The Building Blocks of Business Today: Using Social Media Sites to Create Food Valet

Early last spring, my friends and I went to the mall to catch up over lunch.  One friend was craving Japanese food, so away we went to Koto for a quick meal.  Little did we know, Koto did not serve lunch on Sundays and charged dinner prices, going way outside our budgets as struggling college students.  It wasn't until we were seated that we realized the awkward truth; there was no way we were going to be able to pay.  With that in mind, we had to take the embarrassing "walk of shame" out of the restaurant and expose ourselves as typical underpaid college students.

Why relay this story? Well, whether you have gone through this same scenario, or simply hate having to wonder whether the service and food in a restaurant is worth waiting for, I came up with an idea to take the guessing out of eating, especially in foreign places.  With this idea in mind, I looked toward platforms that would make my idea a reality. Google Glass allows the ultimate ease of access to this information, and an app could translate well to any media platform.  That's when Food Valet was born.




Did that catch your attention? Food Valet is a restaurant concierge service that brings all the information you want to know right to you before ever walking through the front doors.  In the mood for a particular meal? A quick scan of the menu will let you know if it's there. How is the service that night? A live stream of tweets and other social media sites will let you know the news from people already in the restaurant.  How about the wait?  Maybe there is a line of people wrapping around the building, but maybe the wait is only fifteen minutes.  Now, you can know all that from across the street and don't have to decide whether to skip it for another day.

And if you aren't sure where to look for a meal, Food Valet has a solution for that too.

Take a Picture of the street you are on.

Next, Food Valet lets you know the top places to eat in that area.

Scroll through the options, and find a place that offers just what you are looking for.

Then, Food Valet shows you just where that restaurant is located, and you are on your way!  Easy, right?

The key to Food Valet is finding the way to make eating out a fun experience people can share with each other. Love your food? Let the world know.  Maybe someone will see your tweet and decide to give it a shot too. Why spend time worrying you made the wrong choice when you could be enjoying your night out with the people around you.

From this design process, my team and I have learned a lot about the power of social media. In an age of constant information, it isn't enough to have an idea and brainstorm it with a few designers, technicians, and investors.  Now, your idea is supposed to already be making buzz through social media.  You want to go into your pitch saying people are looking forward to using your product and have the testimony to prove it.

Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Steller

When you are able to go before your investors and pitch your idea with conviction, they are going to be more willing to jump on board and stick their necks out to support you.  If you don't believe in your idea and fight to sell your idea, why would anyone go along for the ride?

We believe in Food Valet, and we believe that Food Valet can make a difference.  Hopefully, you agree.  Maybe you need a little more encouragement. Head on over the Food Valet's Twitter or Facebook page, Google + account, Instagram feed, or even Pinterest boards.  Let us know what you think. Better yet, let us know what we need to change.  An idea isn't perfect without input from those using it, and we are waiting to hear just what you think.



Want to see the presentation we put forth in our pitch?  Take a look below:




Don't forget to email us your input at foodvaletapp@gmail.com.

All Together Now...

I'll be the first to admit it; teamwork is not my cup of tea.  Don't get me wrong, I work just fine in a team and I know the importance of having a number of people look at one problem from many different perspectives.  But if it were up to me, I would rather tackle classwork on my own.  Why?  I find it easier to work alone.  I trust my own work technique, can identify and accept my own mistakes, and can hand in an assignment knowing every part was completed to the best of my ability.
This semester, I am being challenged in each of my classes to work in groups on class projects that last all semester long.  And it is this task that is pushing me so far out of my comfort zone.  Working on long-term

One of my collaboration projects is
designing an app for Google Glass.
Check out twitter.com/foodvalet for
more information.

projects with a team requires patience and trust.  It requires letting go of some of your control of the project and believing that your teammates will perform to a level you are satisfied with.  It is about understanding that sometimes the best ideas come from a collaboration of thoughts rather than one person's head.
Collaboration is invaluable in the news industry.  A producer has to trust their reporter, their director, their cameraman and their news director.  And in turn, all those people need to rely on their producer as well.  A failure in communication among those people can prove disastrous in a newsroom, especially once deadline starts to loom.  Being able to trust that your reporter will deliver a powerful piece, or that your director will cue up the right graphic at the right time will only help you the producer improve.  Once you begin to relax and trust others, you can devote extra time to improving your own work so that others can learn to inherently trust you as well.
So, although it is going to take some time, I'm learning to let go little by little and trust in those around me.

Finding a Focus

   Every blog needs a purpose.  Well it can be fun for a little while to read the random ramblings of a person spewing thoughts onto a page, those blogs that gain faithful followers are the ones that have an interesting running dialogue with those viewers on a certain topic.  Now, I am not saying that topic has to be awe-inspiring or revolutionary. But it does have to run along a common line of thought.  The difficult part is finding something worth talking about day after day that will hold a viewer's attention for days to come.

   I've been giving my blog a lot of thought over the past week, but have yet to sit down and actually type those thoughts onto paper.  I think, "What a great blog idea!" and then within minutes it has escaped my mind.  I guess it wasn't so great after all.  I think the major problem with blogging is that bloggers rarely reveal their entirely true self to the world. We put on masks based on the situations around us, and I think we

I like pictures, so here is one of Toad Harbor on Oneida Lake
that I took on a live shot today.

do that for the internet world as well.  Your blog followers will probably never meet you face-to-face, and that can be an extremely liberating thought.  It is easy to appear educated and thoughtful on a form you can check and recheck before submitting to the world.  On a blog you can give off an air of indifference, a persona people idolize because they never get the chance to see you up-close and realize how ordinary you find yourself to be.  I know that at times I will probably use this blog to sound far more worldly or mature than I can ever possibly be at the age of 20, but I promise you I will do my best to only present me in a fair and honest light.

   So, what will my blog's focus be? Good question.  For some time, I think I will deviate from topic to topic, much like my mind often does.  I imagine I will eventually find something I am truly passionate about, and I will use that passion to spur many a post.  But until then, you might get a reflective post like this, some commentary on society today, or even a complaint about something I encountered in my daily wanderings.  Don't be surprised if an occasional post pops up whining about the life of a tall person.  Being a six-foot tall self-described "monster" of a person is certainly one of my favorite things to whine and share anecdotes about. But hang tight, and before long, the purpose of this blog will reveal itself, and I'll probably be just as surprised as any of you.

Human Transformer: Half Student, Half Social Media Persona

Cyborg style brought to you by Google Glass
and yours truly.

   I've never been the type of person to put myself out there and broadcast my thoughts for anyone to hear.  I didn't get a Facebook until halfway through my senior year of high school, and have only ever added people to my friend's list if they sent the request.  My Twitter existed merely to catch up on the latest news across the world, and my Tumblr hasn't been updated in months.  I guess you could say I have always been a passive observer to the rise of social media.
   After that oh so confident introduction, it might come as surprise to some that I decided to pursue a career in broadcast journalism.  I have always loved the thrill that comes from chasing a story with unresolved questions and even getting up in front of a class to deliver a speech I toiled over for so long.  And when I got into the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, how could I refuse?
   Ever since stepping into Newhouse, I have found myself constantly stepping outside my natural comfort boundaries that had sheltered me for so long in high school.  I'm calling up sources and asking the tough questions and joining fellow mid-sized reporters at campaign events and press conferences, edging my questions in among the more seasoned reporters.  And even though I am edging towards producing, even that has pushed me to think beyond my own little world of friends and homework and tests and straight As.
   And now here I am.  Taking a concept I have tried and failed to start privately for years to a public forum.  Posting my thoughts of the day on twitter and letting the world know every skill and job I have ever possessed on LinkedIn.  Joining Tweet chats and chiming in with people far above my skill level. Why subject myself to this torture of being a public internet presence? Because I have to.  Because the internet is the future for broadcast journalism, and anyone blindly clinging on to the belief that all this social media will soon disappear is about to be left in the dust.  I almost was.  But instead, I decided to bite the bullet and sign up for a few social media classes.  And look where those classes have already taken me.  Today I got to try out Google Glass, a prototype tool I should never have been within 100 feet of.  Instead, I was given the reins and took them not only out of the classroom but into the streets, inspiring a few questionable stares that didn't make me cower in fear and embarrassment like they used to.  Because the only way to invite success into your life is to put yourself out there and get noticed. And that's what I intend to do.
  If you have stuck it through this much then I feel the need to thank you for your attention.  My future posts won't always be this long or this self-reflective.  I can't even tell you how often they will come.  But I can assure you they will come, and if you care to listen, keep tuning in.  I hope I make it worth your while.  Senior year is already proving to be quite the journey, and maybe you would like to travel it with me.