One Night in… Ciao Italia
Here’s the real reason newspaper execs come to the NAA Marketing conference in Orlando – or any conference. To network. To meet, greet, boast, learn and most importantly ask questions.
Dan “Patio” Dalton. It you’re in the media biz, you probably get his emails. He is a one-man marketing machine, with a personal brand: an image of himself on his porch. I’m not kidding.
But everyone knows Patio Man. And he’s always at these conferences. So he runs into Kelly Fry, OPUBCO Communications Group Vice President for News and Information Center (now that’s a title!), and me on the trade show floor and demands we spend 30 seconds with him. He can be a pest, but that’s the mark of the good salesman I guess. He is tenacious. We give him the 30 seconds and his product is solid. In fact we have used Content That Works, his company, for a while now.
However, he convinces us to join him and his co-workers and the company CEO Paul Kamp for dinner. So now we have an adventure on our hands as they say we are headed to a hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant located somewhere in an Orlando strip mall.
How could this go wrong, right?
Of course we roll in, nine strong, and grab a corner table. Place is packed. Mostly with locals I think. I’m not sure how anyone else would know about this place. Paul is a former restaurant/food critic outta Chicago, so we kinda trust he knows his pasta. In fact, he breaks down the difference between North side and South side pasta (alfredo vs tomato, sorta).
But we don’t get pasta. We order the special, the sea bass. I’ve never had sea bass. In fact, I’m not sure I want sea bass in Oklahoma. It’s great though. Really top notch fish. Served with potatos cut lengthwise. I usually try to include a price, but Paul and Dan ordered for the group so I didn’t get a good look at the menu.
|
|
One Night in… Bongo’s
Saturday night at the NAA Marketing conference in Orlando and the crew is hungry. We cab it to downtown Disney. Not for magical tea cup ride, but for some dinner.
We wander into Bongo’s, are told it’s a half hour wait amongst all the families and tourists but it shakes out to a quick 10 minute wait.
Cuban band with congo drums is on the ground floor. We are ushered upstairs with a view that overlooks the dancefloor. Gloria Estefan concert video from Miami plays on the plasma screens.
Food is good. Menu is mostly Spanish to describe the Cuban foods. I ordered a steak, about $15. Came with white rice and plantains. I’ve had Cuban food in Miami in Little Havana. This was frankly pretty similar.
Cubans really like their seasoning or at least this place was a big fan of garlic.
Downstairs, the conga line wound through the restaurant.
|
|
|
Parties Extra!
 |
Have you met Helen Ford Wallace? Helen knows how to party. That’s why her blog and podcast are called Parties Extra! with Helen Ford Wallace.
Helen has been instrumental in blogging for NewsOK.com. And she has been a faithful blogger. Then she became a faithful podcaster. All the while, very enthusiastic. And let’s face it, we all encounter enough haters in life. It’s cool when someone just has fun with work. Makes it NOT seem like work. And that’s cool.
So Helen and I got to emailing last week, and she had several good ideas. Including a separate email blast for her listeners. And don’t laugh. She has over 6,000 on her Parties Extra! email list. So today, we fired out a second Parties Extra! email with her latest podcast. Jamie Davis, owner of Jamie’s Foods in Casady Square, joined Helen in the podcast studios, and here it is.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
