PRESS-ed for Credibility

I like to believe everyone in the city knows the name Kirk Springer, or at least everyone downtown... or at least everyone who owns a restaurant in downtown. Sadly I am incorrect.

While many, many people recognize my ability to put warm bodies into empty seats, there are just as many who turn their backs on me, whether for the food drive or just daily business. To make matters even worse, the further you travel from downtown, the less the name Kirk Springer means. And the truth is there is no reason for those eateries to know me. Most of my guests do not have cars, and I have to balance the cost of the cab ride versus the price and quality of the meal. On a side note, I really want to know as much as I can about what's out there, so I have eaten at almost every restaurant between downtown and Ocean View --over a fifteen year period, mind you.

So when I walk into a restaurant in Ghent, announce myself as Kirk Springer, Concierge of the Marriott, and hand them a can of green beans, I imagine that can lasts about 25 seconds before it hits the trash! And with the realization that I am not the beginning and end of the Norfolk dining experience, I really needed to find a way to get my name out to the masses.

For the longest time I considered marching into the offices of Portfolio Weekly and asking a staff writer to do a story about my challenge. After all, it is very unique, right? But I just couldn't get up the gumption, and before I knew it, Portfolio was history.

So I became scrappy, writing my own blurbs and sending them to the Virginia-Pilot in the guise of a Letter to the Editor. Hey, it worked, and now I can write "as seen in the Virginia-Pilot"! Twice that newspaper ran a letter that I wrote solely for the promotion of my food drive. (Sorry VP, the letters were actually valid, one in your Pay It Forward feature, and one in the after-Christmas glow of thanks.)

I also had an opportunity to befriend Jack Armistead, owner and publisher of The Downtowner. Last year I just drove him crazy until he agreed to add the Green Bean Challenge to his November Top 10 list. Thanks, Jack! Because of you, I believe several Ghent restaurants decided to join.

And now of course, there is this blog. How many people will read it and decide that my food drive is legitimate? Only time will tell... The other possibility is a TV spot during a local news broadcast, arranged by the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia. It's not as far-fetched as it might seem, as the idea was actually brought up by one of the managers at the Foodbank last year. I really, really, REALLY don't want to be on TV, so I might have to find a volunteer to take my place if this actually happens.