Ross Brand: Host of Livestream Universe
By Cheval John
Ross Brand made a guest appearance on What’s The Word? to chat about how he started Livestream Universe.
He is also the co-founder of HR Avante and has made appearances on other livestreaming shows.
In this episode, you will hear:
How working in the radio industry has helped him to become a livestreamer
The failed prediction of the New York Giants playing in Super Bowl 51
How livestreaming can help a small business owner to become more profitable
Video Preview of What’s The Word?
Full Podcast Interview of What’s The Word?
Website: www.livestreamuniverse.com/
Twitter: @iRossBrand
Three Restaurants To Visit During Super Bowl 51
By Cheval John
In the Houston area, they are thousands of restaurants and coffee shops that serve the residents that call this city home.
The interesting thing is it will take a lifetime to visit all of the restaurants in the fourth largest city in the United States of America.
The reason is that most coffee shops and restaurants don’t last for more than five years.
Every year there is a new restaurant opening within the Houston area.
And with the Super Bowl set to take place in less than a week, the city of Houston are prepared to showcase what they have to offer.
According to Visit Houston.com, an estimated two million people will descend here for the biggest event of the year.
The city has changed dramatically since hosting the Super Bowl in 2004 with the expansion of the train system and the addition of discovery green park.
Plus, the convention district has renovated in the last couple of years with the addition of new restaurants, the new marriot marquis houston hotel and the partnership tower.
With that being said, people will want to know where are the best places to eat during the super bowl festivities.
Here are some of the best restaurants and coffee shops that you will enjoy while you are here during the Super Bowl.
These restaurants and coffee shops make this list because they are houston based and some have a strong social media presence.
ToutSuite
ToutSuite opened in 2011 with the intention of changing the east side of downtown houston.
They are located at 2001 Commerce St. near Minute Maid Park.
The company was founded by Sandy Tran and Thuy-My Luong.
ToutSuite has one of the best selections for coffee and food items.
What is truly cool about them is that they are consistently busy because most of their customers are college students who are doing their homework or studying.
Another aspect that makes them very unique is the way how they engage their audience on social media.
Their social media team consist of Roshan Bhatt, marketing coordinator and the company’s co-owner.
When I tell you that their social media is excellent, I mean it.
Each of their content on Instagram averages 400 likes and people always leave a comment.
The key driver as to why they are always getting engagement from their fans is because they consistently posts their content everyday.
Take a look at this post:
And this post here:
Though the co-owners had no intention of expanding their business, they opened a second location at 303 Memorial City because of a need to bring a coffee shop there.
And they are planning to add a co-working space to their company because they see a need for small business owners to collaborate on work related projects.
If you have the opportunity, you should visit ToutSuite.
806 Main Kitchen
This restaurant is located inside the J.W. Marriot Downtown, which opened in 2014.
The hotel occupies the historic “Carter Building,” Houston’s first skyscraper which was built in 1910.
806 Main Kitchen has a variety of food items that represents the city of Houston.
The interesting thing is that most of their customers are business professionals who work in downtown houston.
The chefs get the orders finished in a timely manner that makes it easy for the workers to enjoy their lunch hour and recharge before they go back to work.
So when you walk inside during the busy lunch hour, you will see a lot of business professionals enjoying their break time from the daily stress of working for oil and gas companies.
The only thing I would advise is to find out from the staff if the Main Kitchen will be open to anyone due to the Super Bowl festivities.
Zabak’s Mediterranean Cafe
Zabak’s Cafe has been in business since 2006.
They are located at 5901 Westheimer Road near the Galleria Mall.
The company has one of the best mediterranean foods in Houston.
What I love about this restaurant is that the ownership take care of their employees and they treasure their customers.
And their story is unique as well.
The owner’s parents immigrated to the Houston area from the Middle East and opened a restaurant that catered to other immigrants.
They have been featured in the Houston Chronicle and made Travel and Leisure’s Best Sandwiches List.
When you walk inside Zabak’s restaurant, you will sense a welcoming atmosphere that will make you feel more relaxed.
And they have no intention of expanding because they believe that they are in the right location to be extremely successful with their business.
It takes about an hour to get to their location via the Houston Metropolitan Bus 82 Route.
However, the travel will be worth it because you will enjoy their mediterranean food.
If you are staying in the Galleria area, you should stop by Zabak’s Mediterranean Cafe.
And if you need to know where else to go around downtown during the Super Bowl, you should check out,
downtownhoustonlive.com, a video guide created by Annette McBride and Laura Lea Waldusky to give visitors a video tour of what to do while they are here for the super bowl.
Did I miss any restaurants and coffee shops in this article?
What are your favorite places to eat and drink while you are in Houston?
You can leave your comment below
Tamara Thompson: Founder of Serious Take Productions
By Cheval John
Downtown Houston, Courtesy of Vallano Media, LLC
Tamara Thompson is the founder of Serious Take Productions, a company that helps entrepreneurs how to share about their business through storytelling.
Normally when a person wants to be an entrepreneur, most family members and close friends will talk them out of it.
They would tell the person, “be realistic, find a 9-5 work that will give you a stable pay check.
Tamara’s family told her the opposite and let her know that she could make a career as a film maker.
Tamara thought that she could not make a career in film making and went into the traditional working world.
However, she understood that she could make a living as a filmmaker and her company is now making 6-figure income.
In this episode, you will hear:
What led Tamara to focus on her true calling as a film maker
The lesson she learned after her major client went in a different direction that caused Tamara to lose a major source of income in the early stages of her company
How she did not allow obstacles stop her from completing her first major documentary that led to the growth of her business
Website:www.serioustakeproductions.com
Facebook:www.facebook.com/serioustakeproductions
Who would you like to be a guest on What’s The Word?
You can leave your comment below
Don’t Write Off Social Media
By Cheval John
The most successful entrepreneurs are the ones who are willing to learn new skills that will help them to expand their business.
The above statement is true for the business professionals, professors and anyone else who are making a living for the better.
The ones who believes that they know everything are doomed to fail.
The reason is that the “know it alls” are blind to the ever changing world of technology and the changes that are happening in their respective industries.
Take the example of a statement from many professionals who “believed” that “social media is just a fad and it will go away.”
They are now losing out on quality business because they fail to see the importance of social media.
They also fail to realize that the millennial generation will not purchase a product or service if they don’t trust a particular brand.
For example, the Sacramento Kings are dominating the NBA due to their willingness to engage with their fans.
D.J. Ramirez shared her experience about taking over Sacramento’s snapchat account
Dr. Karen Freberg and Dr. Ai Zhang are leading their universities students by example by building their own audience on social media.
Dr. Zhang in particular has built her Twitter audience to over 3,000 due to her hard work and willingness to interact with their audience.
So if you still believe that social is still a fad, then I wish you luck because you will one day end up like Nokia, who end up getting acquired by Microsoft due to their failure to adapt to the changing world of technology.
The Rewards of Hosting A Super Bowl
By Cheval John
I am in “recovery mode” after having the opportunity to work and cover Super Bowl 51 that took place in Houston.
This past super bowl was the best championship matchup ever due to it going into overtime for the first time ever.
It was also the first time that a team had an epic meltdown on the biggest stage ever.
The Atlanta Falcons, who came into the Super Bowl as having the No.1 ranked offense, found a way to lose to the New England Patriots 34-28 in overtime.
The Falcons had a reputation of collapsing in the playoffs over the years.
Many thought that they were going to reverse the above and finally win their first Super Bowl.
The Patriots found a way to overcome a 25 point defecit with their determination plus heart and won their fifth Super Bowl.
Many major media outlets documented the Falcons’ epic collapse and also Lady Gaga’s halftime show
These same journalists from the major media outlets travel annually to cover the Super Bowl, which is the biggest event in the USA.
If a journalist is not a beat writer or a sports reporter for that particular NFL team, then they will not be able to travel to cover the Super Bowl due to budgets constraints or if their team did not make the championship.
Many television, radio and newspaper journalists had the opportunity to cover the festivities surrounding Super Bowl 51 here in Houston.
We saw reports about different festivities like Super Bowl Live, which took place at Discovery Green, that allowed the fans to see live concerts and also see the sports television personalities from Fox Sports, the NFL network ESPN and many others broadcast their shows live.
We also saw the feedback from the visitors on whether the city of Houston did an excellent job of hosting them during the Super Bowl.
Local residents of Houston had the opportunity to work as volunteers for the Houston Super Bowl Committee.
Some of us who work as social media professionals volunteered our services in working at the social media command center at the headquarters of the Houston Super Bowl Committee.
I had the opportunity to work as a social media volunteer for the Houston Super Bowl Committee and cover the activities using the different social media channels to give my audience a behind the scenes view of Super Bowl 51.
Take a look at this light show at Discovery Green
And the revolving Super Bowl rings that was displayed at the NFL Experience (which you had to pay to attend) inside the George R. Brown Convention Center
This photo below is the Lombardi Trophy which attendees had the opportunity to take a picture with
You will see how downtown got extremely busy when the visitors outside of the Houston area arrived on the weekend of the Super Bowl
I can tell you that it was truly a dream to be here for the Super Bowl because of seeing the lively atsmophere when watching all of the media coverage of the championship event.
I got to see first hand the teamwork from the different tourism organizations like Houston First and The Greater Houston Partnership who helped promote the event.
I also saw the Houston Astros organization lend their full support to the Super Bowl with the use of Minute Maid Park, where the opening night (media day) took place.
Now that Super Bowl 51 is over, the Houston Super Bowl host committee did the honorary transfer of the guard to the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee to get their city prepared to host Super Bowl 52.
My advice to the Minnesota Super Bowl Committee is to think outside of the box and enlist social media professionals in addition to business leaders to help promote Super Bowl 52.
You will do an excellent job because you have the right leaders and team members that are qualified to host the Super Bowl.
For anyone who works in the different business sectors and industries in the Minneapolis area, you have a once in a lifetime opportunity to be apart of the Super Bowl.
Though you will not get paid, I can guarantee you that you will see the long term benefits of volunteering your time for the Super Bowl.
When the commissioner of the NFL tells the crowd and the national media that your host city did an excellent work in hosting the fans and visitors, you will have a sense of pride in being a part of a Super Bowl.
To close out this blog post, here is the video of the Super Bowl train leaving downtown which was the home of the Houston Super Bowl Committee
And the fireworks to end the Super Bowl Live Festivities
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