Ladies & Gentleman: We’re Live!

After what seems like a lifetime but was actually five months, my new website is up and live.  Check it out at thelewigroup.com.

The Lewi Group is all about culinary.  It includes culinary marketing, chef representation, events, demos, classes, and catering.

Now that the website is live, I actually have to practice what I preach and market the new company.  You would think this would be easy but sometimes it’s harder marketing your stuff then marketing other people’s projects.

You might ask what does this have to do with entertainment marketing?  It has everything to do with it.  Food is entertainment!  We have all seen the success of food entertainment on television.  It is not just the actual food channels.  It seems every channel is coming up with a culinary concept.  So if it works for television, why not live in our arena venues?  If you are going to bring culinary live and on tour then you need people who understand both worlds.  The Lewi Group is all about that.

As an event & entertainment marketer I realize that we need to be always looking for new ways to put butts in seats. Our customers are looking for new and exciting products. Food sells!  Everyone loves food.  As a live event marketer and chef I’m bringing these two worlds together.

Ready To Cook Up Something New

As many of you know I have been attending culinary school for the past year.  I am happy to report that I graduated.  Now what?

As I have mentioned before, the goal is to meld the live entertainment world with the world of culinary.  If you think about it, this is an easy goal to accomplish.  Food is not new to entertainment.  Actually, food has always been part of the entertainment world.  In medieval times chefs created huge banquets complete with live entertainment. 

As marketers, we need to always be on the lookout for new and exciting ways to get butts in seats.  Food is always an opportunity to draw people.  You can add culinary to anything you are promoting.  Think about it.  If you are marketing Sesame Street Live you can make cookies with Cookie Monster.  If you are selling Walking with Dinosaurs you can use those Flintstone size beef ribs.  This is the new and exciting stuff I hope to accomplish with my new business.

If we are going to add food to the live entertainment world then we need chefs who “get it”.  This is why I am also creating chef representation to the business.  Even though chefs are considered the new “rock stars” they are different from rock stars.  Putting chefs on stage in front of a live audience is a fairly new thing. Many chefs are not used to this kind of attention.  Who better to bridge this together then a live entertainment marketer who is also chef?

So let’s get hungry together and cook up new ways to fill up our venue seats and our customer’s bellies.

Add A Little Culinary To Any Event

I always thought it was just me.   I have always believed that no matter what kind of event you do, food should be involved.  This is why I have entered the world of culinary entertainment.

Since I started culinary school I have paid even more attention to what is happening in the culinary world.  Thanks to the Food Network and other high visible culinary opportunities, chefs are the new rock stars.  Want to draw people to your event, hire a chef.

I saw two items this morning that show the power of culinary.  The Boston Globe Travel Show is this weekend here in Boston.  They have a full page tab ad on the back of the entertainment section for the show.  The whole ad is promoting the culinary demos at the travel show.  All the restaurants and chefs participating are local even though this is a travel show.  The producers of this event know that culinary will sell tickets.

There was also an article this morning in the same newspaper about how some restaurants host “industry nights” for people in the culinary business.  These are usually on Monday nights when many in the business have the day off.  Besides bringing industry peeps out to eat, it is also attracting others.  These nights are attracting customers who want to meet culinary stars. Today’s chefs have a fan following that rivals movie stars.  Did you ever think that people would show up because their favorite chef might be eating there? Now we just need the paparazzi.

Why not add some culinary to your show, event, or sports team.  I think sports would be a perfect place to show off culinary.  I have lots of ideas for this but I am not giving everything away for free.

It’s All About Passion!

I found a book that pairs perfectly with this blog.  The book is called Crush It! Why Now is the Time to Cash In On Your Passion. The book is written by Gary Vaynerchuk. 

Like you, I don’t have time to read a ton of books so I am selective in my reading.  With this book, I actually downloaded the audio book to my iPod.  The book is about living your passion.  It talks about social media and how it has leveled the playing field.  It talks about how Facebook and Twitter are marketing tools not a media strategy. It discusses how we should use this recession to cash in on our passion.  Does all this sound familiar?  We have discussed all of this in the past on this blog.  I have met Gary a few times and I can tell you he lives this book. 

I made a decision last summer to take my passion for culinary and my 25 year career in entertainment marketing and meld the two together.  With this, I have a number of new business ideas and opportunities.  While many of these projects and opportunities are still in concept form, it has given me a new energy and excitement. My brain has not pumped out this many ideas in 10 years.

Even if you have no plans to leave what you are currently doing, you can use your passions to create new opportunities for your business.  If you enjoy what you do, then come up with new ways to make it even more fun.  If you don’t have fun at your career, then you need a new career.  Don’t think of it as a job, think of it as “This is what I do”.

All of us in event & entertainment marketing have passions beyond what we do at our daily business.  What if you could take that passion and apply it to the events, shows, and venues you promote?

Open Mic Friday

Happy Birthday Elvis!

Today is Elvis’s birthday.  He would have been 75.  Wow, I can’t believe he would be almost the same age as my dad.  Besides being the King of rock-n-roll, he was a real mover and shaker in live events.  Before Elvis, many acts could not even think about filling up an arena or stadium. His live tours were instrumental in the develop of marketing live events.

Who Doesn’t Love Chocolate?

As I have mentioned in the past, I believe the world of culinary live events is going to increase.  We have already seen the momentum with celebrity chefs on tour and food festivals.  This is one of the reasons I am getting into the culinary world (I also love food).  Fellow Boston marketer, Aspen Dinner Club member, and team building guru David Goldstein has launched Taste of Chocolate.  David knows that culinary is hot and anything chocolate is always popular, so he is getting into the chocolate event business.  His new venture includes chocolate tours, workshops, team building, and private events.  Will there be a chocolate festival in the future??

“The Advance Man” Update

I am still reading the book “The Advance Man” by Jamie MacVicar and I must admit it’s a very addictive read.  When is the last time you read a book and know most of the people mentioned?  I have been letting other people in our industry know about the book.  My very good friend Rob called me to say he is addicted to it too.  It brings back tons of Feld Entertainment memories.  If you ever worked for Ringling/Feld you will enjoy it.  If you didn’t work for Feld but work in the live event industry, I suggest you read it.  The people and stories mentioned in this book shaped how we market family shows and live events.  Some of the marketing ideas have been lost in time but we should re-visit them.

Have a great weekend!

Rock Star Chefs

If you want to know why I am going to culinary school and continuing my career in event & entertainment marketing, just pick up today’s Wall Street Journal. Go to the front page of the Weekend section and see the headline and huge article. The headline reads: Rock-Star Chefs.

As I always say, event & entertainment marketers need to stay up on the trends. We need to give the people what they want. Right now they want food!

The article discusses how celebrity chefs are filling up venues that have been previously reserved for music acts and other traditional live entertainment. Guess what, they are getting big bucks for their tickets and it’s selling.

Of course the Food Network is a big reason for the surge in live culinary events. But it also takes people becoming interested in culinary. Everybody likes food. Everybody has to eat. Now make it exciting and entertaining and you have a win.

I have witnessed the “rock star” type show some of these culinary stars are doing. At the Great American Food & Music Festival the chefs were the stars. When the music acts played the main stage the crowds were small. When Bobby Flay hit the stage the crowd surged and the audience cheered and screamed as if Bon Jovi was playing. Guy Fieri’s show was a rock show. It came complete with loud heavy medal rock music, lights, and live flame on stage (they hired a separate Fire Marshall just for that part).

This is a dream come true. All my working life I have always wanted to merge my entertainment marketing career with my passion for food. Now it’s happening.  Let’s cook up some great culinary entertainment together!

Have a great weekend!

We All Have A Passion For Something

I am a firm believer in doing what you love.  If you don’t like what you do, why do you do it? We all have a passion for something.  If you could create an event for anything you are really passionate for, what would it be?

I have a few passions in life.  Working in the event & entertainment business is of course one of them.  However, anyone who knows me personally also knows that I am very passionate about cooking and food.  Over the last few months I have been thinking how I can meld my event & entertainment marketing background with my passion for the culinary arts.  The answer is start creating culinary events.

The culinary arts have never been more popular.  We can all thank the Food Network for this.  Chefs are cool today.  They are the new rock stars!  When I was at the Great American Food and Music Festival last month, the culinary stars were the main attraction.  Sure the festival had some great musical talent, but the crowd went crazy when Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Anne Burrell, and Aida Mollenkamp hit the stage.  The one day event sold 15,000 tickets. It was all about the food!

If you want to create an event you need to understand what you are selling.  I am so passionate about melding food and events together that I want to attend culinary school this fall.  Who better to create culinary events but an event marketing chef?

Having a passion for what you market is your best asset.