CNN on HotSchedules & HotSchedules on CNN

There's been a lot of hubbub at the hub over the last week or so.  Being featured on CNN Money and in an article on CNN Living had us all pretty enthused about the incredible, brand catapulting coverage and our good fortune at getting it.  It has pushed the HotSchedules name out to a broader audience than we ever could have managed on our own, and I have the Twitter feeds to prove it.

I admit, however, that there was an element of anxiety threaded through all the excitement. A good portion of us, myself included, were concerned that we might be portrayed as a company made up of full-time vacationers and part time workers.  Or that you have to be a Millennial to work here.  Or that we cater to employees with no work ethic. A quick browse through some of the comments attached to that article, and you might find our anxieties were warranted.

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HotSchedules bowls in prom attire for kids, community

If it seems like HotSchedules has a great corporate culture, that’s only because it does.  As evidence of that, last Friday evening, most of our executive staff and several managers attended the Trudy’s Bowl for Kids, benefiting Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Texas (BBBS).  And we did it in really bad 80s-ish prom attire (which looks great with bowling shoes, by the way).  

Trudy’s is the signature sponsor of the event, and is also a HotSchedules customer.  The fundraiser makes it possible for BBBS to create and nurture life-changing relationships between the children they serve and caring adult mentors.

But you be the judge.  Let me know if you think giving to a good cause has ever looked more fun than this…

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Next Contest Question: Tell us about...

Thanks to everyone who participated in the latest question of our Facebook contest! We got a lot of great feedback on how HotSchedules fits into your company culture. Check out the chart below summarizing your responses to the question:

Would you consider HotSchedules a positive part of your company culture?
A) Strongly agree
B) Agree
C) Neutral
D) Disagree
E) Strongly Disagree


The randomly selected winner for Question #6 was Isaac Velasquez of McAlister's in Lubbock, Texas -- congratulations, Isaac! Isaac mentioned that he loves HotSchedules because "it's able to keep everyone informed of their schedules and changes at work, in order to allow the employees to work around their daily lives and not wait to the last minute to try to make any changes. By doing so, it increases moral and performance in the work environment and better communication which is key in all we do."

Now, on to the next one question and YOUR chance to join us on Facebook and answer to win our next prize. (Click here to review the rules.) We wanted to have some fun with this one. The question is:

Tell us about the most embarrassing or funniest thing that's ever happened to you working in a restaurant -- and keep it PG-13, please!

This question will be up for two weeks, so head on over to Facebook and spill your story -- we can't wait to hear it. And don't forget to tell your friends and colleagues that use HotSchedules to participate so we can reach our goal!

New Facebook Contest Question (#6): Company Culture

Thanks to those that sent in such great photos for Question 5. For those of you who didn’t get a chance, we may run another photo contest later this year or next year, so be on the lookout for that. Congratulations to winner, Gabrielle Eggleston (of Carino's Italian in Cedar Park, Texas), who is taking home the HotSchedules prize package including 5 gift cards to a few of our customer restaurants, iTunes, and Best Buy. Check out Gabrielle's creative entry below:

"I'm sending a picture of me accessing hotschedules on my laptop...IN SPAIN! I'm studying abroad for a few weeks and this is from my residencia."

Now, it’s time to pick up the pace. We’re counting on all of you to spread the word to your friends, co-workers, and other restaurants using HotSchedules to join us on Facebook so we can reach our goal of 10,000 Facebook fans for our 10th anniversary! Check here for a reminder of the rules for our contest — in a nutshell, we are posting a new question every 2 weeks, and you can answer once on Facebook for each question. At the end of the 2 weeks, we’ll randomly select a winner from all the Facebook responses and post the next question.

With question #6, we want to talk CULTURE. Company culture is shaped by shared values, ethics and beliefs within a company that are usually influenced by individual personality of founders or the leadership team — and also by the collective personality of the company and all its employees. Many of our customers tell us that HotSchedules has become an integral part of their company culture — and we want to know what YOU think.

This one is a 2-parter, but we promise it will be very quick and easy to answer:

PART 1: Would you consider HotSchedules a positive part of your company culture?
A) Strongly agree
B) Agree
C) Neutral
D) Disagree
E) Strongly Disagree

PART 2: Why or why not?

Thanks again for your participation, and we look forward to seeing your answers! This question will be live until August 25.



Gulf Coast: How we can Work Together to Help Communities in Need

There's no way to sugarcoat it (or try to make it look better than it is) -- what happened in the Gulf has been a disaster for the surrounding wildlife and communities. Here in Austin, we’re fortunate to not be directly affected, but we're only a few hundred miles from the Louisiana coastline – and many within our family of customers have been strongly affected by the event. Even restaurants far from the coast that serve seafood are seeing sales decline as consumers are wary of fish that may originate from the Gulf region.

As our most recent question for our Facebook contest, we wanted to ask our users how they have been personally (and professionally) affected by the oil spill -- or even if they have not, what they could possibly do to help those that are. We have been humbled by your responses and great ideas, and a number of you had questions about what you could do to help. So, we wanted to put together a list of ideas for how you can help, and reputable organizations in case you are looking to donate your time or resources to clean up and help the people and wildlife in these communities return to normalcy.

Before we dive into that list, we wanted to mention how we are going to do our part – I’ve started personally calling some of our affected customers in the area to offer our support, and we are going to waive our monthly subscription fee for two months for about 25 of our customers that we identified as independently-owned small businesses in the region. It may only a drop in the bucket, but it’s one way that we can directly give back to restaurants and small business owners that are struggling as a result of the crisis.

And now, here are some ideas that you have provided, along with others that we brainstormed and some great organizations that are helping with the cause. We strongly encourage you to do your part to bring aid to these communities.

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