Hot Potato

41. Of Recruiting

As soon as Cynthia and I had finished with the contract, we headed into the dining room to rejoin the marketing team, everyone quieting as we approached. While I took a seat, Cynthia remained standing. "Right, let's jump straight into this. Marketing is fundamental to the success of any business – people need to know who the company is and what they offer. This can be done with everything from paid advertising to word of mouth. But no matter how clever or well-placed, the results of paid advertising pale compared to the results of proper public relations. That's our goal – proper PR."

She pulled a sheet of paper from her portfolio. "Here are two quotes to show its importance; the first was said by Microsoft's Bill Gates. If I was down to the last dollar of my marketing budget, I'd spend it on PR. The second is from Virgin's Richard Branson. Publicity is absolutely critical. A good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front-page ad."

Cynthia scanned the faces around the table, then she continued, "We need to create a compelling story about Hot Potato, one which will inspire the influencers to pass it along to their audiences to intrigue them to come dine with us. It's as simple as that."

She shrugged. "Simple is the key here. Complex and convoluted stories are difficult to retell, and they are often ignored – either by the re-tellers or their audiences. We need to distil Hot Potato's story into one that's easy to convey and easier to remember."

"But we've already gathered so much," Muriel flipped through the pages of notes in front of her. "Have our past two hours been wasted?"

"No, exactly the opposite. Your ideas, themes, and keywords are vital; they're the building blocks of the story." Cynthia took another sheet from her portfolio. "Let's work our way through my topic list to see what else we can add to what you have."

At the end of a long brainstorming session, Cynthia stood and said, "Excellent! We've a fine beginning – a solid idea of who you are and why diners should be interested. I'll take this to the office, and we'll refine it."

As I walked her to the door, she said, "We'll send you an editable Google doc, and we can play with fine-tuning and polishing. Oh, and for our purposes, I think Gianna Gallini has a finer ring to it than Gigi Gallini."

I chuckled. "It soon becomes GG and then Gigi to those who get to know me."

"That's fine, but for the PR, I suggest we use Gianna. The foodies will likely begin using Gigi as a show of familiarity – and that's good – sort of an in thing."

On my way back to the office, when I stopped to check on the progress with the menus, Logan told me, "Done a few minutes ago, Chef. We've just begun compiling the food orders. We thought doing twenty-four of each dish would allow the branch execs and their sous to each demonstrate one and have their line cooks practice on two others."

I nodded while I thought. "Yes, a fine idea, but what will we do with all the prepared food? With ninety-three of us, we cannot eat that much."

"Melvin is arranging for The Dugout and Sally Ann to come by and pick up the excess."

"Excellent! If they can take more, we can do more training and practice. Have Melvin find out how much they can take without risking spoilage."

"Will do, Chef." Logan pointed. "He's over there with the pastry chefs, compiling ingredient lists, and I don't want to disturb him until he's finished."

"Yes, that's best. I'll be in my office if you need me."

As I entered, my thoughts turned to Marcy and to her wanting a change of positions. No, not of positions; she's already a GM. She wants a change of venue – maybe unhappy with the employer, maybe with the salary. Yeah, likely that. Her grumbling that the chefs make more than her, as do some of the wait staff with their tips – and she's their boss.