Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/16170
SPECIAL REPORT: TALES 2010 Jennifer English and I (no relation) led a session on interviewing for print, radio and television, geared toward those bartenders and brand ambassadors with an increasing media presence. We focused both on practical skills and strategies like speaking in sound bites and showing passion for your project. The last session of the day, led by Lisa Ekus-Saffer, taught media skills such as the value of producing a proper media kit and provided some live interview tips, including “bridg- ing,” “flagging” and “hooking.” Consult This! A media-savvy bartender has a better chance of scoring consulting jobs, and several seminars addressed this beyond-the-bar career. Eben Freeman led one on intellectual property, with information on protecting drink recipes and recipes for commercial products. At another seminar later in the week, Freeman spoke about the cocktail scene in Asia, Australia and other Eastern countries; it seems celebrity chefs are invading Singapore, while Chinese drinkers are still hooked on bottle service. Special emphasis was placed on what a consultant should know about the local palate, like the low- down on where consumers don’t like carbonation in their cocktails. A panel of more top consultants—Tad Carducci (Tippling Brothers), Willy Shine (Contemporary Cocktails), Tobin The crowd reacts. Ellis (BarMagic Las Vegas) and Jacques Bezuidenhout—discussed challenges and strategies for killer consulting. “Beverage consultants are psychic juggling shape-shifters with twelve heads,” said Carducci; the job descrip- tion includes “cocktail list development, spirits education, event production, corporate and private cocktail and spirit classes, guest appearances and seminars, coordination and judging of spirits and cocktail competitions, developing spirit flavor profiles, work- ing with distributors and importers and writing for industry and non-industry publications.” Suited for Business Respect Yourself: Utilizing the Law to Realize Your Full Potential You are your own best asset. This was the theme that ran throughout the two legal seminars presented to packed rooms at this year’s Tales of the Cocktail. Citing equal parts humor and hindsight, and mixing it up with legal lingo, the presenters—including esteemed mixologist Audrey Saunders— gave the mixologists and bartenders in attendance tips on how to protect their intellectual property and negotiate lucrative deals. The upshot? Brand yourself and protect your brand. Start early by making sure you are appropriately compensated for your time, knowledge, skill and personality. Always negotiate terms that allow you to control how your name is used and where. Be wary of undercapitalized projects, broad non-compete provisions and delayed payments, and always look for those opportunities that elevate you as well as your craft. A little knowledge, savvy negotiation and good legal counsel will help you realize your full potential. —Mieke Malmberg 92 / the tasting panel / september 2010 Another threesome of seminars touched on starting a business—as in selling products. Career cocktail cater- ers Christy Pope and Chad Solomon of Cuff & Buttons discussed negotiating deals; GoMobo founder Noah Glass addressed buttering up investors; and Ted Wright of Atlanta marketing company Fizz talked up word-of-mouth marketing to build brands. With all the bartenders who’ve invented bar tools, concocted specialty syrups and launched spirit brands in the last year, these seminars were predictably packed. This year’s seminars pointed not only to the diversity of opportunities available to established professional bartenders (and erstwhile slackers), but also to a greater professionaliza- tion of the industry itself. With each passing year, the role of the world’s top bartenders continues to evolve. While once bartenders only needed to show up for their shifts to sling drinks, now many are trusted to show up with an expertise of the taxonomy of cocktails, a personal bar kit that becomes larger with each new gadget and refined technique and, increasingly, a fresh- pressed suit and tie to act the part of a businessperson. And you thought making a mean Martini was enough.