Tony shed's light on going's on with Intelly...
Interesting stuff really. If you read the NY times article on Geoff Watts of Intelly, you might have seen the quote by Peter G of Counter Culture. -"Intelligentsia was known as this stupid and naïve company that overpaid farmers and carried too much debt,"
Geoff thoroughly explained his position on coffeed. I only mention because I actually had customers come in and talk about the article and in particular asked me about that comment. I really was confused. My favorite customer comment was 'Catfight in the coffee industry.' It's weird how stuff like that gets printed. I should know. I have been attatched to three things from the globe article a few months back.
1. 'I could talk about starbucks for hours' - It was actually the first question asked me 'What do you think about Starbucks?' I started off by saying I could talk about starbucks for hours but that would not be productive/pointless... something along that lines.
2. The list of 50 things to improve your espresso production. Need I say more. Ugh. I can't take it down as people still come in asking where it is.
3. The GHH apostle quote. Please don't get me into this one in detail. I got into a discussion about a stupid analogy made on CG with the pundit describing a roaster as your religion/temple. Yeah, you get off on tangents when you spend two hours talking to someone about coffee not realizing you will be in the article.
Still, I have to say a huge thanks to the globe writer. He put in his time and really tried to wrap himself up in the article. Something most food critics/columnists do not. I have seen him since in shop and truly appreciate him.
Of course we could take the attitude of one 'revered' internet pundit on alt.coffee to quote "What a bunch of crap. It's all B.S. That second sentence is the worst."
Joking aside, publicity is a weird thing. I usually don't think much about it since I am not a shop owner, not tied to a roaster, and basically only work for a shop with no finacial benefit from the publicity.
Then there is the blog... In all honesty my blog is for people I've met in email, people I've visited or have visited me, met at trade shows, competitions, and such. I never thought of it as a way to reach out to customers or potential customers. Still, I do have people come in and unexpectedly comment about my blog. It's not my intention.
Food for thought
Jaime
