DrinkedIn Trends

How’s your back bar situation? Have you included the area as part of the guest experience, delivering the wow factor and making you money? Or is it an afterthought? Your back bar is going to have a lot of eyes on it, so take care to make it attractive. Not only is it a place to show off your bottles, it can be a conversation piece in and of itself. Whether you choose a simple, elegant, ornate, eclectic, imposing, or awe-inspiring design (or a combination of any of those), your back bar should be a reflection of your concept and a revenue generator. 

Lighting

If you’re still using rope or string lights to light your back bar area, consider the modern alternative. LED lights last longer, continue to drop in price, and consume very little energy. They also tend to be safer than more traditional lighting options as they don’t generate much heat. Multicolor LED systems are capable of creating different moods depending on the color selected at any given time, paired with the music playing inside your venue. Simple-to-use controllers make it possible for you to adjust the mood of your bar in an instant.

Space

One effective way of making a space feel larger is the use of mirrors. Long mirrors, for example, can make a wall look, well, longer. And multiple mirrors placed side-by-side can give the appearance of windows. Either way, mirrors create the illusion of space, even in the most intimate of settings. Grouping several smaller mirrors together can communicate an eclectic vibe while also making your bar look larger. And let’s not overlook the social aspect of mirrors. Placing mirrors on your back bar gives your guests the opportunity to check out who else is seated or standing around the bar, either surreptitiously or overtly.

If you’ve asked that question yourself, we’re here to help. Molecular mixology sounds intimidating. The phrase itself may conjure images of a cocktail being presented in a cloud of thick mist as though a mad scientist is handing someone a bubbling potion. However, the practice borrows heavily from molecular gastronomy and uses science to create (or at least enhance) flavors, textures, and appearances, elevating the guest experience.

Liquid nitrogen tends to be popular amongst those trying their hand at molecular mixology. Mists, gels, foams, solidified liquids, and heat are other common forms of this approach to cocktail creation. There really is no reason to be intimidated by this scientific approach to building cocktails, although many of the tools used can be quite expensive. Luckily, not all of the equipment is prohibitively pricey. For instance, immersion blenders are used to make gels and foams, and blowtorches and iSi whippers are possibly the simplest and least expensive bit of kit involved in molecular mixology. You’ll also want a digital scale, perhaps a dehydrator, and syringes, none of which will break the bank.

On the higher end of the price spectrum are sous vide machines and rotary evaporators, also known as rotovaps or rotovapors. The latter can range in price from $2,000 to over $11,000 depending on brand. While impressive, that’s a large expense for what many would argue is a gimmick, novelty or trend. Of course, if your bar is part of a restaurant that features molecular gastronomy you already have access to plenty of the equipment you need. It’s probably best, though, to begin your adventure into molecular mixology with simple tools and techniques.

Reverse spherification and frozen reverse spherification, as an example of a place to start, is how cocktail caviar is created. Substances that contain high amounts of alcohol and/or acid are combined with calcium lactate or calcium lactate gluconate and dripped into a bath of alginate in the reverse spherification method. The frozen approach to the method calls for freezing spheres that contain calcium lactate gluconate prior to delivering them to an alginate bath.

Another “simple” molecular mixology technique is gelification. Simply put, this is how liquids are turned into solids using a gelling agent. Agar-agar, gelatin and pectin are common gelling agents. The end result can be considered to be an elevated jello shot. In fact, this is one way to create edible cocktails.

Bring a more upscale, trendy vibe to beverage service in outdoor and casual environments with the Infinium® collection of premium plastic drinkware from Libbey®. Made of 100 percent BPA-free Tritan™ copolyester and crafted for the demands of use in foodservice, Infinium mimics the clarity of glass, is virtually unbreakable and retains its beauty longer than other plastic substrates.

“Some venues, particularly outdoor settings, like to use plastic for their beverage service to keep breakage to a minimum,” said Susan J. Dountas, director of foodservice marketing for Libbey Inc. “The durability of Infinium provides the kind of replacement-reducing, stress-relieving performance that other plastics cannot match.”

Infinium’s innovative design features include:

With a range of visually stunning designs, bartenders and mixologists can leverage the appeal of the 18-piece Infinium collection across their drink menu.

For more information, visit libbey.com.

Today, we are seeing nearly every industry looking to incorporate AI, but if you ask a Nightclub owner if they expect AI to be part of the Nightclub industry, they would probably think you are living in The Matrix.

We would have thought the same, until we met a Miami, Florida, company called Creating Revolutions. The company spent nearly 3 years and millions of dollars creating a mobile technology platform that has already shown to increase profits by 32% in a 6-month commercial pilot.

So the question arises, how does AI create value in a Nightclub?

We were truly amazed by what we saw and want to share a few examples of how AI can be used in Nightclubs today. We thought it would be fun to do a side-by-side comparison of a Nightclub experience as it is today without AI, and then the same experience, with AI.

Everything begins with the customer tapping their smartphone to a glowing Touch & Discover disc.

Tysons Corner, VA & New Haven, CT -- ROI Checker, an artificial intelligence platform owned by Smart Data Track, LLC, a private company located in Northern Virginia, and the Human Nature Lab at Yale University announced today the beginning of a collaborative research project. The project is designed to improve and advance the knowledge of social networks formation and their influence on the individuals participating in them, in applied settings.

“We are pleased to enter into this agreement with the Human Nature Lab,” Lucas E. Wall, CEO and Founder of ROI Checker said. He added: “We value scientific progress and are very excited to be able to help to evaluate new hypotheses in the social networks field with the contribution of part of our big-data repositories. The outcome of this collaboration will advance not only Dr. Nicholas Christakis' work on social influence and social contagion but also our effort to train artificial intelligence to explain and predict those two effects, among others. We believe these subjects have the ability to advance the general well-being of our society and look forward to sharing the results publicly.”

The collaboration is consistent with the Human Nature Lab work, which takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding human social behavior. The laboratory integrates biological and social approaches to human nature, in what it is called biosocial science.

"We are excited to start this collaboration with the ROI Checker Artificial Intelligence Platform," said Christakis, the Director of the lab. "People are interconnected, and so is their health and well-being. This collaboration with ROI Checker allows us to study how human tastes for food spread through social networks, and whether a social connection can change our eating practices, or make us more generous."

As part of this agreement, ROI Checker contributes a unique dataset containing primary longitudinal behavioral observations regarding consumption, financial attitudes, dietary habits, and social network formations. This unusual dataset is made possible by ROI Checker because of its proven expertise in dealing with big data extraction, data cleaning, data preparation, data analysis as well as modern data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
 

How to Fly in Your Business (and Leap Tall Bars in a Single Bound)

Whether you own your own business or work in a bar or club (or spirits business), you have those moments of self-doubt and confusion. What should your next career or entrepreneurial step be? How do you keep yourself motivated during slow or difficult times? When a competitor starts kicking your butt and drawing customers away, how do you stay strong and win the battle?

Superhero movies are popular for a reason! Individuals love to watch good triumph over evil and see everyday people transform themselves into amazing characters.

We can all do that too. Perhaps you may not be able to save the earth from mass destruction or stop a speeding train with your pinky, but each of us has powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men (and women).

Low self-esteem can have a direct impact on work performance, according to Forbes. It also stops you from taking necessary risks and can result in confusion and inertia among your team members, especially if you’re in a leadership role. Here are some of the other negative impacts of insecurity on work performance.

It will be power vs. power when Canelo, known for his strength in the ring, and fresh off a stunning knockout of Amir Khan, takes on one of the hardest punchers in the junior middleweight division and winner of his last eight fights via knockout in Smith.

Hosting pay-per-view events provide you the opportunity to showcase your business and offer a premium experience to your patrons. Find out how pay-per-view events can help boost your bottom line, call us today or visit our website (ggboxing.com) for more details. Don’t miss this opportunity to host today’s top boxers.

Bring the excitement of this sensational matchup to your place Saturday, September 17th beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. Call J&J Sports Productions today at 1(888)258-7115 to book Canelo Alvarez vs. Liam Smith and get promotional materials for your venue.
 

Keep reading for three heartwarming CORE family updates!

Oscar and Felix Montgomery

Year of Grant: 2016

Connection to Industry: Oscar and Felix’s father works at the Dizzy Rooster in Austin, TX

CORE Grant Details: CORE helped pay for a new handicap-accessible van that will allow Melanie and Travis to safely transport Oscar and Felix

So, you’ve proven yourself and earned the position of bar manager. Congrats, superstar! Do you have any idea what’s expected of you? David Alan of Patrón, Justin Elliott of The Townsend, and Michael Sanders of drink.well. have the inside information you need to become an outstanding bar manager.

It’s a good idea to keep in mind that there isn't just one way to do things but you need to at least have a plan and solutions in place.

"There are few businesses more chaotic than the hospitality business," says Elliott. You will have an easier time as a bar manager if you’re the type of person who likes to fight chaos, and being a problem solver will make you a more valuable asset.

The following is trio’s best advice for succeeding in your new role as bar manager.

Communication

The time for us to say goodbye to summer is right around the proverbial corner. You have just three weeks to finalize the details of your Labor Day promotions. People will be looking to party the entire weekend but the big day is Sunday the 4th, so be ready. After all, there is no school and there is no work on Monday so your guests can – and will – stay out much later than normal that Sunday.

If you’re a nightclub operator, consider adjusting your hours. For example, Avalon in Hollywood is opening their doors at 8:00 PM and keeping them open until 4:00 AM for their Labor Day Weekend promotion. Avalon has also branded their event “The biggest collegiate event,” grabbing the attention of LDA college students. The venue is also offering ticket presales, something every venue should consider when planning a special event.

Bar operators should be featuring their seasonal beers, tropical cocktails, smoothie concoctions, crisp and refreshing beverages, and rosé wines. Your guests want to say goodbye to summer in style, so give them one last summer libation hurrah (and let them blow out your summer stock so you can make room for fall and winter products). To help inspire you to send summer off with a bang, check out the warm weather recipes below.

Cheers!

Not only is the Olympic Gold Medal ideal for watching Rio 2016, it’s a citrusy refresher.

Adam Dulye and Julia Herz encourage chain restaurant operators to take a look at the big beer picture during through palate trips and beer pairing. While some in the industry have been hinting at or flat-out predicting a bursting craft beer bubble, Dulye and Herz seemed to disagree.

In terms of overall sales, overall spirit sales reached $69 billion and wine reached $37.5 billion in 2015. Overall beer sales were $101.7 billion, of which small and independent craft brewers accounted for $19.6 billion. According to 572 respondents polled by Nielsen QuickQuery in November of 2014, 42% of craft beer drinkers aged 21 or older have indicated that they are consuming a little or a lot more craft beer. Forty-four percent say their consumption is about the same. Only 7% said they are consuming a lot less. Another QuickQuery survey, conducted in February of 2015, revealed that 52% of craft beer drinkers aged 21 or older feel “locally made” beer is important.

Studies have also shown that flavor and freshness are top when consumers are choosing a craft beer to purchase. Aroma, ingredients and bitterness  are also important, as are independent brewing, appearance and high ABV. Operators need to be aware that draught beer is critical to on-premise beer sales, as are price, beers that complement the food menu, locally sourced beer, and a mix of new and familiar offerings. A Nielsen study shows that seasonal and IPA craft beer styles make up the largest shares of the craft and domestic specialty segment. Gose, herb/spice beer, and Berliner Weisse are the top three fastest growing craft beer styles.

To make the most of beer on-premise, Dulye and Herz encouraged operators to view beer as a movement. As with most movements, expansion is the key. In order to expand your customer base, expand your beer selection. Doing so will also help to make your venue a beer destination.

Dulye and Herz suggested offering multiple styles of beer to expand your selection effectively. The duo recommended an even mix of local, regional, national and global beers. They also said that it’s acceptable to offer multiple brands within a style group.

Winning the Best Overall beverage program VIBE Vista Award at the VIBE Conference sometimes requires a significant overhaul of previous programs. Hilton Worldwide's “Better Bar Experience” is just such a retooling, winning them the 2016 VIBE Vista Award for Best Overall beverage program among hotels, cruise lines and casinos.

The program supports and expands the extensive Hilton strategic aims by aligning with their main objective for last year: elevating the bar experience for all guests. By providing teams with better training and product knowledge, they aimed to increase check average, guest satisfaction, and encourage repeat guests from the local community.

The BBE offered different elements for the various banners the chain flies: tier three for Embassy Suites, Hiltons and DoubleTrees that have a minimal bar service; tier two for Hilton, DoubleTree and Embassy units with high bar revenue; and tier one for the Waldorfs and Conrads, and some hybrid Hiltons and Curios.

The overall goal was to take team member training and engagement to the next level. By properly training teams, the program was designed to enhance the customer experience and guest interaction by focusing on providing a better beverage experience through utilization of correct glassware, ice, uniforms, and atmosphere, including both music and lighting.

Giving the various far-flung properties a structured guide to follow as they completed required bar, uniform, tool, glassware, and training upgrades was essential. The guide is a fully interactive PDF with links throughout that guide the user to documents and websites for more information. The BBE guide is downloadable for easy reference or it can be viewed as an E-zine for quick reference online.

Concerns regarding the future of the restaurant industry workforce are increasing. As such, it’s necessary to take a deeper look into the findings of the NRA’s2016 Restaurant Industry Forecast.

While it is true that the jobless rate in the United States is trending lower, the competition for restaurant employees is increasing. When the economy first began to recover the labor pool was deep. Now operators are finding that their job openings are not filling as quickly.

Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that the restaurants and accommodations sector averaged over 660,000 end-of-month job openings in 2015, the highest monthly average in over 15 years. It’s important to note that the BLS began collecting this data in 2000, and that the previous record in end-of-month job openings was set in 2014. More specifically, the data series reveals that 2015 surpassed 2014 by 70,000 job openings per month. While we will need to see what happens in 2016, the data appears to confirm the concerns of restaurant operators.

The NRA’s forecast also shows that more than a quarter of restaurant operators say they currently have difficult-to-fill job openings. According to data the NRA has collected, the operators finding it most challenging to fill job openings operate in the Fine-Dining and Casual-Dining segments. The positions most difficult to fill across all segments are those in the back of house. Tableservice is most affected by this issue, followed by Casual-Dining, Fine-Dining, and Family-Dining.

Management positions, on the other hand, are more difficult to fill within the Limited-Service segmen than others, according to what the NRA has gathered. Quickservice and Fast-Casual operators report challenges in filling management openings. In contrast, just 26% of Fine-Dining and 20% of Casual-Dining operators have reported difficulties in this area.

The fastest growing luxury movie theater company in the country, iPic now has 13 locations. The chain will have 16 locations by the end of 2016 after the opening of iPic Fulton Market in Manhattan and two others in the New York metropolitan area. The per person spend exceeds other premium theater companies in the country due to the culinary offerings of James Beard award-winning chef Sherry Yard and bar star Seger.

Adam Seger, a devotee of farm-to-glass mixology, has developed recipes with ingredients that are all either fresh or handcrafted. Focusing on craft spirits, seasonal cocktails, draft cocktails, iPad menus, bottled craft cocktails, locally driven craft on draft, and sommelier-curated wine programs, iPic has been at the forefront of theater drinking and dining trends. iPic's gastrolounge, the TUCK Room, is also the first concept in the country to launch liquid nitrogen bottle service.

“Garden to glass mixology. Drink like you eat,” is the term Seger has coined to describe iPic’s offerings. Spirits are infused in-house, they use their own canned ginger beer and homemade maraschinos, and fresh juice is sourced from local farms. Guests can visit iPic’s bars and restaurants independently, have dinner, stay for a movie, and return to the bars and restaurants afterwad. All locations have craft cocktail bars and lounges, and 7 locations have full destination restaurants created and managed by iPic. Restaurant concepts are tailored to locations, such as The TUCK in Houston and North Miami Beach, the farm-to-table concept in Bethesda called City Perch, Big Daddy's Brew and Q in Milwaukee, and Tanzy Artisanal Italian in Boca Raton, Los Angeles and Scottsdale.

Monthly cocktails are featured on the big screen , and guests are able to touch their call button to order. As a leader in iPad menu technology, iPic has made it possible for in-theater guests to silently order craft beer, wine and cocktails throughout the duration of a movie from the tablet built into the table between the seats. In addition, iPic uses strategically printed and designed table tents for the lounge area, creative email marketing and social media, and eye-catching digital displays throughout the theater. For example, video screens feature cocktail selections at express counters for guests who choose to pick up their drinks, and a monthly HD video magazine called iPic Now plays across 91 big screens and features a segment of Seger making his cocktails.

Service and product knowledge training is comprehensive, with wine tastings for the stealth theater servers (dressed all in black, they’re called “ninjas”), ongoing mixology training for bartenders, comprehensive beverage information on every beer, spirit, wine and cocktail, and a full-time director of training who leads a company-wide certification process for all ninjas, restaurant servers and bartenders.
 

This list of environmental difficulties for Nightclub servers goes on and on.

Additionally, Nightclubs now deal with a unique generation known as Millennials. According to a recent study conducted by Microsoft, this generation of 80 million in the USA is responsible for reducing the human attention span to a level lower than that of a goldfish. So how many drink orders may be lost when the average attention span is now only 8 seconds?

Surprisingly enough, the way to overcome this is by focusing on simplifying communication.

Ironically, simplifying communication in a Nightclub Environment is not so simple.

For example, if a Nightclub is thinking the best way for simplifying communication is to place the entire menu on an average 5-inch smartphone screen, that’s fine for customers ordering takeout at home on their futon, but disastrous in a Nightclub.

Locations simply connect transmitters to their TVs or receivers and guests can listen to their desired program using an iPhone or Android device. Get the hearTV Pro system in your location for as low as $299 with no subscriptions or other requirements.

“The days of bars featuring multiple TV monitors, but forcing customers to listen to the audio from one TV are over,” said George Dennis, CEO at hearTV. “This is a low-cost solution to ensure guests are pro-vided with an optimal viewing experience.”

The system provides numerous benefits, including keeping customers at locations longer, higher ticket prices and greater loyalty since guests frequent bars that cater to their needs.

Here’s what others are saying about hearTV:

“This is the biggest thing for someone who operates an establishment with multiple TVs. The single biggest benefit is being able to provide our guests an option to listen to a game that we can’t broadcast overhead because there are other games on. We have a group of Kansas City Chiefs fans who come in and know we won’t play the audio. They bring in an iPod docking sta-tion and they have six guys at a table who broadcast their game without any interruption. hearTV is a win-win for everyone!” - Tracy Frazier, director of operations for Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers

I’ll be the first to admit the intimidation that tech and data has in the business world. There’s a lot of information that gets collected in multiple places, and it seems like there’s a lot of setup to get this information in the first place. But with the right system, this really isn’t the case.

Today, it’s easier than ever to understand what’s happening across your venue, customers, and staff with little upfront time, and a huge return. There are systems, like Vēmos, that are built specifically for the nightclub and bar industry that allows you to manage all areas of your venue from one dashboard so you can easily see your data that’s collected from these areas in one spot.

But why does it matter?

It matters because it’s what helps your venue flourish. It’s what gives you insight across all areas of your venue to make better decisions for tomorrow. In fact, there are 5 distinct areas where data will help you improve your results.

1. Track Business Results

Less than a year ago Danny Meyer of Union Square Hospitality Group announced that he would be eliminating tipping at 13 of his New York City restaurants. He implemented this shift by raising menu prices and informing his guests that these higher prices now include a charge for hospitality. While some establishments had already eliminated tipping and some social advocates had been for some time calling for its elimination, Meyer’s decision was like a shot across the bow of the entire industry. Meyer is one of the most successful restauranteurs in the nation and an icon among operators. His advocacy made an industry-wide shift in the way we compensate our employees seem possible…or even inevitable.

At the time we published a comprehensive summary of the issues likely to have an impact on the establishment of public policy as well as on the decisions being made by operators about their own futures. We drew some conclusions but we were hesitant at the time to draw too many. There is plenty of research regarding the efficacy of tipping from the perspective of the consumer, but this research needed to be evaluated and synthesized. We found significantly less research regarding server attitudes toward tipping and its elimination, a real problem considering this is the group most impacted by this change. We felt the passage of time would also provide some clues about how things would work as the results of early adopters were revealed.

We decided to tackle these issues head on in an effort to best understand the implications of the widespread elimination of the tipped wage. Time has taken care of itself and we have seen results from early adopters. We have noted these results as well as common circumstances where they exist. We have undertaken a review of existing research and evaluated it for application to the current environment. Where we found a gap in the research, we surveyed hundreds of tipped employees and managers of tipped employees to see where they stood on the issue.

We will be publishing our findings in three parts on Nightclub & Bar. This first installment summarizes the factors we have identified as being most significant for operators to consider. Part II will summarize the original research we conducted to assess the attitudes of industry managers and employees toward the elimination of tipped compensation. Part III will combine existing research and information with our own original research and the lessons from the passage of at least a little time to assess the implications of such a change on the industry and for hospitality managers and employees.

Before going any further on this topic, it is important for us to acknowledge the assistance of some individuals and organizations without whose assistance this undertaking would not have been possible. We acknowledge the support and guidance of Robert Gable, Ed.D and Felice Billups, Ed.D. at the Center for Research and Evaluation at Johnson & Wales University, and Kristen Santoro and Ashley Garceau of Nightclub & Bar.

At a recent hospitality industry conference in New Orleans (no, not Tales – that’s next week!) the topic of sustainability was discussed by Diane Estner, president of DANNI Enterprises, and Michael Duffy, director of technology for Seaport Companies. More precisely, the topic of sustainability was presented at it relates to the world of hotels. That doesn’t mean, however, that independent bar and nightclub operators can’t learn from another hospitality segment.

Estner and Duffy revealed the top sustainability trends, along with the hospitality industry’s current “green state”:

As business owners, operators are acutely aware that CSR is a hot topic. We hesitate to refer to it as a trend because it’s so important and is becoming the standard expected by today’s customers. Small business owners may not be scrutinized to the same scale as their massive corporate counterparts but customers still want to know that they’re supporting responsible companies. Going green may seem like a daunting task but leaps in technology are making it easier. As an added incentive, going green and becoming sustainable can lead to tax rebates and other returns on investment.

While not every tech solution applies to all operators (yet) – virtual servers and blade computing, for instance – some of what is available will certainly help bars and nightclubs adopt and embrace sustainable practices. Cloud hosting is one of these technologies, and it’s also a convenient way to communicate and share files with business partners, management, and employees. Do you print a lot at your bar or nightclub? If you answered yes you should look into printer tech and awareness. Software is available that can analyze and reduce waste, and you should utilize the double-sided print feature to reduce paper usage and waste. In terms of power management, several solutions exist that can help you monitor power and HVAC usage remotely. And while it may sound simple, turn your monitors off at night to reduce power usage.

Guest-facing sustainability solutions include low-flow plumbing features, LCD and LED lighting, green purchasing practices, and green transportation options. Green purchasing products include paper products, sustainable food and beverage items, and sustainable cleaning products. As far as green transportation, you can implement and scale down employee-subsidized public transportation and bike sharing for your bar or nightclub. You should certainly make your customers aware of your green efforts, but be careful to avoid coming across as doing it just to grab their attention and money.

A great content strategy will help you build a solid long-term relationship with customers and prospects. They will pay attention to what you have to say and look forward to getting news and updates from you.

What is Content? Why Should You Care?

The Content Marketing Institute has a great definition on their site. Pay special attention to the words they bolded. “Content marketing’s purpose is to attract and retain customers by consistently creating and curating relevant and valuable content with the intention of changing or enhancing consumer behavior. It is an ongoing process that is best integrated into your overall marketing strategy, and it focuses on owning media, not renting it.”

Are you looking to boost traffic to your bar or nightclub on slow nights? Attract a new segment of the market? Build awareness of your new spirits brand? Secure investors or spark the attention of the media?

Content marketing can be the answer. According to Jim D’Arcangelo, long-time marketing executive and consultant to small businesses, “You need to start with a clear objective (like those outlined above) and a specific definition of who the market is that you’re trying to reach. Attempting content marketing without that is like opening a bar without knowing anything about your neighborhood and potential patrons.”