« April 2008 | Main | June 2008 »
Starwood Hotels have just updated their recruitment site and added a special section called Perks. Nothing revolutionary, but another way to pile on the benefits and 'point of difference': hotel savings, discounted meals, product deals and partner discounts.
Little by little, decent recruitment pages are appearing on restaurant and hotel websites - here's another way to spice up the content.
Matthew Goudge is an Australian chef working in Chengdu, almost in the centre of the earthquake zone. He sent me this report:
May 12th, 2008: I had no idea what the time it was when the monster hit... as it turns out it was 2.28pm.
I was sitting at my desk in the pre-opening office working on a kitchen training powerpoint presentation when all of a sudden everything around me started to frantically shake.
I was the last to leave the building - my office is on the 6th floor of a relatively old 9 story building. The stairwell is close by, as it turns out my regular journeys up and down the stairs for health purposes assisted me in a mad dash to escape from the trembling surroundings.
People were gathered in the alley below the building - I began to make my way to the apartment building whereby Maria my fiancée was located. I was desperately trying to get hold of her on the telephone to no avail; the lines were cut or jammed. The city was in a mad panic, and I was lucky to flag down a taxi. I showed the driver the address, which I have written in the local lingo on a piece of scrap paper. It was a miracle that I managed to get a taxi, as Chengdu has a major taxi shortage at the best of times. I reached the apartment in a short time, and there was rubble scattered all over the road.
Continue reading "A chef reports from the Chinese earthquake zone..." »
Someone set up a Facebook Group for one of the most famous restaurants in town, but the official 'administrator' must have resigned. When I visited, it was requesting a member take on the job...so I did. Now all power is mine - what sort of dictator will I be?
Does it matter? More importantly, are they watching out for their reputation across the new media channels? On a lighter note, I've created a Facebook Group especially for Sydney's great restaurant and retail strip King Street, Newtown - join up and add your stories and photos.
