Brick and Click

Client News: Saint Germain Catering Receives WeddingWire Bride's Choice Award

Saint Germain Catering, a premier full service catering company based in Tysons Corner, VA, has been recognized (see press release) as a top caterer in Washington DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia by WeddingWire, the world's largest wedding review site. The Bride's Choice Awards 2013 recognize the top five percent of wedding professionals in the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service, responsiveness and professionalism. Saint Germain Catering's selection was based on positive experiences expressed by past clients on WeddingWire.

The WeddingWire Bride's Choice Awards™ 2013 are given to the top local wedding vendors in more than 20 service categories, from wedding caterers to wedding planners, photographers and more, based on professional achievements from the previous year. Award-winning vendors are distinguished for the quality, quantity, consistency and timeliness of the reviews they have received from their past clients.

All of us at Brick and Click Solutions are proud of our client, Saint Germain Catering, for receiving this prestigious award. Saint Germain CEO/President Mina Ebrahmi, VP Sarah Miller and their staff passionately pursue excellence each day, providing their many catering clients - corporate, wedding, special events large and small - with the highest quality food, service, and event planning. Congrats Mina and team! ~ Jeff

DC Dunkin' Donuts Gets Social

Hats off to the crew at DC Dunkin' Donuts ... via their Twitter profile, a "local, independent Dunkin' Donuts franchisee group based in DC, MD and NoVa". They picked up on a tweet of mine on Monday, July 2nd .. the first work/weekday following the destructive 'Super Derecho' storm that tore through the DC Metro area on Friday, June 29th. I was responding to a tweet from someone I know that works at Fort Belvoir (@fort_belvoir), after he mentioned the Dunkin' Donuts on the base was without power and closed. A coffee fiend and nerd, I asked if the Starbucks on the base was open, and a friendly conversation ensued, as seen below, with the local Dunkin' team.

They 'get' social. From the friendly and smart banter on Twitter, to the way they left a huge impression on me via a snail mail package. This is what 'brick and click' is all about. The way brands and people connect and communicate offline and online. And the package I recieved, within a few days of the Twitter conversation (it moved to direct message as well, as they asked for my mailing address and were just plain fun and nice to chat with), contained some terrific stuff. They sent me a $5 card to make purchases at Dunkin' ... a Free Iced Coffee coupon, a big 'DD' magnet (now is on my fridge), and most importantly, a personalized note that says the following:

Hi Jeff

Great to connect with you on Twitter.

I've attached a quick card for your next Ft Belvoir post Derecho roaDD trip!

Go forth and conquer!

Warm Regards

Mark Gundersen on behalf of Dunkin' Donuts Capitol Market Region

Mark actually read a blog post I penned about the Derecho storm and the way various businesses and organizations, like Ft Belvoir, communicated and helped people via social media. I love the playfulness of using double DDs in words (roaDD). It was a homerun across the board, and a perfect example of the way you can connect with, impress ... and potentiall convert people to brand loyalists and advocates via social media AND traditional channels as well. I haven't been to a Dunkin' Donuts in a long time. Part of the reason is there isn't one nearby, and I know all Starbucks locations by heart, using them as a 'third place' to work from sometimes.  But ... next time I'm at Ft Belvoir, or pass a Dunkin' Donuts elsewhere, you can bet your bottom dollar I'll pop in for a visit. And you can credit Mark and his colleagues for the terrific, customer-centric impression they've made on me. They 'get social'. Do you??

 

Facebook: Give us what we want ... not what you think we want

Facebook retreated a bit on its Newsfeed redesign, letting users choose what we've always wanted to be able to choose, to view all content chronologically.  So instead of some engineer's pet algorythm deciding which friend or Page message is a 'Top Story' ... and thus deserving to be crammed at the top ... you can choose 'Recent Stories First' via the pictured method, or if you prefer Facebook decide, choose the newly coined 'Highlighted Stories First'.  Two major changes from the recent upgrade remain, one good (larger images) and one not good (annoying news ticker).  Letting us decide whether to hide the news ticker or not would be the next, user-friendly, logical step.  Will they take it?  Sigh. 

Has Anyone Hugged Your Business Today?

From my other blog, ConsumerPassion, a post today called The Power of Praise (Have You Hugged Your Favorite Business Today?).  For business owners, worth a read if you're interested in making it easier for customers to pass along their praise and happy thoughts about your products and services.  Sure, you'll get other things in the net as well, like negative feedback.  But praise for a job well done has the power to, in the words of a Fast Company article called Why Companies Should Pave the Way to Praise, create a "radiating halo of happiness".  And for consumers, worth a read if you care to up your happy meter as well.  Because taking time out to offer thanks ... is good for all of us.  (picture courtesty of Cheeta100 on Flickr)