Hospitality advocacy: how to get involved

For this week's interview, we talked with Megan Rickerson of Someday Bar about hospitality advocacy in general and how her local involvement landed her on the executive board of the NYC Hospitality Alliance and the NYC Mayor's Small Business Council.

Here are some takeaways from the interview:

• This stuff is hard. Government is intimidating, daunting, complicated, and frustrating, and often seems like its designed that way.
• And it's especially tough to advocate for hospitality.
• To get things done you really do need to be the squeaky wheel. You can't be a people pleaser, which is tough for those in the industry.
• But here's the good news: once you take that first step, it gets easier. So write an email. Once you start, you've got momentum.
• It's your rep's job to advocate for you. Don't ever feel like you're putting them out.

Check out the interview clip for more from Megan about how to get involved and the wins Megan has accomplished through her advocacy. It's inspiring stuff!

Why it works

Customers can order more quickly, meaning your bartenders can serve more customers, faster.

How it works

• On their own, without the help of the bartender, your customers can read your full-info Print Menu (includes beer descriptions, ABV, etc.) to hone in on what to order.
• Then they can step up, look at the TV Menu, and just say “I”ll have a number 4” to the bartender.

That's it. The interaction is finished and significant time saved—no asking what's on tap, no samples, no back-and-forth about what to order.

This time savings can add up quickly on a busy night, and the more time saved means the more folks served per hour. And that means more sales.

David Hayden of multi-state chain Up-Down says this phenomenon "works out to thousands of additional dollars on a Friday or Saturday night."

How can I do it at my business?

You could do this manually. Google the beers you have, copy the info you need, drop the info into your Print Menu doc and your editable TV Menu, then adjust the design as necessary.

• Meet fonio, the newest grain for beer-making. Brewers across the world are experimenting with the ancient grain, which is native to Africa. When cooked to eat it's similar to couscous, but in beer the grain "explodes with fruitier flavors" including lychee, sauvignon blank grapes, and coconut. Sounds delicious.
• Dos Equis giving away a million beers during college football season. Playing off the "dos" in their name, the brewer will give away beers if more two point conversions are attempted this season than last season. It's the "Go for Dos" campaign. Cool.
• In PA, RTDs will finally be available outside of state-owned liquor stores. I.e. you'll be able to buy them at convenience stores, grocery stores, etc. Permit applications became available earlier this week, and the new law will go into effect mid-September. It's another win in the long-standing battle to rid PA of bizarre liquor laws. But there's still a long way to go.