The Rivera PR Blog

Archive for December, 2008


Turning The Table | Roxanne Webber | Chow.com

Our main goal as Publicists is to pitch our clients story ideas to writers/editors in hopes that they will in-turn tell this story to their readers.  After years of working closely with these media, we’ve realized that there’s also a story to be told about them.  In this column, “Turning The Table,” we feature a different media person; this week’s subject is Roxanne Webber.

Click on the image to enlarge and look a little closer; past the darling headband and the cute smile, and you’ll notice a Harley Davidson T-Shirt on this rising star editor.

Where’s she started:

7×7 Magazine

Where to find her now:

Chow.com

Where to find her when she’s not writing:

At a live Death Metal concert or drag racing motorcycles.

Think I’m kidding?  Then check out this video of her below and you’ll be convinced faster than she smokes her opponent in the quarter mile drag race (11.5 seconds to be exact).

Check it:

“You guys were probably too young to remember that”

If I had penny for every time my brother/business partner Steve and I heard that comment, I could probably afford to buy that beautiful purple and teal velvet sweater that Steve is wearing in this photo of us taken circa 1980 (click image to enlarge).

Yes, my brother and I are young business owners; however, it’s important not to mistake “youth” with “inexperience” and/or “influence.”  Even more important is to make sure your organization is successfully executing a New Media marketing campaign to reach the “youth,” as they are your futures and media is undergoing a major transformation.

The future of PR is not pitching, it’s participating in an ongoing dialog with your customers.  With social networking sites and new media, there are more ways than ever to go straight to the source to reach your audience.  Here’s a nice article from an interview I recently did with American Express Briefing that can help your organization begin doing some preliminary steps (link).

Don’t be “too old” to recogonize that the “too young” crowd is exactly your target audience; and we can help you reach them.  Find out more.

“Industry In Action,” what the heck is this?

Ever wonder what these chefs, restaurateurs, mixologists, writers/editors and other Industry professionals are doing when they’re not in their restaurants?

Well, we get the privilege of hanging out with them all day, everyday, and thanks to the camera on my phone, you can get a look into some of their extracurricular activities.

I’ve also sprinkled in some random pictures from the field so enjoy our daily postings!

See all of them here.

Industry In Action | Adam Snyder

Location: Hotaling Street

What You’re Seeing: The sign says “No parking any time,” but Adam Snyder’s (Taverna Aventine) wicked overhand right says “Bring it on, ANY time.”

Click image to enlarge.  What is Industry In Action?

Industry In Action | Todd Palmerton

Location: Sunday (yes, I know Sunday is a “day” but it’s also a location for the 16-weeks of the year we call football season).

What You’re Seeing: Todd Palmerton (Mamacita, Umami, Taverna Aventine, Vintage 415, etc) showing us on just one hand how many wins his Seahawks have this season, and what chance they have of making the playoffs.

Click image to enlarge.  What is Industry In Action?

Industry In Action | Barry Augus + Joseph Manzare

Location: Food Affaire

What You’re Seeing: Barry Augus of Tres Agaves, Jared Rivera and Joseph Manzare (I know, could do an entire blog on him, he’s that amazing).

Click image to enlarge.  What is Industry In Action?

Industry In Action | Daisy and Riley

Location: Rivera Public Relations Home Office

What You’re Seeing: The RPR pups getting some snuggle time in.  Not a bad place to work.

Click image to enlarge.  What is Industry In Action?

Industry In Action | Nate Valentine

Location: 49ers parking lot

What You’re Seeing: Nate Valentine (Mamacita, Umami, Taverna Aventine, Vintage 415, etc) showing how real men tailgate.

Click image to enlarge.  What is Industry In Action?

Industry In Action | Joseph Manzare

Click image to enlargeLocation: Rivera Public Relations home office

What You’re Seeing: Executive Chef Joseph Manzare (Globe, Zuppa, Hecho, etc) playing a game of Street Fighter II against my brother/business partner Steve.

Click image to enlarge.  What is Industry In Action?

Industry In Action | Michelle Mah

Location: Designer Michael Guthrie’s office

What You’re Seeing: Midi’s executive chef Michelle Mah and GM Catherine Green work with designer Andrea Wade to pick out material for the restaurant. Yes, executive chefs do more than create a menu and GMs do more than hire/train staff.

Click image to enlarge.  What is Industry In Action?

Industry In Action | Scala’s

Location: Scala’s private dining room

What You’re Seeing: An exclusive first look of an item off executive chef Jen Beisty’s soon-to-debut menu that she prepared as part of a test meal.  These are the kind of tests that I like (and that I can pass).

Click image to enlarge, and you MUST see this pic

What is Industry In Action?

Industry In Action | Jared Rivera

Location: Tokyo

What You’re Seeing: Me, being hazed by Joseph Manzare, who brought a habenero pepper and several bottles of tequila with him to Tokyo.

That shot in my right hand put that hair in the middle of my chest.

Click image to enlarge.  What is Industry In Action?

Industry In Action | Starbucks

Location: Starbucks

What You’re Seeing: The reason why I stopped going to Starbucks

What is Industry In Action?

Industry In Action | Eric Rubin

Location: Guadalajara

What You’re Seeing: Eric Rubin, managing partner of Tres Agaves had a couple extra pesos in his pocket and felt like going horseback riding.

More photos from our trip here.

What is Industry In Action?

Industry In Action | Ha Nguyen

Location: Michael Guthrie’s office

What You’re Seeing: Talented technician Ha designing a virtual restaurant in under 45-seconds.  One of the most bizarre and cool things I’ve seen in this industry.

Click image to enlarge.  What is Industry In Action?