Assignment 20A: Growing Your Social Capital

1) Carrabba's Italian Grill, Inc.

1) George Bilowus is the Catering and Marketing DIrector at Carrabba's in Tampa. 

2) I thought that he would fit the description of a domain expert. I thought that, since he is in charge of catering and marketing, he would know a lot about making and selling pasta.

3) I used hoovers initially for Olive Garden. However, I couldn't seem to find good contacts for Olive Garden so I went to the industry of Italian restaurants. Carrabba's had 13 contacts and I picked the one that would fit most with what I wanted to know.

4) There was only a phone number provided, and he didn't answer when I called. I would have asked about his role in catering and marketing, like a day in the life. I would have also asked what he thought would be different about his position if Carrabba's wasn't a chain restaurant.

5) I think having production and marketing advice on how to sell a produce and sell a similar product from someone who does it daily would give me a leg up. I wouldn't have to learn by trial and error which production/marketing strategies work well. 

2) Blaze Pizza, LLC

1) Dave Reinhart is the director of design and construction at Blaze in Pasadena, California

2) I thought that Dave would be a good market expert because he works on setting the atmosphere for the market I am trying to target and creating the interior for a similar business.

3) I went on Hoovers and look up Blaze because I am trying to model the flow of customers after that business. 

4) I emailed Dave and asked him what comes to mind when creating an environment for Blaze customers. He basically said to have an open concept; not in the sense of space but in the sense of customer relationship. having the ingredients and grill out in the open so that customers can see every step of the process was important. 

5) This helps me because now I have a sense of direction when trying to create an inviting interior.

3)Wells Fargo

1) Krisiti Atwood is a second level business initiatives consultant at Wells Fargo Bank, National Association in South Dakota.

2) I thought she would fit well in the supplier category because Carrabba's uses Wells Fargo as their bank.

3) I just looked up Wells Fargo on Hoover and I thought she fit what I was looking for best.

4) Unfortunately, she didn't answer my email. I would have asked how would what would banking look like for a company that is starting small and begins to grow. Would there need to be different accounts opened, etc.

5) I think this would give me a good insight into banking for a company as opposed to for individual purposes.

Reflection: 

 I think this experience differed from past experiences because I am not just asking about their company but I am asking how it could help me company. I think I will now take the perspective of networking for my benefit when participating in future networking events.