Shiny Spec's and Artifacts

Special finishes, elegant lighting and sleek graphic design can support your business, but may still be replicable anywhere in the world. Your food and your service make your restaurant unique, but don't miss out on making the location itself a one-of-a-kind, and letting that uniqueness shine.  Maybe it is the old building you're in, or the view from the windows, patio, or courtyard that makes your place special.

Alternatively, and in addition to, you could enter the quest for an artifact. A unique object, that supports your story and vision. Don't limit yourself by scale. While small objects may be easier to display, large objects could be integrated to your counters, walls, lighting, or roof. Chances are, you've owned this object for many years, not quite knowing what to do with it, yet somehow emotionally attached to it.

But what if you're a hoarder, and your restaurant already competes with the local antique store? Pick your artifact, and possibly a few closely related supporting items, and give them a special role in your decor. A spot light can do wonders, and they will be appreciated so much more without the surrounding clutter. As for the rest of your cherished belongings, a special area of your restaurant could become a "store" or "museum", or it may be time to pack them up.

Spark Architecture created a Pinterest board with a variety of unique dining environments. What are your favorite restaurants, beer gardens, cafes, and bars?

Class staging, informal work and communication areas

Where are students before and after class? New teaching environments look at those transition times as windows of opportunity, and strive to offer opportunities for student-faculty and student-student interaction, as well as personal study. Academic and social interaction play important roles, thus a variety of spaces should be offered.

Hallways adjacent to classrooms can be equipped with individual study furniture, and readily accessible power. Alcoves, carpets and acoustical ceilings create a quiet atmosphere.

Strategically located lounge areas serve small groups as meeting and group study areas, and house vending equipment.

Small group study rooms, acoustically separated from open circulation, complete the range of study areas.

Great examples for classroom buildings with a variety of staging areas are Chandler Gilbert Community College (CCGC) Ironwood Hall and Surprise "Communiversity" by Architekton.


Provided by Spark Architecture

Facebook in Rural Montana & Embracing picture posting.

To follow up the earlier post we investigated current Facebook user data alongside the 2010 census. Your customer base is "Face-booking", and waiting to hear from you.

http://sparkgf.blogspot.com/2012/09/community-data-census-or-facebook.html

While you get excited about Facebook, don't forget to set up your restaurant on Foursquare. At this point, Montana restaurant deals are mostly represented by chains. Take advantage of offering check-in deals, it's time to make it local!

Last but not least, remember that your customers will post pictures of your food and restaurant. Embrace it! Encourage your wait staff to offer taking pictures of dining groups, teach them how to make those pictures look as good as possible (freshly served food, no chewing, maybe take a quick series of them), and be amazed of how those pictures will work for your restaurant.

Picture taking should serve as a motivation to add some nice touches to your food presentation, table decor, and interiors. Customers love little details and surprises, whether it is a good joke on your menu, artwork on the wall, or Santa surfing on top of their Hawaiian Holiday Burger.

Community data - Census or Facebook?

Census data has traditionally been the key source for objective numerical data for communities. Today, Google search engine statistics and social media user statistics offer new insights into the fabric of a community.  What are common search phrases, and what are interests and activities amongst any given population group?

The graphic above reflects  Facebook users in Great Falls, Montana as of September 2012. While residents in their twenties are the biggest group of users, it is apparent that Baby-boomers and Generation-X are catching up. Women are more likely to be on Facebook, and more than half the accounts use mobile devices.

Studying social media and search data closely can reveal new marketing strategies, define opportunities in a business plan, and assist communities and organizations to engage their residents and members in meaningful ways.

Traditional data is still relevant. While it may not be as current, it provides a broader view of the population, and originates from an established reliable source. The Great Falls Development Authority is a good source for population data on their website. Current data on tourism is provided by the University of Montana. 



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like my restaurant?

Guiding as many customers as possible to your doorstep may seem tempting, but can be fatal for your business.Social media and online rating opportunities have changed the impact of your customer’s experience. The voice of a single customer leaving your restaurant disappointed or angry, can reverberate and amplify online for years to come. Luckily the same is true for a customer that was pleasantly surprised by the experience. Customers arrive at your restaurant with a set of expectations based on recommendations, physical appearance, or your advertising. Depending on these expectations, the same overall dining experience can be evaluated as a A+ or F by two different customers. Before you spend any efforts marketing or renovation, take some time to spell out which expectations you want to build in your customers, and how you can exceed them from the time your customer first approaches your restaurant. 

Defining Expectations: Forget about “Best Mexican Restaurant in Town”. There is no best Mexican restaurant, simply because people’s tastes and values are different. If you attempt to please all, you are bound to fail. Define your niche, whether it is blow-your-mind spicy New Mexican in an authentic Santa Fe style setting, or you-can-safely-bring-your-Minnesota-grandmother-along American Mexican, and be the best. Choose your customers, and cater to their specific set of values. Your customer group isn’t defined as “all people who like blow-your-mind spicy Mexican food” alone. Reviewing current census and tourism data, as well as local Facebook user and Google search statistics are helpful tools in assuring niche market size. What background do your target customers have, what are their core values, where do they stand in life, and how often do they dine out? Do they value price over atmosphere, or gourmet hand crafted food over price? Finally, set the mood. Do you want to offer the setting for romantic dates and anniversaries, family friendly dining, extended business lunches, live music, or after-fishing-in-waders-with-wet-dog munching?

Exceeding Expectations: Advertise the specific setting, goods, and service level defined above, and find creative ways to over-deliver during the actual experience. The element of pleasant surprise will assure that your customers come back, and bring their friends with them. 

http://spark-architecture.com/dining-development.html

Paradigms of today's college classrooms.

While a basic specification of a classroom still includes maximum occupancy counts and available technology, teaching and learning methods have moved away from a strict lectern to audience monologue.

Presenters, whether teacher or student, move around the room, pointing at projections on different surfaces, and addressing different groups. With an increased focus on collaboration, student seating rearranges fluently in the course of a single lecture, starting out in traditional classroom layout, breaking out into work groups, and returning to a classroom setting to present their groups results. Individual groups may have dedicated whiteboards-projection surfaces at their disposal. Students or groups can submit questions and input through their tablets. (Ipad and similar). From here, it is only a small step to link off-site students to participate in the same class.

A common mistake is to block all daylight in an attempt to facilitate better projection. While glare has to be carefully controlled by window placement, size, blinds, or switchable skylights, daylight greatly contributes to student alertness. Further, projection technology has improved to function in much brighter settings.


Resources:

Steelcase has developed a number of integrated product solutions for today's Education market ranging from chairs to mulch-media collaboration. http://www.steelcase.com/en/products/category/educational/research/pages/research.aspx




Solatube has developed switchable skylights, that can be dimmed to accommodate a variety of light levels. While Skylights have the potential to greatly enhance lighting quality and reduce long term energy costs, first cost remains a challenge. Code requires to provide sufficient artificial lighting, which makes skylights a common value engineering target.      http://www.solatube.com/commercial/daylighting/index.php





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