Italian Food and the Social Media Connection

As much of a fan that I am of social media connecting one another, I’m a bigger fan of the right human connection. I also believe one leads to the other.

For example, there’s a restaurant I frequent in Garmisch called La Baita. It’s fantastic Italian food and I recommend it. However, the reason I recommend it is because of the wait staff and the management. They make me feel like I should be eating there. And every time I see the owner standing there watching over the dining room, and then going into to shake hands with regulars and say “hello” to new customers, that makes the experience worthwhile.

Now, eating at La Baita didn’t start because of a social media transaction, however my meeting with my friend Jamie did. She’s a writer and someone I met as a fellow member of a writing forum. We chatted through several threads which drew both of our interest. Over time, we figured out that a.) we lived close to one another and b.) it would be nice to meet at some point. That chance came up when Jamie attended a writing forum in Atlanta. At the time, I lived about two hours away and I just happened to be in town (visiting in-laws) that weekend. We met, ate sushi and I’m proud to call her a friend (she and my wife have the same birthday).

There have been other exchanges like this that have led to human interaction, some for the better and some not as good. I could tell you about a spontaneous road trip from Macon, Georgia, to northwest Tennessee to Columbus, Ohio, and back that was a mixture of both. Again, a social channel made the interaction possible.

Now, there are plenty of people who are not a fan of the social. And I don’t think I like what the social medium is becoming (a continuous avenue of adverts and some other corporations news; more on that in another post), which means the Internet may slowly be losing its charm as the place to have a private, social conversation that goes uninterrupted. Still, 200 million Facebook users, 20 million Twitter users and millions of others scattered across platforms other than those are discovering that the right conversation can lead to something bigger. And it’s what’s happening right now.

Further, not every human interaction is a winner. For instance, I’d rather not be “sold” at dinner. That’s exactly what happens at almost any chain restaurant whose servers sport 3,179 pieces of flare, crouch down and prepare to sell you a time share in bacon cheddar wedges. If the attempt is to clear the table quickly AND get a good tip, I’ll look around (about clearing quickly) and judge your service (for the tip). Beyond that, keep the coke in my glass filled and cold. I’m sure you can think of others.

As my friend Alan is find of saying, because he’s right, the social should lead the human. For clients and consumers, both experiences should be sterling. Otherwise, why would you buy/rent/ lease or do whatever the transaction calls for? Sure, you must have some things in your life (electricity, insurance), and you’re sometimes forced into a one-vendor solution in your market (cable television, Internet, garbage collection). But why create animosity when it’s unnecessary?

Yes, I know. There’s a whole collection of people who’d prefer not to interact with a human to complete their transaction. In some cases, I’m one of them (ATM). However, there are times when the human interaction enhances the experience ten-fold.

La Baita succeeds at this every time.

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