AMAZING!

And do a little snow dance for me; I’m tired of riding on dirt!

Celebrity chef makes millions of dollars unabashedly peddling a bevy of southern-inspired culinary delights laden with sugar, fat and empty calories. Celebrity chef contracts a health disorder directly attributed to unhealthy eating. Celebrity chef signs a lucrative contract with a pharmaceutical company to promote diabetes awareness.

By the time Paula Deen revealed to the word her contraction of Type 2 diabetes, she was already singing the praises of moderation and offering diabetes-friendly recipes in a campaign to promote pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Victoza®. All the while, Deen will continue her career as America’s “awe-shucks” purveyor of down home cooking through endorsements, cook books and television appearances.

While this unfortunate diagnosis is an immediate threat to the Paula Deen Brand, the decision to wait three years before revealing it and the accompanying announcement of the Novo Nordisk partnership damages something far more important: Her credibility.

Deen has built a fiercely loyal fan base through her ability to not only serve up delicious and indulgent food, but also through her genial and down home persona. Spending 30 minutes in with her on The Food Network was like a carefree Sunday afternoon in grandma’s kitchen.

Her decision to turn an unfortunate health disorder into a business venture will raise immediate questions about her motives and authenticity. In fact, Deen is already addressing these concerns publically.

She said she waited three years to announce this because she wanted to give it the time and thought it deserved.

She said she wants to let the world know that “diabetes is not a death sentence.”

She said there are other risk factors for Type 2 diabetes, including genetics and age.

These are all reasonable responses. And Deen has announced that she is pledging a portion of her earnings from the Novo Nordisk deal to the American Diabetes Association (a decision made as a response to the negative media coverage surrounding the partnership). But wouldn’t a public anti-diabetes campaign that is not tied to a drug company accomplish the same objective? And wouldn’t the preemptive and direct engagement of her loyal fans help to mitigate the onslaught of criticism better than a public appearance on the Today Show?

Time will tell if Paula Deen emerges from this development with the same brand equity that helped her get to the top of the TV food chain, but one thing is apparent: the health of her credibility is at stake.