Marketing Dude, and Fundraising Office !

Tawna Rathe returned my email yesterday after giving birth....nbd that's totally normal. Anyway, through my friend Esther Chou, she told me to send her an email detailing exactly what we wanted from her. Literally, "do you know anyone who works in catering, whole foods, etc. and could you please provide us with their contact information?" So....I'm on that.

In other news, while talking to Esther, she told me that she knows a really good marketer who can apparently get really good press for us. I emailed her for his contact info, and I'm awaiting a response.

Correction: I misunderstood what Esther said. I heard a marketing GUY... turns out she said marketing GUIDE, so I guess I'll get the book from her tomorrow.

Miss Jeanie Contacted me back !

Hey everyone !!

I just received a return phone call from Ms. Jeanie inviting me to her home in Newton, MA to discuss the project in more detail, and to see how she could be involved !

I'll be meeting her at her house this Friday afternoon !

Miss Jeanie contacted me back !

Ms. Jeanie, the caterer who came to the Dominican Republic with me, responded to my email quite enthusiastically, offering to help us in any way she could. Unfortunately, she will be unavailable tomorrow (Saturday) because she is catering an event, however, she promised to connect with me on Sunday.

Google Doc Update

Hey guys, I went through the Google doc trying to fill out as many sections as i could. If you all could go through and fill out the networks, resources, or any other part that needs your contribution :) so that we can get this paper written!

Don't forget we're meeting tomorrow around noon. I'm going to try and get into the cave tomorrow, but if not I'll let you guys know where I found a place.

Have a good evening and I'll see you guys tomorrow
Jahan

Preliminary Budget

Our first attempt at making a budget yielded an estimated cost of almost $1,000 per event. So after some reflection, soul searching, and cost cutting we have developed a second budget which you can read by clicking on "Read more":

New Contacts !!!

I love networking !

Over the summer I participated in the Social Entrepreneurship's Field Study Program in Belize and the Dominican Republic. While in the DR the College of Business sent down a group of "guests" (donors) to watch us in action over our time there. One of our guests, Miss Jeanie founded a successful catering company here in Boston, and the Development Officer who accompanied them, Tawna Rathe, said we could contact her if we ever needed anything.

Oleana Restaurant - Cambridge, MA

While working on this project in the geology department, one of the students recommend we contact Oleana restaurant because their food is AMAZING, and apparently they like to participate in community events.

I called the restaurant, spoke with Don, and he provided me with Ana's, the chef/owner, email address. She will not be at the restaurant tonight, and she doesn't usually respond to emails over the weekend, but we can expect a response by Monday morning.

Oleana Restaurant - Cambridge, MA
671-661-0505
Ana Sortun - Chef/Owner
ana@oleanarestaurant.com

Mooo... Restaurant Follow-Up

Per the Communications Department's response detailing their capabilities, I have contacted Alexa Demarco, Moo...'s General Restaurant Manager, asking if the options provided were acceptable.

Turns out Moo... is actually spelled Mooo... that's why my email was returned !

Asana- Mandarin Oriental Call Back

Just received a call back from Edwina Kluender from the Mandarin Oriental Boston. She was exceedingly polite in telling me that because of the holiday season chefs typically do not participate in community events because they are so busy. When I told her that we wouldn't be doing anything for a few months she told me that she wasn't sure what would be going then so she couldn't say, but she could almost guarantee that the chefs would not participate. She said explicitly that she "could not commit to anything right now." She also said that the Mandarin Oriental receives so many requests for donations, support, etc. from all over Boston that they have to be selective in the ones they do choose to participate in.

She says all of their chefs are ServeSafe certified, "among many other certifications."

Overall, she really liked our idea and wished us well.

The Bristol Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel, Boston Common

I contacted the Bristol Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel via email containing our questions and project description. I called Michael Mooney, the restaurant manager, and he promised to return the email with the questions answered by Saturday afternoon, and that if I had any follow-up questions I could contact him. Find his contact information below:

The Bristol Lounge - Four Seasons Hotel, Boston Common

617-338-4400 (general hotel line)

Michael Mooney - Restaurant Manager

michael.mooney@fourseasons.com

Jer-Ne Restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common

I'm hesitant to contact Andrea Hampton, the Director of Public Relations at The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common, because she is the same lady who is responsible for completing my hiring process. As such, Anna has agreed to be the contact person for this hotel.

Khaleed in Jer-ne forwarded us to her.

Contact information:

Andrea Hampton - Director of Public Relations - The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common

617-574-7100 (general hotel line)

617-574-7143 (direct line)

andrea.hampton@ritzcarlton.com

The Dining Room at the Taj Hotel, Boston

Called the Taj Boston for the necessary contact information and sent off the email last night. Still awaiting a reply. Find the contact information below:

The Dining Room

617-536-5700

Riccardo Coluzzi - Restaurant Manager

riccardo.coluzzi@tajhotels.com

Asana at Mandarin Oriental Boston

I called Asana at the Mandarin Oriental Boston this afternoon and spoke with Cherry.

After explaining our project and the circumstances, she told me the best person to speak to was Edwina Kluender, the Director of Public Relations for the hotel. I emailed her, and am awaiting a response but I stressed the quickly approaching deadline. Find the email below:

Maureen Timmons- Director of Dining Services, IV

I contacted Maureen Timmons the Monday before Thanksgiving. She responded the following Monday saying that she would meet with us either Thursday or Friday at 9am. Anastasia and Leila will participate in the meeting because Anna and I have class. We are preparing questions to ask her.

Note: Anastasia and Leila will meet with Ms. Timmons at 9am Thursday at Pete's Coffee in International Village.

Mooo... Restaurant at XV Beacon Hotel

I called Mooo... Restaurant at XV Beacon Hotel yesterday per a conversation I had last week. I spoke with Alexa Demarco the restaurant's general manager and she provided some great insight into the legal and administrative aspects of loaning out their chef. Please find the details below:

Restaurants don't like it when you call during lunch :)

So today, I called 5 area hotel restaurants: (1) Mooo... Restaurant at the XV Beacon Hotel, (2) Jer-Ne (pronounced journey) at the Ritz-Carlton Boston Common, (3) Asana at the Mandarin Oriental Boston, (4) The Bristol Lounge at the Four Seasons, and (4) The Dining Room at the Taj-Boston.

Food Project

Spoke with Max from Food Project:

Kim Szeto- Boston Public School, Farm school coordinator, may or may not be at
food and nutrition services dept still, but that would be a good place to start to find her. She used to work for food project and worked on feasibility study for nutrition improvement in BPS, and at one point worked directly with BPS on their food progams. Feasibility project results were promising, but BPS said they didn’t want to implement it so food project was SOL (sit outta luck)