As more and more businesses attempt to connect with their customers using social media channels, more and more bars, restaurants and cafes are making basic errors that end up preventing any type of connection at all.

This video was prompted by a recent visit to a local cafe, but is one that I’ve been wanting to make for some time. Would love to get your feedback below too.

Can’t see this video? Click Here

The clothing chain Forever 21 have got it right with their social media references, including the URL on all their advertising for their Facebook Page, Twitter Page and Blog:

It looks like there’s a whole new meaning to the phrases “tanked up” and “drink driving” after an Irish scientist has perfected a green way to fuel cars with Scotch.

While it’s a far cry from rocket fuel at this stage, it appears that the biofuel made from the by-products of Scotch whisky distillation is just as effective as normal petrol and just as easy on the engine, which requires no modifications.

He has patented the process and is currently working with drinks giant Diageo — which owns the Guinness brand — to look at future partnerships with the oil industry to develop the fuel as an alternative to petrol.

It could get confusing when filling the car up, not knowing whether to fill up your glass or the car…..

Full (Great) Story here

Irish Pubs Global is an organisation that was set up earlier this year with the aim of uniting Irish Pubs around the world. It’s aim is to empower owners and managers to develop their business skills, source Irish food and drinks and develop a real Irish atmosphere and experience for their customers around the world.

I was thrilled to be asked to be part of this venture back in the planning stages and helped them develop their management tools and owner resources used by their members.

I will also be speaking at the first Irish Pubs Global Convention which will be held from September 21 – 23 in Galway, Ireland which will be amazing for networking opportunities, social outings, useful seminars, exhibitions and more as food industry professionals, tourism professionals and service providers share their expertise.

To celebrate their first conference and the launch of the venture, we have 3 full delegate packages up for grabs in our Facebook competition.

The prizes are:

3 X delegate tickets to the event which includes:

· Gala conference Dinner

· 2 night’s B&B in the Galway Bay Hotel

· Full conference participation

· 1 year basic membership of Irish Pubs Global Owners & Managers Association

· Golf Tournament Entry

All you have to do to be in with a chance to win one of these great prizes is the following:

1. Go to our Facebook page: http://facebook.com/thebarblogger
2. If you’re not already a fan you’ll need to click on the “Like” button
3. Go to the Wall Post that says “Win 3 Tickets” and leave a comment that tells us what your customers love about your bar! Why do they come back again and again. Don’t be afraid to go into detail.
4. Make sure to add the name of your bar to the comment too!

That’s it. We’ll be picking the three winners on Friday night so get commenting. Oh and you can enter as many times as you like, if your customers come back for different things!

Note: If you win this prize, you only have to find your way to Galway. Everything else is covered (see above)

It started in Ireland (shocker) and has now made it’s way to the shores of the US and not co-incidentally to one of the most familiar Irish outposts to thousands of emigrants: Boston. What am I talking about? The Pour-Your-Own-Beer Tables that Guinness trialled in Ireland last year to great success have now made it to the Littlest Bar in Boston.

Never have you ever seen such a high tech setup: patrons give their credit cards to the bartender, who turns on the table-mounted taps. After two beers, the system pauses and the bartender pops by to make sure no one is too inebriated to keep drinking. The Littlest Bar currently offers self-serve Smithwick’s and Guinness with a bartender available to show you how to pour the latter.

Personally I think it’s a bit gimmicky and the only reason these tables appear in bars around Ireland is the generous incentives Guinness offers bars to stock them.

At the end of the day, they take up a huge amount of space in small bars and remove the very reason for going to the bar in the first place: social interaction.

It’s a long time since I got a response from a table…..

Over the past four months, I’ve been researching the strategies used by the most successful bars to keep their bar full. I wanted to know what promotions or tactics were being used by these businesses to remain profitable and full despite the downturn in the economy.

The results surprised me. Mainly because virtually ALL successful bars that I researched were using the same formula to fill their bar every night.

The formula is simple, yet highly effective and can be used by ANY bar, in any market anywhere.

I’ve put together this video to explain the formula in more detail. I hope you enjoy it.

If you’re not measuring, you’re not managing. This old adage is the first thing I learned as a trainee hotel manager. The same is true now for any business. If you want to measure the success of your bar or restaurant, then this simple method that I came across in Washington DC last weekend will help you out.

A Californian homeless man has been arrested after he broke into a shuttered bar, reopened the business and started selling drinks to unwitting customers.

The Placer County, California, Sheriff’s department arrested 29-year-old Travis Kevie after his 4-day stint as the barkeep of the historic Valencia Club in Penryn which had been shutdown for more than a year.

Detective Jim Hudson became suspicious after reading about the Valencia Club’s re-opening in an Auburn Journal newspaper article that featured a picture of Kevie and identified him as the club’s new “owner/operator”. Not only had Detective Hudson had previous run-ins with Kevie, he knew the Valencia Club’s liquor license had been surrendered.

It seems like the homeless man was able to do more than many people who attempt to run a bar do – kept it open for almost a week!

Full Story Here

You’d expect a lot from a bottle of beer costing $765. What you get is 55 percent alcohol — and served in a squirrel.

According to Scottish firm BrewDog, “The End of History” is the “strongest, most expensive and most shocking beer in the world.”

Just 12 bottles were made and the company has already sold out. They will be shipped out to buyers in the United States, Canada, Italy, Denmark, Scotland and England next week.

The dead animals which were used to create the beers’ unusual appearance were four squirrels, seven weasels and a hare. All were roadkill, according to James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog.

Full (Shocking) story here