This Past Week…Hectic Hilary

How hectic has the last week been…Gracie left on Wednesday to visit her son in Arizona and from then on, it was nonstop running back and forth between school and Ruth’s Chris. Wednesday came and went with a flurry of phone calls and emails with vendors. The Networking Meeting at Lucky Strike was incredible, talking with different managers from restaurants and establishments in the area. It was amazing to hear about everything that these people do to market and promote their businesses, all the while learning about what to do and what not to do. The Hyatt, Palomino, The Parlor, and The Melting Pot managers and sales people were all in attendance and all were interested in promoting their business together. I got a lot of information that day, and as this happens quite often, I hope to be able to go back and learn even more from them.

Thursday was my first official day on my own (without Gracie) at Ruth’s Chris and it was very Internet oriented, as I am in charge of the Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn Pages. Trying to come up with new catchy phrases every day is a putting my creativity to the test, but it’s always good reassurance when people comment on what I have written.

Friday entailed a lot of emails back and forth between Gracie and myself, trying to get the final design for the Bellevue Collection cards ready, but we finally did it, and I can’t wait to see how they turn out! This was my first design project and I think it went very well, with the help of the Kinko’s design program of course. I also went to different Event Rental Stores and picked up catalogs and linen samples to show the customers of our new catering service what each has to offer.

Coming up:
-Lunch at The Parlor with Gracie and Kayce
-Candidates Forum at Bellevue City Hall

And it’s Monday again…

An early morning at Ruth’s Chris with Gracie entails a caffeine fix and a start on the week’s activities. After preparing the paperwork for the coming week’s events, I am enthusiastic about the project I have just been assigned. Looking through the Promotions Guide, there are so many events I would love to plan, but I think two should be plenty of work. A “Cocktail Club” that would take place once a month and two “Tequila Tastings”, one with Tapas, caught my eye. Now I just have to decide which ones and start working with Scott, our beverage manager to get in contact with the vendors. Such an exciting start to the day!
Next, I learn that we will be having lunch with Kayce and Crystal from “The Parlor” and discussing the co-marketing promotion through Facebook. It’s all about technology now, and I need to whip out those eye-catching tweets and inspirational status updates! Get ready to be drawn into Ruth’s Chris for those sizzling steaks and delicious chocolate sin cake. RC (Ruth’s Chris) is currently working with the Bellevue Collection on multiple projects, one being the “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” walk in Downtown Bellevue. By offering 10% off Lunch or Dinner to the participants, RC is able to get great exposure as one of the contributors to the charity. In addition to the walk, we are working with the Bellevue Collection to participate in their VIP Passport, a marketing tool showcasing different stores in the Bellevue area and I have been put on the project of designing the “promo card” RC is offering. Putting my design skills to the test, we shall see how it works out. And, with the help of my roommate Lanai, I will design a card that will be included in a package given to guests at hotels in the area. Can’t wait!!!

What a start to the week! But, with RC and Gracie, everyday is an adventure and this week will be amazing, I just know it!

~Hilary

Project Greenlight Fall Fashion Show

Friday night, Gracie and I headed over to the Bellevue Club for the Project Greenlight Fall Fashion Show. Benefitting “Hope For All”, an organization that grants bucket list wishes to terminally ill cancer patients, the show was incredible. It showcased local designers as well as Jimmy Choo, Piazza Sempione and Built for Men.

We enjoyed the cocktails and apps before the show began, especially the two types of bruschetta, one with blue cheese and the other a more traditional style. Along with that, there were crab cakes, bacon wrapped sirloin, and other delightful goodies. I had to enjoy them for the both of us, as Gracie had just had her wisdom tooth pulled.

We spoke with the event coordinator from the Pike Brewing Company who was there displaying their different beers. Milling around, we gazed over the prizes being raffled off, a good way to get exposure for different products and companies.

This was an amazing experience as I have never been to a fashion show before. Benefitting a good cause, the event exposed different companies as sponsors, and provided an opportunity for companies and coordinators to interact and create relationships with one another.

Coming up:
Networking Event at Lucky Strike

NEW INTERN, NEW DAY

My goodness, what a busy first few days! From the beginning, the entire staff has been amazing and eager to help with my acclamation to the fast pace life that an intern at Ruth’s Chris leads.

Monday consisted of inputting clients into the computer, a job that is surprisingly repetitive, because you see the name once, and remember it forever. Also, I got to learn all about the history of Ruth’s Chris (and a standard sexual harassment video). Anyone know why it is called “Ruth’s Chris”? I do, so feel free to ask (just like a guy in my Business Ethics class did. Of course it was before I actually knew, but I told him as soon as I found out why!!!)

Tuesday was a great (and early) first meeting day! Gracie and I went to the Downtown Bellevue Association meeting, the topic being the new Puget Sound transit system, running through Capitol Hill to Downtown Bellevue. It was an interesting meeting and the food made it so much better! A sort of Steak Eggs Benedict with fruit from El Gaucho completely hit the spot, much better than the Yoplait I gulped down driving over 520. Wish I had snapped a picture, but now I know to bring my camera everywhere, so as not to have you followers miss a beautiful meal!

Wednesday was a day dedicated to confirming reservations and updating Ruth’s Chris social networking skills. Everyone should add us on LinkedIn and Facebook, cause it is now my responsibility to update these pages! I am excited to have this task, just because you can never be too tech savvy!

Plans for tomorrow: Class and then Ruth’s Chris at 4pm. Onto the Project Greenlight Fall Fashion Show with Gracie to see amazing designers and nibble on some tasty bites! Can’t wait for all the amazing experiences coming my way!!!

Team Sizzle at the Covey Run 5k/10k

One of the projects Lisa worked on before she went back to school was organizing the Covey Run 5k/10k.

Well a couple weeks ago, many of us woke up (EARLY) and got to the starting line by 8 a.m. YIKES! Keep in mind we work in at a restaurant...late hours.

We started and ended at the Redhook Brewery in Woodinville, WA. The Covey Run is a run benefitting Children's Hospital.

Beautiful sunny day and we all had a great time.

Half of us ran the 5k and the other half the 10k.

Where's Lisa?

OK, Lisa's last day was Tuesday. She's on her way back to University of San Francisco. Sad. We're going to really miss her, but she will be back for our busy Holiday season.

So what's next for the Sizzle - The Internship? Welcome Justin.

Here's our fearless leader, Darrell, planning out Justin's day, in the background, Justin studies his inventory lesson.

More to come...

Today is a very exciting day! We just launched our next seasonal menu so it was also a very busy day. First, Gracie and I sat down and completely organized and set-up our calendar thus far through the end of October. August is shaping up to be a pretty busy month and we had a lot of banquets as well as catering events to account for. Once everything was completely caught up, I helped Ron switch all of the old menus out. Now Marco and I are going to present all of the new dishes to the staff and prep them for the upcoming season. They look soooo delicious!

As for the end of last week, we were also pretty busy. On Thursday Gracie and I found our final venue for our catering venue list: Covington Cellars. They are located in Woodinville and have a beautiful and versitile tasting room, as well as a large barrel room. We also scoped out the Bellevue Farmers' Market where they do Chef demonstrations. Then we came back in time to set-up for the parties we hosted that night. Finally we attended the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce Networking event. It was at the new Metro 112 apartment complex and catered by SEastar Restaurant. We met a lot of interesting people. The wine was provided by a new winery, Mistica Wines, who were very interested in letting Scott sample and potentially serve their wines. We also met Beth Hinkson from Ezulwini Game Lodges, who represents a company that hosts safaries in South Africa. We were super excited because she was willing to donate some sort of package for auctions! Finally we met John Webb from DeVry University. He is the employer liason and was interested to know about our internship opportunities... Perhaps Gracie will be able to find a new me!! All in all, it was a very successful and fun party.

On Friday I worked with Marco in the morning. Then Gracie and I ventured out to the outskirts of downtown Bellevue to inform the hotels (especially the extended stay ones) about our concierge program, in which guests that have their hotel make the reservation for them receive a complimentary appetizer on their first visit.

~Lisa