Power to the People
No time to blog, tweet or keep up with Facebook. My son and I are launching a new business and we have been traveling to meet people to form alliances, vet our ideas, and do on-the-ground research. Now we’re finalizing executive summaries and business plans, and doing outreach for funding.
Despite our heads down, nose-to-the-grindstone mode, I have come up for air to mourn the loss of Gourmet and the kind of in-depth food knowledge that is now getting dissipated. In this brave new world where everyone who eats is a food expert, it was comforting to know that editors at Gourmet were respected and appreciated for their decades of experience.
I’m not against fresh talent and fresh thinking, of course. It’s just that sometimes, experience matters. In food, as in every craft, it takes time to learn. Whether it’s sifting through what’s really relevant in food trends or how to anticipate and support the needs of a particular audience, it’s the long-term, day-to-day learning, accumulated over years that informs our opinions and our decisions. In my particular field of food public relations, there’s a handful of people who truly understand how to read recipes and evaluate their efficacy, their value to the target audience and how the recipe enhances the positioning of the product. Not too many years ago, that was the norm
I’m all for everyone contributing their opinions by blogging, reviewing restaurants and adding their own insights to crowd-sourced recipes. It enriches the discourse. But let’s not forget that there are experts in these fields who are educated, trained and experienced. And those voices should count — more than the general public.
I think about this new business we are building (I will also maintain my PR practice) and I realize that my role in the company isn’t one that many others could fill. Not because I’m better than anyone else. I just have the right experiences.
