Carne Asada Meets XHTML
March 23rd, 2006 | Posted in Tactics
Today is Thursday. That means the whole crew goes to La Esperanza on Ironwood in South Bend, Indiana. This is my favorite Mexican restaurant in the region, and it has become something of legend with the Notre Dame Web Group. If it is a Thursday at noon, we’re at La Esperanza—ask anyone that knows us. I even got a phone call there once from a colleague that knew she could find me there at that time.
A large group of us have been going to La E religiously every week since we started at Notre Dame—some even longer than that. As usual, when we entered the dining room today, the host directed us to the back room where they had already prepared our table with water, salsa, and dinnerware. They said welcome back and “we were waiting for you.” They asked if we needed menus or if we would like something to drink other than water. This usually means “orchata,” which is a very tasty-sugary-rice-drink.
The owner of the restaurant, Javier, waved and said “hello, guy.” He always makes sure things are going well, and if it gets busy, he helps out with the labor—always smiling. Our waiter is also prompt and courteous. We almost always get the same waiter, but he consistently is professional and business-like. The food always tastes great. We go back every week because we know the service is good and the food is always served fast. They obviously follow a standard or set of rules to ensure quality and consistency during development of the meal.
In a sense, our group is “La Esperanza.” That is, we do this same service for Notre Dame when it comes to supporting and growing the Web marketing communications of the University. We both run a business and have customers or clients. I guess that makes me “Javier,” our project managers the waiters, and the developers/designers/writers the chefs. When you put it all together, the customer gets a high-quality experience, great products, and encouragement to come back next time they are hungry.
Finally, since I have such big ideas and plans for the Web at Notre Dame and our team is so talented and productive, it makes me laugh that “La Esperanza” means “the hope.” Considering what we are going to do this year for Notre Dame’s marketing communications on the Web, I am full of hope—especially on Thursdays.
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