HOW TO INNOVATE IN TODAYS ECONOMY

To succeed in today’s market, whether for new or existing events or for your business, you must not only be able to innovate, you must recognize opportunity and ensure you are poised to seize it.

G. Michael Maddock, CEO of Maddock Douglas, which advises Fortune 500 players like GE and Wal-Mart offers these tips for getting there. (as seen in Spokane Coeur d’Alene Magazine)

1. Balancing Act: Wherever you find an innovative culture, you will see two primary personalities in leadership: the “Idea Monkeys”, who have no shortage of great ideas but do not have the follow-through to see a project to completion, and the (Ring)leaders, who specialize in execution and managing details. Every great enterprise needs a Yin for a Yang – Walt Disney had Roy Disney; Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak; Wilbur Wright had Orville Wright. Ideally, an innovator needs a (Ring)leader at his or her side, and vice versa. Too much of one of these personalities spells disaster for any business. Is your leadership humble enough to understand this?

2. Outside the jar: There’s a great saying in the South: “You can’t read the label when you’re sitting inside the jar.” If you’ve been in the same business for longer than six months, you’re likely in the jar. You’ll find your response to new ideas is typically, “We’ve tried that and it didn’t work,” or “Yes, but…,” or silence, or even a dumbfounded “huh?” Fortunately, there are several ways to get your head outside the jar: Accept ideas from junior personnel, seek perspectives from different departments and switch up leadership roles, and, most important, infuse perspective from outside your business. Diversity is the key to a fresh perspective. Is your expertise killing you?

3. Laughter (more than stress relief): As a response to humor, laughter is uniquely human; as far as we know, no other living thing can laugh. In business, laughter is the antithesis of fear. It is impossible to innovate effectively if you are afraid--nothing kills great ideas like fear. Fun-loving environments where workers are free to laugh are healthy places for creativity. One more thing…if lots of people laugh at an idea, there is usually meaningful insight there worthy of much deeper exploration.

4. Failing forward: History is filled with people who risked and lost much, yet went on to change the world. From religious leaders to Christopher Columbus to Winston Churchill to today’s budding entrepreneurs, learning how to efficiently experiment and learn is key to innovation success. Does your business embrace some risk taking or is it too afraid to fail?

Embrace creativity, think outside the box and try new things. That next innovation could be a real success.

Vicki Leeper, Tourism Director

National Lentil Festival 2013-25th Anniversary! August 16-17

COOKING DEMONSTRATION STAGE

The cooking demonstration stage, sponsored by Whole Foods Market and PNW Co-op Specialty Foods, is a brand new attraction designed to help people learn all the delicious and easy ways to cook lentils in the comfort of their own home!

On Friday from 6:30pm – 7:30, the cooking demonstration stage will feature an “Ask the Expert” panel discussion giving people an opportunity to ask 5 “lentil professionals” anything they want to know about how to cook with lentils, the health benefits of including lentils in your daily diet and the importance of lentil production on the Palouse.

On Saturday, watch as 3 professional chefs give live demonstrations of how to cook their favorite lentil recipes and give you step by step instructions to make those recipes at home! The demos kick off at 11am with local chef, Nick Pitsilionis, owner and chef at The Black Cypress. At 12pm, catch Top Chef contestant Robin Leventhal followed by Whole Foods Market’s senior global chef, Derek Sarno at 1pm. At 2pm, watch as the top 5 finalists from the Legendary Lentil Cook-Off present their entries to a panel of celebrity judges. One of those finalists will be crowned the 2013 Legendary Lentil Cook-Off winner complete with a chef’s hat and giant check!

Don’t Miss the Cooking Demos from these Professional Chefs! 

Nick Pitsilionis

Chef/Owner of The Black Cypress

Nick grew up working at his family’s restaurant in Alaska and spending his summers in his ancestral Greek village. Having finished his film degree in Sydney, he returned to Alaska to run his father’s restaurant, where he used his personal credit card to pay the restaurant’s monthly expenses, in short time, raising his credit limit to $80,000. In shorter time, he maxed that limit with a handful of trips to New York and Italy, where he ate himself into a state of self-loathing. After several years of working various jobs, including a year at the venerable French Laundry in Napa, he settled in the Palouse. He eventually opened The Black Cypress in Pullman, where he serves the traditional food of his Greek village. With the support of his community, he has now paid off his credit card debt and hopes that in time, with enough good deeds, he can attend to the self-loathing.

 Robin Leventhal

Top Chef Cheftestant, Instructor & Aucitoneer

Before becoming a chef, Robin was an artist. But it quickly became clear she had a passion for food. She formerly owned and operated “Crave” a popular Seattle bistro serving up Contemporary Comfort Food on Capitol Hill. She had a life altering experience in 1999 representing Seattle on the sixth season of Top Chef where she finished fifth. Since then she has found an ideal balance in her life making art, teaching, and cooking. She keeps her knives sharp in kitchens for causes like “Bristol Bay”, and catering pop up dinners around town. With a commitment to community, she sits on the Slow Food Seattle board raising awareness of the value of food and knowing where it comes from.

 Derek Sarno

Senior Global Chef at Whole Foods Markets

Derek’s experience includes many years as chef/consultant for an international Tibetan Buddhist monastery, restaurateur, vegan organic farmer, food designer, consultant, food writer and educator of vegan, vegetarian and animal-based cuisines. Derek joined Whole Foods Market in 2009 as a chef and culinary educator to support the company’s Health Starts Here™ program.  In his current role as senior global chef, Derek serves as a culinary resource across all departments within the company and oversees R&D including recipe and product development. He has owned several restaurants and catering businesses in the Northeast including the South Hill Farm in South Berwick, Maine, a sustainable farm and learning center dedicated to providing the community with vegan and organic foods and culinary education.


for more information, visit National Lentil Festival-Pullman, WA 

CABARET AUCTIONS OFF “LITTLE HOUSE”

PULLMAN, WA- The Pullman Chamber of Commerce will auction off the “Little House on the Palouse” playhouse during Cabaret, April 6^th at the SEL Event Center.  Community Action Center has partnered with architect Craig Beaumont, builder Nick Van Arsdel and local suppliers to design and construct the custom play house, to be completed March 1^st.  The “Little House” playhouse will be moved to various locations in Pullman for people to view and to raise awareness of supporting the Chamber and the affordable housing program for Community Action Center.

“The playhouse is going to be a great addition to our live auction at Cabaret,” said Marie Dymkoski, Executive Director of the chamber. “The event is always fun, but this added element is really welcome and should make for lively bidding! It’s great to see a community effort to support the Chamber and we are looking forward to having the ‘Little House on the Palouse’ as part of the fun!”

Pre-auction bids for the playhouse will be taken by phone up to March 29^th.  The top three bidders will be qualified to bid at the Auction on April 6^th. To find out more on how to bid, contact the Pullman Chamber of Commerce at 509-334-3565

HELP for YELP

Online review forums like Yelp, FourSquare or TripAdvisor can be both a positive and negative tool for busiensses. Certainly, sites like this give every customer a soapbox from which every flaw in your performance can be broadcast through a very loud megaphone. And, unfortunately, more people typically post something negative rather than positive.

However you feel about it, sites like Yelp are not going away. So rather than ignore a negative review, here are some tips: (from Matthew Mikulsky, owner of Chatter Creative, a marketing firm based in Edmonds, Wash)

1. Open an account. Before you begin responding to customers, you must first open a Yelp account of your own. Yelp requires business account users to upload a photo before messaging customers to make the experience more personal. Fill in as much as you can about your business but take care not to use the forum as a way to promote special offers. (Facebook is good for that) If Yelp comes across either of these no-nos, they will remove your listing.
A great way to showcase your company is to upload a short video about your business. Yelp frowns on negative imagery, so keep it short, clever and family-friendly. Also - don't use it to advertise an incentive or to solicit reviews.

2. Reply all. It's important for businesses to respond to each and every post - good and bad. No reponse means that no one is listening and that's not the impression you want to give.

3. Inhale. Exhale. (Repeat as needed.) Reply. Responding to a negative review can be tough. Take a deep breath and let the user know that you thank him or her for the feedback and will look into the matter. Asking for another chance never hurts. Responding this way allows other users to see you care. If you believe the post is false you can always contact the user in a private message first. But always remember to stay positive.

4. Reward good, not bad, behavior (or reviews). Avoid rewarding those who write a bad review with a free giveaway; it may encourage others to give similar feedback in order to receive goodies on their next visit. Rewarding great posts with a simple "thank you" is a better strategy. You want those loyal customers to keep coming back - and hopefully bring friends.

5. If it's not legit, flag it. Yelp will allow businesses to flag negative reviews if they don't appear to be legitimate or if they don't follow the general rules of conduct - swearing and slander can both get a review removed. Stating why you believe the review should be removed is very important. However, don't flag every bad review. That will get your business flagged. Make sure you approach every situation with honesty.

You can find Yelp's Content Guidelines at www.yelp.com/guidelines. If you want more information on Matthew Mikulsky he can be reached at info@chattercreative.com.

Vicki Leeper
Tourism Director

Cabaret~April 6, 2013

Cabaret generates over 30% of our operating budget.  Without the great success of Cabaret, we may not be able to provide some of our programs and events.  Each year we are thankful for the sponsorship of Washington State University and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories.  Furthermore, we are thankful for the support of our businesses for their donations as well as the guests that attend our dinner and auction.
This years’ event will again be held at the SEL Event Center.  Social Hour begins at 5:00 with the silent auction tables open for bidding during that time.  Bid early, bid high, and bid often!

The food provided will be from  Happy Day Catering. Menu coming soon!
Returning again this year, will be auctioneer Austin Booker.  Austin has promised us another entertaining event and will work to raise more money in a shorter period of time so we can dance into the evening to The Fabulous Kingpins.
As always, we appreciate the businesses who help to make this the best party on the Palouse and one that we like to refer to as the ‘adult prom’.  Black tie optional, but the ladies love to get their dates all dressed up to show them off and have a great evening!
Call the Chamber today to reserve your seat!  $100.00 tickets for all this fun and more! Includes a full hosted bar.   And if you are interested in showcasing your services or business, please print the donation form from our website and mail or drop it off by March 28th to ensure you are listed in our program for the event.

How to Keep Your Customers Coming Back Again & Again