RECIPE: How to Make Carolina Apple Cider Wings [Sponsored Recipe]
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DID YOU KNOWS…
Christmas Pop-Ups
According to a Thrillist article, there are 80+ Christmas Pop-Up bars around the country. Specifically, they’re Miracle Pop-Ups, a chain of Christmas bars, but all the pop-ups have different owners. But, as expected, the Christmas Pop-Ups have everything from holiday decorations, Christmas-themed booze, and enough holiday cheer to give you stomach cramps.
Back from the Dead
Exactly 24 years after its launch on December 3, 1994, Sony is bringing back one of the most popular video game consoles of all time: the original PlayStation. In a move that feels partly like a deserved celebration of an iconic device and partly like jumping on the Nintendo Classic bandwagon, Sony announced the PlayStation Classic earlier this year for a launch on December 3.
Bragging & Boasting on Social
A recent report by the Pew Research Center has looked into what teenagers are posting about on social media, confirming a common prejudice about social networks being a place to brag and boast above anything else. The findings also reveal that, as far as teenagers are concerned, social media is no place for politics and religion.
IT’S YOUR BRAND
Why it matters to you: Protect your identity by trademarking it.
Did you know that the first trademark ever provided was to the Bass Brewing company by the British government? This is relevant to you because your brand name and logo are so central to your business identity that all operators should take steps to protect it. Ideally this process would take place before you are even open for business, but clearly that is impractical for most operators. Add to that fact, most of you don’t have the resources to use a third party for the full process. That is why this article that describes the process to trademarking your brand is great how-to guide.
So, why bother jumping through the hoops if I have already survived this long without it? To start, trademarking gives you the standing to block someone from emulating or outright stealing your brand identity from your d/b/a, to your logo and colors, trademarking precludes anyone from even coming close to your brand identity. However, if you have not trademarked those protections are harder to enforce and far more costly to defend. We suggest you review the article and determine what you can do to address your trademark exposure. This will ensure your identity is yours alone to promote and control. While it might be difficult, it’s insurance that can secure and it only needs to be done once to be valid.
[Source: FSRMagazine]
ONCE MORE INTO THE BREECH DEAR FRIENDS
Why it matters to you: Avoid a data breech by getting ahead of your cyber security issues.
Last week was busy for hospitality companies and their security failings. The week began with Marriott Hotels acknowledging that a breech had exposed hundreds of millions of records to hackers. That was followed by Dunkin Brands similarly announcing that some of their loyalty app users had their information breeched as well. The Dunkin breech seems far less problematic, but either one is horrible if you are a consumer that trusted these companies with any of your personal information. This has been an ongoing problem across every consumer vertical that values data on their customers. Unfortunately, nobody is coming to your rescue on this issue and it’s up to you to address your own vulnerabilities before you become a news story yourself.
The concerns shared by multiunit and national chain operators are very different than those of the independent operator, but the basics of managing and protecting customer data are pretty much the same. As we described a couple of years ago, all local operators should take steps to make sure their exposure is minimized. These steps manage your local concerns, but you are also leaning on your vendors to protect data as well. We suggest in the wake of these most recent breeches, that you reach out to your credit card process, your POS company and any other service you use to support guest operations to ask them about their security protocols and your protections. Don’t let them off the hook, because you don’t want to be in the news for anything other than your great food and beverages.
[Source: Forbes]
