Marketing consistency at Lunch

I've mentioned marketing consistency on this blog many times.
A quick example from lunches recently.

Au Bon Pain - allegedly a premium lunch experience, with "artisan bread" and higher end ingredients.
Reality - across the street from Cosi, sandwiches are slightly smaller, several dollars more, and the people behind the sandwich counter are less friendly.

Potato Valley - No expectations, but it's what you would expect. 30+ varieties of potatoes. And, they deliver. The potatoes are as stuffed as physically possible, with many different toppings. The slice of peach might have been overkill, but it's impossible to come away with a feeling other than "that's an extremely stuffed potato".

Shop@Lunch

Shop.org had our Shop@Lunch event yesterday. We had great attendance, and the press coverage was excellent. For the official writeup, check out the blog post.
Some other random thoughts, while greeting 300+ people entering an event -

Cheerfully welcoming people to an event gives you an instant insight into how comfortable people are about attending an event.
People are more than willing to wait in a long line for lunch, as long as you explain how the line works.
Conversely, 1% of people will attempt to make you justify the setup, regardless of how crowded things are. "So, lunch is free? What kind? You got salad? Can I take it to go?" etc... An exaggeration, but only slightly.
Nowhere near Clublife, but we got two or three interesting characters - we may have provided their meal for the day.

Shop@Lunch

Shop.org is having an event in DC on 12/1 in celebration of CyberMonday. If you're in town on 12/1, you're welcome to attend. There’s a Facebook page with details, and please forward the invite to friends in DC even if you’re not going to be able to make it.