Learn how Tasting Table is using SAP StreamWork to bring together staff members spread across the country.
Tasting Table delivers free a daily email to its subscribers about dining, wine, cocktails, and cooking - written by regional food editors positioned in key cities across the United States. CEO Geoff Bartakovics uses SAP StreamWork to ensure that in advance of a staff meeting, all of the participants have uploaded the documents, slides, and KPIs that they want to review during the meeting.
"StreamWork makes it a lot easier for us to be as involved as we possibly can be without being in the same city physically," says Scott Hocker, editor of the San Francisco edition.
How Tasting Table uses SAP StreamWork
"I'm Scott Hocker. I'm the San Francisco editor for TastingTable.com, which is a daily epicurean email that covers food and drink."
Tasting Table is also an Internet sensation. Within six months of its kickoff, it was operating in the black. The concept is brilliant in its simplicity. Regional food editors like Scott file a breezy, one-page, insider's report.
Based in San Francisco's Mission District, enclave to both hipster and immigrant, Scott's first stop on this day is a Vietnamese-Mexican market, and orders up a very American meal. As a former waiter and chef, he has a network of culinary contacts and gets insider tips on where restaurant workers and other food lovers are going for their meals.
Back at the studio apartment that doubles as both home and office, Scott crafts his daily report on everything from lobster pasta to German pizza, which he then emails to the thousands of followers who have signed up for Tasting Table's free lunchtime missives.
After filing his report, Scott attends a staff meeting. New York-based Tasting Table CEO Geoff Bartakovics presides over the meeting. "We like to say that Tasting Table is for people who eat and drink seriously but don't take themselves seriously. The way Tasting Table works is that subscribers visit us at TastingTable.com and they simply enter their email address and ZIP code, and every day right before lunch they'll receive our food or drink recommendation in their inbox. We come to them."
On this day, Tasting Table's conference is being held using SAP's new meeting-place software, SAP StreamWork. "What I use StreamWork for is to ensure that in advance of that meeting, all the directors who are going to contribute to the conversation have uploaded whatever documents they want to review and slides that they want to go over - any key performance indicators that they want to discuss - so that stuff's there, available."
SAP StreamWork is interactive and transparent. Attendees can introduce and share files, images, and data - in real time. There's a pro-con table to evaluate agenda items and a quick-poll function to vote on those items.
The main agenda item for this meeting is expansion. Geoff asks his staff to weigh the pros and cons of cities where he's thinking of opening new bureaus. The staff then votes using SAP StreamWork's quick-poll function.
"A lot of the people working remotely - like me and some of the other city editors - we're not in New York, so it's hard for us to be as involved in decision-making and be as much of a team. So StreamWork makes it a lot easier for us to be as involved as we possibly can be without being in the same city physically."
"StreamWork makes you scream less at work." David Meyer oversaw the SAP StreamWork development team. Their goal was simplicity and accessibility. "It's a product that any human on the earth can begin using today for free and understand." A revolutionary new direction for SAP. "We've shifted the company to an agile way of working. This is the faster, more nimble, customer-focused SAP."
Tailored for faster, more nimble professionals, like Scott Hocker. Brief, efficient meetings mean more time in the saddle chasing down culinary tips and keeping Tasting Table on the tip of so many tongues.
