The United Way is reported,  in this month’s BCBusiness, to to be down almost 20% from last year.  In every recession,  charities find that people cut their discretionary spending, but that should not stop charities from trying to grow its supporter base.

Charities, like advertisers, find their revenue drops in a recession, but the best companies continue to advertise and even step up their marketing efforts.  In this economic time, at a minimum it is about positioning for the future and getting mind share.  But with less money everyone has to be more creative.   This is where new media really comes in as raising awareness can be cheap.  Social media,  PR (stunts) and email can be great way of reaching new and younger supporters.    Further, if you do not have a Twitter or Facebook accounts you have to get them. If you do not have a good supporter email list and many charities I know don’t, you need to get your supporters email address as this is a cheap way to stay in contact and market to them, so this can be undertaken as well.  Also, at that time then we can help as well, let us know.

Speaking of social media just past having 100 followers on Twitter a mini milestone that I should not to be publicizing, I would guess

Further, I just visited Voya and Steamworks, my first restaurant visits – both good meeting, great decor and friendly staff.

We have a new administration tool to make handling inquiries that much easier .. thanks John.

One of our long time supporters and neighbour stopped by to collect  her card replacement and told all her friends… enjoy the meal and thanks Kim

It has been a busy month with many new products, features and functions being launched.

Restaurant and Consumer News

For the restaurants that will never go hi tech, do not have a Point of Sale (POS) or just have an obscure POS system, we have a solution.  Just show the card at the end of meal for two and the diners get $10 off, nice and easy.

For consumers this means more savings and more restaurants to choose from have a look on www.letsgofordinner.com

In August, we will be looking to launch our automated telephone redemption service for a similar audience where the server just calls up our back office and the certificates are redeemed.  Watch this space.

Another new product is our pay as you go or annual membership

1) Free Membership with 40% discount on certificates or

2) $15 membership for a year and a 50% off certificates

Allowing potential new members to decide if they want to save money upfront or just see how things go.

Password Change

Last easy thing now if you want to change your password you do not have to contact us, you can just log in and change it your self.

Have fun

Hi all,

Mia Stainsby of the Vancouver Sun gave us a plug in her “On the Burner” column of June 1.  Here’s a screen grab in case the story goes away:

On The Burner article in Vancouver Sun on June 1, 2009

While I was born and raised in Vancouver, my parents were European immigrants.  A regular summertime ritual during my childhood were long drives out to the airport to pick up what seemed to be a never-ending stream of relatives from the Olde Countries.  These visitors always seemed to bring a good stack of recent issues of The Beano that my brother and I would pore over with great interest.

When really special visitors would come, my parents would suggest to them that they take in the views of the city from Cloud 9, the revolving restaurant high above the corner of Robson and Broughton.  It and the hotel beneath were new and chic.  One would read in the newspaper about how local notables and imported U.S. starlets were seen perched in the restaurant, struggling to enjoy the amazing view while presenting their best face forward for the cameras.  Their brunch was particularly well-known and well-publicized, with CKNW broadcasting regularly from there.

I was therefore really pleased when the Cloud 9 became the latest addition to our growing stable of fine restaurants.

If you haven’t yet, try another view of Vancouver by using a Lets Go For Dinner 50% off gift certificate.  The hotel and restaurant have been recently renovated, and is a great place to go for dinner, particularly during our lovely spring and summer evenings.  Ken Ly, the Food and Beverage Manager, goes to great effort to make guests’ experiences the best they can be.   Check it out!

We had lots of people come up and say they liked using Lets Go For Dinner… it was a very pleasant surprise.

Here are a few of them…

Thanks