Paul King

Articles by
Paul King

Page 29
Operations

Twitter clutter

Social media and how to use it is quickly becoming one of the hottest topics in non-commercial foodservice. I will be presenting a talk on the subject at the upcoming HFM conference in Indian Wells, Calif., and SFM has Michael Atkinson, founder of foodservice social media site FohBoh, on the program at its national conference next month in San Francisco.

Operations

Nutritional home run

FoodService Director magazine no longer typically reports on foodservice in such venues as sports stadiums and arena, amusement parks, cruise ships and state and national parks.

A New Jersey man, with the support of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, has sued Denny’s Corp. over the levels of sodium in its menu items. Nick DeBenedetto, who according to the suit suffers from hypertension that is controlled by medication, wants Denny’s to disclose the amount of sodium in all its menu items and place a warning about high levels of sodium on the menu.

I saw an interesting article online the other day, from the Vail Daily newspaper in Colorado. It was about Remedies Café at Vail Valley Medical Center. Apparently, the food is pretty good at Remedies, so much so that people come to the hospital just to eat in the cafeteria.

When I was a child, most of my male friends talked about becoming astronauts, or firefighters, or lawyers. And my friends all knew I wanted to be a writer. But I secretly harbored a desire to be Walter Cronkite.

One of the hottest topics in foodservice has become the issue of social networking and its potential value to the industry.

While in Milwaukee, Wis., last week attending the National Association of College & University Food Services conference, I stepped away for a short time, opting for lunch one afternoon at a restaurant across the street from my hotel. When I did so, I stepped into a time warp of sorts, in more ways than one.

It is amazing how time manages to get away from us, particularly when a holiday rolls around. Here it is, the first full week of July, already 10 days since we gathered together 12 college and university foodservice professionals in Austin, Minn., for a meeting of the minds. It seems like only a couple of days has passed.

In today’s soft economy, customer service is more paramount than ever, and your approach to your job can often signal the difference between personal success and failure. During the recent ASHFSA Conference in Clearwater Beach, Fla., a group of us received an enjoyable reminder of that from taxi driver named Moses.

Benjamin Disraeli once said, “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.” I’m not sure which category the following falls into, but I definitely find it hard to believe. Researchers from Duke University, Baruch College and Loyola College of Maryland collaborated recently on an experiment that purports to show that restaurant chains do much more harm than good when they add healthy items to their menus.

Steve Hammel has worked in nearly every segment of the foodservice industry. But his latest tour of duty may be his most satisfying. At A Glance: Steve Hammel •Dining Services Program Manager...

Stu Orefice believes that food is central to communication and community on a college campus and he has fostered that for 26 years. At A Glance: Stu Orfice •Director of Dining Services &bu...

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