Tag Archives: clubs

Business Brands, Customer Service, Food, Social Media

Are You Getting Schnitty At Your Hospitality Venue?

November 30, 2015 Jenny White

It is time for me to share my thoughts about the almighty and much adored Chicken Schnitzel and it’s BFF, the deliciously smothered Chicken Parmigiana.

The question really does need to be discussed….. should your hospitality venue serve these well known items or not ?????

I want to share with you an experience that I had at a club that we did a lot of work for a couple of years back. I can name the club as it no longer trades; ‘Souths on Chalmers’ which was also known as South Sydney Rugby League Club in Chalmers Street, Redfern.

Firstly, let me say that I was oozing passion for this club, the brand, the cute little ‘resting rabbit’ logo and of course what the club was trying to achieve. We worked tirelessly and worked many unpaid hours to help this club try and realise it’s dream. Sadly, the club closed not much more than 12 months after it first opened. Why ? There were many, many reasons, too many to discuss, especially in a blog that is really about the infamous Chicken Schnitzel.

The club used the services of a Contract Caterer who was very well known as a restaurateur and function/events operator. They had not been involved with a club prior to this. Let me tell you that I thought that their food was pretty damn good. Some of the menu items that I loved were:

Grilled Croque Monsieur of Gypsy Ham & Gruyere Cheese with Dijon.
Salmon Fish Cakes with Remoulade and Salad
Roast Pumpkin and Beetroot Tart with Gorgonzola and Hazelnut Dressing.

The problem was that only a percentage of those members and visitors who came to visit the club enjoyed these types of dishes. They were dishes that you could have every so often, but perhaps not once, twice or three times a week.

I cannot tell you how many times that customers said “why don’t you have a chicken schnitty or a chicken parmy on the menu?” . On the club’s very active Facebook page there were many, many mentions about how nice the food was but they wanted to see a Chicken Schnitty and Chicken Parmy on the menu. People openly voiced their thoughts all over social media about the absence of the items. They said that they would come more often if these were on the menu. There were families that shared their thoughts about wanting to bring their family to the club for birthdays but their brother/father etc wanted to have a Chicken Schnitty and it was not on the menu so they were going to the pub around the corner who, coincidentally were smart enough to realise the absence of the Chicken Schnitty from the club’s menu spelled ‘O P P O R T U N I T Y’ for the pubs in the area …. and trust me, they vigorously marketed this to their prospects.

With all the feedback that came through and was passed on to the caterer, they unfortunately chose not to add this to their menu as it was seen as ‘club food’. My thoughts are that ‘if it looks like a duck, it smells like a duck, it quacks like a duck then it must be a duck’. This was a club. It was a hospitality venue that wanted families, groups, parties and more. . Unfortunately the item was not added to the menu. It may very well have been an item that on its own, did not offer huge profitability but if it was viewed as perhaps a ‘loss leader’ then maybe they would have seen their revenue double or triple just by adding what the customer wanted to the menu.

The club is now closed which makes me sad. There were good people working there and good intentions and big dreams. I wonder to this day though, if that Chicken Schnitty and its BFF the Chicken Parmy were part of the menu, how much of a difference this may have made to the ongoing viability of the Club. Who knows ! Does the world actually revolve around the Chicken Schnitty ?

There are some that think that having a Chicken Schnitty on their menu attracts the wrong clientele. I know that my family, my friends and so many of my colleagues enjoy fine dining at its best, new exciting and creative menus and radical taste combinations, but I also know that the majority of them really, really want to go somewhere where they can get a Chicken Schnitty in a relaxed environment as well. You will find me once a month at our local bowling club and guess what I order ? …… the Chicken Schnitty which comes with pepper sauce, yes the one and same Chicken Schnitty that you see in the picture. In fact, there are a bunch of us that meet at the club just because a few of the group love the Chicken Schnitty.

What do you think about having an item that many people want and ask for on a club and pub menu ? Should it be included ??

Yours Crumbingly

Jenny White (Owner of White Now and Chicken Schnitzel Activist).

Life Experiences, Recruiting Tips, Work & Life

To Call, Or Not To Call – That Is The Question

June 2, 2015 Toby Kennett

Here at White Now! we receive LOTS of calls from candidates about roles that we have advertised and it got me to thinking…

“…Which calls do I remember?”.

The answer was simple. Not too many! I’d be the first to admit that my memory isn’t what it used to be, but I’m not quite ready to be shipped off to “a home” quite yet, so it got me to thinking about why I only remember a very select few calls and what is is about those calls that stick out.

Here’s a list of things in no particular order that come to mind about the calls that are worth remembering and those that fade in to the background.

1. The call has purpose and is not just being made for the sake of being made.
– “Hi, I just called to make sure that you received my application” needs to lead somewhere other than “oh and what’s the salary?”. We all recognise that as much as the message that the world would like us all to hear is “it’s not about the money”, Jerry Maguire had it right when he said, “SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!”, only that’s probably not quite the message that you want an employer or recruiter to walk away with. So, rather than making a call to check whether cyberspace has decided to randomly pick your electronic application to be THE one that doesn’t make it through, PLAN your conversation prior to making it and have a number of points that you want to discuss that happens to include (at the right moment), a question about the remuneration.
– Asking the “$$$ question” is always a difficult one, but it’s one that you need to get used to asking. Try to tie it in to your planned conversation and be prepared for the question to get turned back on to you – “I’m going to turn that question back on to you, what do you feel the role is worth in your opinion and I’ll let you know if you’re in the right ball park”. Be ready for this as it’s a great way for the person at the other end of the phone to establish if you have any idea at all about the size and importance of the role and where it fits in to the hierarchy of the organisation, not to mention if you are appropriate. This sounds a bit harsh, but if you’re looking for a job that pays $200,000+ and you’re applying for a middle management role that is paying in the $65-70,000 range, there is a MASSIVE mismatch before we even get to the point of interviewing…

2. Do some research PRIOR to making a call and map out what it is that you want to tell the person on the other end. Ideally they are going to want to know:
– Your name (state it clearly and if you’ve got an unusual/confusing name, maybe even spell it for them)
– The state of your application: “I have just applied” / “I applied yesterday/last week” / “I’m about to apply”
– Which role you’re applying for and ideally include a reference number if there is one
– A VERY BRIEF overview of your relevant experience & why you’ve applied for the role. This is actually a LOT tougher than it sounds, because standing out from the crowd is tough when all you’re doing is reciting your job roles. Try to make it interesting and more of a conversation than a presentation! And try to include words and phrases that aren’t cliched, but that show how articulate and capable you are.
– Use intonation as there is nothing worse than a monotone voice at the other end of a phone conversation. And speak from the heart as passion and drive will shine through over facts and figures during a verbal meeting.

3. PLAN two or three main points that you want to get across that you want the employer/recruiter to take away with them and if you can subtly recap them towards the end of your conversation, then do so. But try not to make it sound like it’s ‘revision’.

4. Ask well thought out questions that show that you have done some research and that you have thought about what you really want to know. Good questions will tell the employer / recruiter a lot about you – so put your best foot forward by phrasing questions that show that you’ve done some research.
– Some adverts contain a LOT of information and others don’t! So remember, we live in the age of high-speed internet and ‘Google is your best friend’. Type in some queries and see what you can find – there might be financials, YouTube videos, news articles, media releases and goodness knows what else out there. So let your fingers do the typing and start doing some research EARLY as it will all come in useful if and when you get through to the next stage.

5. Know when to STOP! Sometime less, is more! We’ve all heard it said, but often when we’re nervous or don’t have a plan in our heads, we end up prattling on and on and on, only to discover that we’ve lost our way and the whole point of the conversation. Make your point, move on to the next or shut up! It really is as simple as that.

6. Finishing up: make sure you thank the person for their time and try to finish up with something along the lines of, “Thank you for sharing your thoughts and providing me with all of that information. This sounds like a great role and one that I am ideally suited for, so you will see an application from me, <Your Name>, in your inbox by close of business today”.

7. When you send your application through, don’t forget to address the cover letter to whomever it is that you have been told to address it to in the advert (and if you haven’t been given a contact, jump on to the company’s website and find out the name of the President/HR Manager/General Manager/most appropriate person and address it to them) and then address the email to whomever it is that you spoke to. What I mean by this is that if you addressed your cover letter to John Doe, General Manager of ABC Leagues Club, but you spoke to Sarah Sitizen (intentional type) at the Recruitment Company, then address the EMAIL to her and thank her for her time on the phone earlier today / yesterday / last week and mention that ‘as per your conversation, you are forwarding your application’.

To wrap things up, there’s a time and a place to make a phone call and when done correctly, it can make your application stick out before it has even arrived – you then just need to back up how well you presented over the phone with a solid written application, one that is FULL of achievements and is NOT a long list of tasks…..but I’m now getting on to the subject of another blog, so I’ll leave you with this: if you’re going to make a phone call about a job, plan it and make it work for you!

GOOD LUCK…

Customer Service, giving, Life Experiences, Uncategorized, Values

Service with a Smile

January 6, 2015 Toby Kennett

In the hectic lead up to Christmas, we missed getting our hands on one of the Aldi “Three Bird Roasts” and so in a mad panic, I called Jenny and asked her if she had any bright ideas. Her response in an understandably matter-of-fact style was along the lines of “DERRRR, have you called Tanya and Paul at RPT Promotions?”.

“Ummm….. No”, I replied somewhat flatly as my brain clicked in to gear and asked itself ‘now why didn’t I think of that in the first place, EJIT?’, (followed by a couple of expletives).

Anyhow, a call was placed to Tanya and was met with Tanya’s message bank, where I explained my predicament and went back to work. Not even 15 minutes later, the lovely Tanya was calling me back with Season’s Greetings and instructions for how to get a hold of Paul. Two minutes later I was dialing Paul’s number which was answered with Paul’s always happy & bubbly English accent. Once again I explained my stupidity and with a wry laugh and an eagerness you had to hear to believe, Paul was making arrangements for one of his Turduckens to be delivered to Gladesville RSL (in close proximity to my home) for me to collect.

I thanked Paul profusely and he promised to call me back to confirm when the delivery would occur and off he went. 24 hours later he was back on the phone, as promised, to let me know that the Turducken was en-route to the RSL Club as planned. He couldn’t have been any more obliging if he had tried. What I didn’t realise at the time was that Paul and Tanya were in the middle of one of their BIGGEST Christmas’ ever! They had orders stacked up to the rafters and were right in the thick of the logistical-challenge of getting everything delivered to the right place at the right time before Christmas Day!

The reason that I didn’t know just how crazy things were for P&T was because Paul made me feel like I was the only customer that he had, even though I was only after one item and it was probably (if I’m totally honest) a bit of an inconvenience. But Paul went out of his way to ensure that I would get my Turducken with a short lead-time, so that my family could enjoy their Christmas Dinner and BOY, OH BOY did we ENJOY IT!!!…

The pictures speak for themselves, so let me just add that we all thoroughly enjoyed the Turducken, so much so that we will be placing our order with Paul and Tanya EARLY next year for Christmas 2015!

And let me also add that we are all extremely grateful to them both for being such a pleasure to deal with and for making our Christmas Dinner so very special this year. Thank you both so, so much…

giving, Life Experiences, Uncategorized, Values

An Exceptional Man with an Inspirational Story

December 16, 2014 Toby Kennett

Here at White Now we are provided with opportunities to work with a range of amazing people and incredible businesses, including a large number of RSL Clubs.

After speaking with the exceptional, Geoff Evans (pictured here) who has served as a Commando in East Timor and Afghanistan, we couldn’t help but be moved by his own story and more significantly, what he is personally doing to make a difference. So we asked Geoff if he would write an article for us as a ‘Guest Blogger’.

(To read Geoff’s personal story, click on the image above, on his name or you can click here).

___________________________________________________________________________

Spare a thought for the thousands of Homeless Veterans sleeping rough at this time of year. The Australian Defence Force has deployed 67,000 troops to various conflicts since the Vietnam War.

Homelessness was a significant issue for Vietnam veterans and their families, and sadly, is endemic among younger veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In the shadow of the centenary of the First World War, up to 3,000 diggers remain homeless on any given night.

What can you do to make a difference?

In March of 2014, RSL LifeCare established the Contemporary Veterans Homelessness and Assistance Program (CVHAP) in Narrabeen, NSW. Homelessness itself is a symptom of war caused mental illness, such as PTSD. To the right of the spectrum is suicide, to the left: alcoholism, drug abuse, depression and other problems.

We currently have 24 veterans and two families enrolled in the program, but we have been reduced to accepting only the most severe cases. This is not due to lack of accommodation, but rather through lack of funding to provide the necessary wrap around support services that make the program work. These include everything from providing tooth paste and furniture, to transport, case management and a toy or two for the children.

Since publicising the existence of the program just a few weeks ago I have taken requests for help from right across Australia. The common and sad refrain is that currently we can only provide housing at Narrabeen. As younger veterans have children and other commitments they often cannot leave their locality, and so they remain living in cars and on the streets. We have to do better.

We have also seen growth in our services to veterans and families who are at risk of homelessness. This can occur when, for instance, a young veteran leaves the military without an illness or injury being accepted by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. If they are unable to remain employed, as is often the case with mentally ill veterans, they lose their income. Homelessness can quickly follow. We are working to try and keep them in their homes. Entire families are at risk, and its proving a growth industry for us, as a decade of war collides with an inadequate repatriation system.

For those of us working with these remarkable young veterans it is soul destroying to watch them suffer for want of funding. All veterans entering the program suffer from mental illness, most enter with an intense sense of shame as well. They were our nations finest, help us help them.

If you can help, please visit the RSL Lifecare Page Here… (and scroll down).

Our Most Recent Resident: Case Study
Veteran X is 38 years old, and has served in Iraq and Afghanistan on multiple tours. He entered the program in mid-November 2014 and is our 22nd resident. Veteran X was still serving in the Australian military when he was admitted to hospital for treatment of PTSD and related alcohol abuse. Whilst he was in the hospital, the Australian Defence Force medically discharged him from service. This meant he was no longer entitled to a Defence house, and accordingly, his family was evicted while Veteran X was in hospital.

Tragically Veteran X’s relationship could not withstand the terrible strain of Veteran X’s condition and his circumstances. Veteran X’s marriage ended and his wife and children moved into their grandmother’s house. Sadly Veteran X no longer had access to his children. Veteran X has described to me the sense of utter desolation and helplessness he felt. “I just couldn’t believe this could happen to me” he said. “I devoted my entire life to serving the Nation, I was good at my job and I had a career”. A few weeks after his marriage failed he attempted suicide.

Many months later, as Veteran X approached the date of his discharge from hospital, he literally had nowhere to go. Like most of the young men and woman in our program he would have been living on the streets. Fortunately he met one of the young veterans we’d previously placed in the PTSD program, who gave Veteran X our details. Veteran X was initially quite a challenge, but we are a peer led program, and other veterans who have walked the same path took him under their wing. He has come such a long way; he has joined our AA support group and will shortly start a training course. A remarkable young man, like the rest, all he needed was a chance. A testament to his hard work and the program’s success: Veteran X spent Christmas Day 2014 with his children.

Recruiting Tips

Job Application, Resume and Interview Tips

July 25, 2011 SarahWatts

There are plenty of ‘What To Do’ and ‘What Not To Do’ tips for job applications, resume writing and interview skills out there if you care to look and most will say much the same thing including us at White Now:

Be active in your job search and keep a record
Network
Write a cover letter for EACH job application you make
Address the selection criteria in the advertisement
Have more than one Resume tailored to each job/industry you are applying for
Keep your Resume professional and only include information relevant to your ability to do the job not your date of birth, religious beliefs or hobbies
Include achievements on your Resume for each role
USE SPELL CHECK!
Dress professionally for job interviews
Practice your interview responses – BE PREPARED
Plan your travel to your interview

Amongst others…..

Most of these are probably ‘common sense’ to most people, but then ‘common sense’ isn’t necessarily ‘common’ to every one!

Some tips will also be quite subjective, whether or not to include your photo on your Resume, for example. Personally, I am not a fan of this, but some will recommend it – personal choice I guess. Please, do make sure it is an appropriate photo that presents you in a professional light and suitable for the job you are applying for. A photo of you skiing may not be the best representation of you as a professional, committed manager.

So the advice you do get can be conflicting. The thing that is important to remember is that your application letter and resume is likely to be the first impression the recruiter will gain of you and like it or not, FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT! Especially if the recruiter has received 100+ applications and they are looking for a reason to exclude, rather than include an application.

Therefore: make sure you create a great first impression, use spell check, get a trusted person to review your application/resume honestly, check details of the contact person, company and position you are applying to and make sure the documents are presented professionally and that they are easy to read.

Your resume is a marketing tool for YOU, so think about how you want to market yourself to potential employers.

You can get daily tips on ‘What NOT To Do’ from Wiz Whitenow on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/wizwhitenow – there is a new Wiz’s WOT NOT every day to get you thinking and maybe even make you smile! Check it out!

If you would like to chat for some advice please call the White Now Team in the office or check us out on the website at www.whitenow.com.au for lots more information and positions vacant!

Recruiting Tips, Values

It’s SO frustrating when you apply for a job and NEVER hear anything back ! Want to know why this happens ?

July 6, 2010 Jenny White

: Hear Nothing Back !

White Now has witnessed a trend over the past 15 years with regard to job applicants and the interview process. With the growth of the internet and on line job applications and the subsequent ability for ANYONE to lodge an application for ANY role at ANY time, we have seen a growth in application number for all jobs ! This has brought with it some interesting challenges……..

In the old days (geesh – I sound like my 81 year old mother !), it used to take a fair bit of effort to apply for a job. You’d have to type the covering letter and print it out. Go to the library to get your resume photocopied and then get it bound at another place. Buy a large envelope and suitable stamps and THEN go to either the Post Office or Post Box. You’d then wait for it to arrive at the employer/recruiters doorstep 4 days later. The cost of this exercise could have been up to $10 per application. After it was posted, it would then be another week or two (if at all) that you receive a letter back in the mail saying that the documents had arrived.

These days (sounding like my mother again – sorry) a job application can take some people as little as 2 minutes to send off without a cent being spent.

They copy their cover letter or change the address and contact name (that’s a debate for a whole other blog post), attach their resume and just press send on the email. The effort in applying has been lessened so considerably therefore the seriousness and commitment of all applicants in applying for the job can sometimes be an issue.

The team at White Now can reel off so many examples of when they have contacted an applicant in relation to a job that they applied for (maybe to organise an interview) and the person cannot even remember applying for that role, or even who the role was with. They have probably applied for 90 jobs that week and kept no record of whom or what they applied for. I think it is called the splatter gun approach. They don’t have a specific target, they just keep shooting and maybe one will hit the bulls-eye.

With this behaviour being so prevalent in today’s job market, there are a few outcomes that have surfaced from this trend that you should be aware of.

Often an employer now can receive hundreds of applications for the one advertised job. If this is a larger employer (150 plus employees), they may be recruiting for 5-10 different positions at any one time. This may mean in any given time, an employer may receive 1000 applications for 10 positions. Many employers now put the courtesy of replying to these applicants on the back burner and the applicant simply does not get a response at all, whether that be to say that their resume was received or that they were unsuccessful. This creates a snowball effect in itself. These applicants who do not receive a reply then cannot narrow their application to a smaller target. They apply for absolutely everything as they have no idea where they stand with any job. Alas, the cycle of lots and lots of applicants for jobs and employers not offering a courteous reply will continue.

We are all so pleased with the growth, speed and automation of internet technology but think about how this has affected the process of applying for a job. Basic courtesy has gone out the window !

As you know, on our White Now website, many of the positions advertised are ads placed by the Club/Venue/Supplier and they receive the applications directly (White Now don’t see them at all). It is up to them to respond to the applicants as they see fit. We place at the base of each ad the following sentence “Please Note: Only short listed candidates will be contacted. We thank you for your understanding with this decision”. Now there’s something that you would not have seen on a job ad 15 years ago but now, it is a fact of life for all the reasons I have discussed above.

The good news is that White Now have actually retained the ‘old style values’ when it comes to recruitment. If we are secured by a client to undertake the full recruitment for a club or client, then we guarantee that EVERY person who applies will receive email notification from us to let them know of their status. We are still honoured and chuffed by the comments that we receive from candidates about our high level candidate care – it seems to stand us apart from the rest ! We wish that all those who advertised with us would contact all of the applicants but as you can see, this is where the world has taken us !

The 'Read & Recover' Initiative - Helping sick kids!

The Read & Recover Initiative gets GREAT ideas from Facebook mates!

January 20, 2010 Jenny White 1 Comment

ReadingRecoveryFinalLogo — 1600 books to 100 Hospitals

The Read & Recover intiative, which is a joint venture between White Now and Brad Sugars from ActionCOACH (you can read about this amazing gift in previous posts) took its next step – finding which kids hospitals people thought the 150 books should go to.

If there is one thing I have learnt in my years of running businesses, it is to always ask others for their input and ideas – whether it be your team members, clients, potential clients or simply people that want to add value to what you do. With this in mind, our team put a post on the Wiz Whitenow Facebook site “Wiz WhiteNow” (http://www.facebook.com/wizwhitenow). This is what the post said “Wiz WhiteNow is needing your help to recommend hospitals to us! We are sending 150 kids books to 10 NSW hospitals with kids wards. This is a gift we are giving jointly with the amazing support of Brad Sugars from ActionCOACH. The generosity of this entrepeneur is inspiring & the time and efforts of the White Now team are appreciated. Would you like to suggest a hospital that would appreciate the gift ?”

The response was amazing and we qiuckly gathered up the names of the first 10 hospitals named. It shows that people can be so passionate about things that are close to their heart ! White Now and Brad Sugars would like to say a huge THANK YOU to the following people and their recommendations !

Hospital	Suggested By
The Sydney Adventist Hospital	Andrew Bassett-Smith
Westmead Children’s	Si Harris & Susan Churchill & Denise Ferguson
Gosford Hospital	David Younie
Nepean Hospital	Leah Gibbs, Emma Huszar, Tanya Westcott Gorton
John Hunter Hospital	Leah Gibbs/Amy Waight
Sydney Kids Hospital Randwick	Kathy Carnemolla, Damien Greig
Royal Darwin Hospital	Marianne O’Farrell
Coffs Harbour Hospital	Sue Patterson
St George Hospital	Garry Weston
Sutherland Children’s Ward	Sue Jago

Our next step was to source the books – we searched high and low. We wanted to look for books that were a mix of Australian authors and popular well known kids stories. We went to many book shops, online stores, auction sites – you name it, we researched it. The final decision was made yesterday and the books were bought. The most amazing range that suited our needs were actually at an Australia Post shop – yep, it’s true. To those who recommended the hospitals and to all of our friends and colleagues who are supporting us in this venture, thank you so much ! People are the true essence of life !

These are the authors and titles in case you are interested;

Author	Title	Title
Pamela Allen	Mr McGee and the Big Bag of Bread	Waddle Giggle Gargle
	Herbert and Harry	The Pear in the Pear Tree
Graeme Base	The Eleventh Hour	The Worst Band in the Universe
	Jungle Dreams	The Waterhole
Dr Seuss	The Cat in the Hat	Fox in Socks
	Green Eggs and Ham
Beatrix Potter	The Tale of Peter Rabbit	The Story of Miss Moppet
	The Talk of Jemima Puddleduck	The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit
Disney	Cars – A friendly Crew	Toy Story 2 – Toys to the Rescue
	Monster Inc – Monsters Everywhere	Little Mermaid – A Different Life
	Finding Nemo – Adventure in the Ocean	Cinderella – The Magic of Dreams
	Sleeping Beauty – A Secret Princess	Snow White – A Princess Hiding
Mem Fox	Possum Magic	Shoes from Grandpa
	Sail Away	Hattie and the Fox
Roger Hargreaves	Mr Strong	Mr Messy
	Mr Noisy	Mr Funny

Bloggin' White Now !……….