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Open house
Apr. 27th, 2009 09:54 amThat was an extremely busy weekend. We have the most interesting guests here.
Bill had three friends over for his annual birthday campout Friday and Saturday night. I provided pizza Friday night, and a few baked things, but otherwise he handled it on his own. It was great fun, and I wish I could have spent more time with them Saturday night, but unfortunately I had to get ready for our open house.
I like cooking for campouts with friends, or being in the background at a party for strangers, but having to prep for the open house while Bill and his buddies were down at camp drinking beer around the fire was really hard. There are moments in the kitchen that take real discipline, this was one of them.
Anyway, it went pretty well. We made more pizza, and some salads and appetizers and such. Although I had reluctantly moved the event to this weekend in order to avoid a clash with the Hopland Passport weekend, which was keeping the wineries busy, not a single winery representative showed up. Gah. I'm starting to think it's a fairly insular bunch and it's going to take a while to break in.
Several local acquaintances came, along with some people from the architecture office we worked with during construction. There were also a few business owners that I'd met at the business roundtable at Blue Lakes the other week. Hopefully this will get people talking a bit.
A concept that I'm trying to get across to clients is that booking an event grants them complimentary use of our facilities should they elect to use them - camping space, the guest suite, the dining room, et cetra. The idea is that it is easier on our end to do some vacuuming and wash some linens than it is to pack up the van and drive, so if they want to have their event here and stay for the night, that's fine with us. But since this isn't a familiar kind of transaction it's hard to communicate in a few words.
[I'm also making a valiant effort to be less modest and self-deprecating in discussing my services with clients. Selling this as the Best Thing Ever is simply not my habit. Also, when negotiating contracts I must learn to say "yes" much more often, then figure out the details later.]
After the people I wanted to impress had left, we invited the neighbors down for the remainder. They dove in like starving hyenas. It turns out that one of the guests is a friend of our neighbor's, and effectively (if not overtly) came as a spy for another catering company in town. I'm not sure whether we are going to have a cooperative or competitive relationship in the long run, but now at least they know who we are. ;-)
Next stage in marketing, I think it's time for a few print ads. Then I'm just going to start cooking for people whether they pay me or not. Whatever it takes to get the ball rolling.
Bill had three friends over for his annual birthday campout Friday and Saturday night. I provided pizza Friday night, and a few baked things, but otherwise he handled it on his own. It was great fun, and I wish I could have spent more time with them Saturday night, but unfortunately I had to get ready for our open house.
I like cooking for campouts with friends, or being in the background at a party for strangers, but having to prep for the open house while Bill and his buddies were down at camp drinking beer around the fire was really hard. There are moments in the kitchen that take real discipline, this was one of them.
Anyway, it went pretty well. We made more pizza, and some salads and appetizers and such. Although I had reluctantly moved the event to this weekend in order to avoid a clash with the Hopland Passport weekend, which was keeping the wineries busy, not a single winery representative showed up. Gah. I'm starting to think it's a fairly insular bunch and it's going to take a while to break in.
Several local acquaintances came, along with some people from the architecture office we worked with during construction. There were also a few business owners that I'd met at the business roundtable at Blue Lakes the other week. Hopefully this will get people talking a bit.
A concept that I'm trying to get across to clients is that booking an event grants them complimentary use of our facilities should they elect to use them - camping space, the guest suite, the dining room, et cetra. The idea is that it is easier on our end to do some vacuuming and wash some linens than it is to pack up the van and drive, so if they want to have their event here and stay for the night, that's fine with us. But since this isn't a familiar kind of transaction it's hard to communicate in a few words.
[I'm also making a valiant effort to be less modest and self-deprecating in discussing my services with clients. Selling this as the Best Thing Ever is simply not my habit. Also, when negotiating contracts I must learn to say "yes" much more often, then figure out the details later.]
After the people I wanted to impress had left, we invited the neighbors down for the remainder. They dove in like starving hyenas. It turns out that one of the guests is a friend of our neighbor's, and effectively (if not overtly) came as a spy for another catering company in town. I'm not sure whether we are going to have a cooperative or competitive relationship in the long run, but now at least they know who we are. ;-)
Next stage in marketing, I think it's time for a few print ads. Then I'm just going to start cooking for people whether they pay me or not. Whatever it takes to get the ball rolling.
