Hit of the Week: Chain Leader Magazine

Our restaurants are Twitter-pated! The hit of the week is another strategic placement on behalf of our clients about their use of popular micro-blogging service Twitter. Tender Greens and Maggiano's Little Italy are interviewed and featured in an article in the May issue of Chain Leader Magazine about restaurants "All A-Twitter."


JS2 Communications helped Tender Greens set up their Twitter account and walked them through a "Twitter 101" crash course. Tender Greens quickly learned what to tweet, how to tweet in their appropriate voice, how to generate the most meaningful followers and get the most value out of this direct-to-customer tool.

The result: Tender Greens is currently slightly above 800 followers who they can bounce ideas off of, give exclusive information about new restaurants openings, construction updates, specials and new products. The challenge with a restaurant's Twitter is how to quantify the tweets and followers into actual "butt-in-seats." Tweeting their daily specials keeps Tender Greens top of mind for hungry potential customers at their desks. Here at the JS2 Communications offices, daily specials are usually too tempting for us to resist and we end up going to the new West Hollywood location at least 3 or 4 times per week.

Maggiano's Little Italy's Twitter is managed by Michael Breedlove. He used creative contests and ideas to generate awareness among the Twitosphere about Maggiano's and gain more followers. They are currently doing a contest which if they can reach 7,500 followers by May 31, 2009 Maggiano's will grant a wish with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in honor of their Twitter followers, $1 for every follower.

This placement builds awareness for Tender Greens and Maggiano's as innovative leaders in their industry using Twitter in creative ways that benefit their business and poise them for further growth and expansion. The article offers 8 tips for savvy tweets recommended by Erik Oberholtzer of Tender Greens, Michael Breed of Maggiano's Little Italy, and yours truly of JS2 Communications.

Bedford’s Grand Opening Weekend

Bedford, our Houston restaurant client, celebrated its grand opening weekend with a charity dinner on February 28 followed by a VIP friends & family party on March 1. Through ticket sales and auction items at the sold-out dinner, we were able to raise several thousand dollars for Boys & Girls Harbor, a local organization dedicated to providing a safe harbor for child victims of family violence, and the Houston Heights Association, a nonprofit organization formed in 1973 for the purpose of encouraging and promoting the enhancement of the Houston Heights community. The unforgettable dinner event featured a special guest: Bedford chef Robert Gadsby’s good friend, Food Network star and author Jeff Henderson. Gadsby and Henderson worked together to create an elaborate feast in the restaurant’s second level event space and Viking exhibition kitchen for 130 of Houston’s most generous foodies.

On Sunday, a slew of local politicians, socialites, and media sipped champagne and enjoyed passed hors d’oeuvres at the Grand Opening VIP event and watched on as Gasby was given a declaration from President Barack Obama by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. It certainly was a night to remember!