A Better Presence

In an effort to better position Cafe Evoke and Cafe Evoke Catering in our market, we planned a photo shoot with the ever great Sam Olson at 611 Creative in Oklahoma City. We are super excited to get this shoot underway as it will allow us to create ads, banners and images for the website that really fit what we are about. Here is a bit about the shoot. Shots Expecting There are several different shots that we need to get taken during the shoot. Here is quick list: 1. Product - these series will be mainly of our product - coffee, espresso, latte art shots, syrups, teas, etc. Anything that we serve will be featured in this set 2. Equipment - this will be featuring all of our equipment - from brewers to espresso bars. We need this for many reason but we hope to have pictures for our info kits so that clients have an idea of what they will be getter 3. Action - Batistas pulling shots. Simple and sweet 4. Head Shots - this is for the band side of us! Ah, a Cafe Evoke Band? No, really. We have been lucky enough to get some press lately (for a separate post later on) and we need to be able to have photos to send to the publishers. We want our pretty faces in the news you know! This set will be short and sweet and will feature the people who work with us and also Jenni and I. We are trying to set the bar for coffee catering - not only in Oklahoma but in the US. To get there, we have make a presence for our selves. To get the idea across that coffee and espresso is art, we need an artistic photo shoot that really lets the images speak for Cafe Evoke Catering. We have one chance to impress our clients - the first impression. Having photos and ads that do not meet up to our expectation or design will not cut it. We want people to see our images and know they are working with the best. I will have much more on this the first part of July. This is just another way we are solving this puzzle! Presence in our industry. Presence in our Community. A premier specialty coffee catering company. ...be bold

The History of Cafe Evoke (Part 5)

This is a multi-part series discussing the history of Cafe Evoke -- from the time I started this blog to today. The posts are rather long which is why I am breaking them up into several parts. I hope these posts have given you some background for our company and this blog. I am trying to space them out a bit so that it does not get "dry" and hard to follow. This is Part 5 of a multi part series we are calling The History of Cafe Evoke. You can find other editions here: 1, 2, 3, and 4. Remember, these are quick highlights from the past 4 years. There are many more great posts in the archives if you ever get bored. Also, if you have questions about what we were thinking, doing or hoping for or over anything I have mentioned, please leave a comment and we will answer everything you ask! So, at this point. Cafe Evoke Coffee Catering is on the map and pulling espresso. We had lots of problems getting business insurance for our company which took up quite a bit of time. We finally got that taken care of by our great new friends at State Farm Insurance. The rest of June consisted of marketing, farmers markets, and business planning. Things got pretty slow for Cafe Evoke (the coffee house) through the summer. By September, we were only watching one commercial space and that was a pretty long shot at that point. Cafe Evoke Catering was moving along and we spent some time creating a formal written plan focusing on the catering operation alone. The new catering plan was completed the first part of October, 2006 and we felt that the foundation was set for that aspect of our business. I then began getting emails from big coffee companies asking that I try out their new coffee lines and post a review. I did several of them over the course of the next few months. November threw us a curve ball. We had to deal with the rough Bozeman winter and how that interacts with coffee equipment in a trailer. Let me tell you - cold wins. Our equipment froze in our trailer for the first time and we knew we had to do something to solve our problem. That started what ended up being a years worth of headache with the equipment company and service crew. We did end up getting it all fixed up and found a great place to pull it indoors each day to keep it clean, dry and at room temperature. We also had a chance in November to get the trailer decked out in Cafe Evoke Catering attire and by the end of December, we were planning our booth for two upcoming bridal fairs. Things were moving for Cafe Evoke Catering by the end of 2006 but the coffee house somewhat took a back seat as we worked to market and plan and nurture this niched catering operation. ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke, coffee catering, coffee, espresso, tea, oklahoma, oklahoma city The Global Exchange Fair Trade Store is your Online Source for Socially Conscious Gifts

A Weekend at the "River"

We had a fun time this weekend hanging out at the Oklahoma River Fest. I can say, however, that it was a bit breezy - and by breezy I mean gale force winds enough to blow beer out of your cup. Seriously. We strolled on down to the Oklahoma River on Saturday to try and watch the end of the dragon boat challenge but ended up only being able to catch the river show - "highlights of the RiverShow include barefoot skiing, wakeboarding, jet ski aerials, swivel ski and air chair demonstrations." The group was from Florida with one rider from Edmond, Oklahoma. It was fun to watch although they had to cut some of the events short due to super high wind and choppy water. What we were really excited about for the weekend was the river ride. They did this ride last year but this year, it was bigger and better. The crew at Wheeler Dealer did a great job with the event and the addition of the 30 mile ride was great. The group at Evoke Cycling headed down to the event. Again, it was super windy but we decided to do it anyway. There were a great number of people there and the way North was relaxing and pleasant. The ride back South to the boathouse? Not as relaxing as we rode into a 20 or so mile per hour headwind. We got back and really enjoyed the event. Speaking of Evoke Cycling, that is an up-and-coming bike club in Oklahoma City. We are in the process of making it a bit more official so stay tuned for that. It will be a club that will participate in community events such as this but also go out and do more. While we are going to be mostly recreational riders, we are hoping to gain membership by racers that want to join the crits and other events around our area under our name. Let me know if you are interested in joining in on the fun. Thanks again to everyone that made the RiverFest possible. It was great and I hope to see more in the future! ...be bold

The History of Cafe Evoke (Part 4)

This is a multi-part series discussing the history of Cafe Evoke -- from the time I started this blog to today. The posts are rather long which is why I am breaking them up into several parts. Let's get back to it on this windy Oklahoma Thursday. This is Part 4 of a multi part series we are calling The History of Cafe Evoke. You can find other editions here: 1, 2 and 3. Remember, these are quick highlights from the past 4 years. There are many more great posts in the archives if you ever get bored. Also, if you have questions about what we were thinking, doing or hoping for or over anything I have mentioned, please leave a comment and we will answer everything you ask! Let's back up a bit. Many of you are now familiar with Cafe Evoke Catering - Oklahoma's premier specialty coffee catering company. Well, the idea was planted in march of 2006 for Evoke Catering to be Montana's premier specialty coffee catering company. There were many reasons to start the catering operation but I think the main reason was because we feel that what is more specialty in coffee service than setting up a full blown shop in someones living room? We had to begin changing a few things on our website and with our logos to reflect Cafe Evoke Catering. We also had to begin getting paper work in order with the city and state and learn what it means to be a caterer. This was tough because coffee caterers (at the time) were very new and unprecedented for many health departments. As you know, these guys do not like change, new stuff or having to figure out how you fit in to an already confusing tangle of rules and regulations. By the end of March, we released our logos for the catering company. Simple, clean, and to the point. Purchasing equipment and conducing research for the cafe began to run hand in hand. For the first time, we were beginning to feel like stuff was happening. We had to learn how to juggle getting our cafe started while at the same time launching our new business - Cafe Evoke Catering. The Catering operation began to take the upper hand with a long list of to-do's that had to be completed. By the end of April, things were really moving! We had the trailer and our cart and things felt good. While we knew we had a long way to go, having equipment in hand seemed to make everything feel real - finally. The beginning of May brought about the final details - the nitty gritty stuff for Cafe Evoke Catering. We had a TON to do - pricing and event details, equipment installation and prep for our first event on May 22nd, 2006. By the end of May, Cafe Evoke Catering was running smoothly and we were happy with the progress we had made. ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke, coffee catering, coffee, espresso, tea, oklahoma, oklahoma city The Global Exchange Fair Trade Store is your Online Source for Socially Conscious Gifts

Our Perfect Wedding Guide Ad

Here is the ad I was talking about earlier. Thought I would share it! ...be bold

A Quick Side Trip

Just a quick side trip today from the series I have been written so profoundly named The History of Cafe Evoke. I hope that the series is not to mundane and that those of you who missed the past 4 years of this blog are having a chance to get caught up - at least a bit. Going through this blog has been like going through old yearbooks. You know the feeling. You read notes that made so much sense at the time of authorship that now seem simple and out of touch. You see pictures of times that bring back crazy memories - even as specific as what song you listened to during the event. I'm telling you, it is good to get back to your roots sometimes. But then again... So, quickly, a bit about what we are up to right now. There are a few major thing we need to get in order going forward. The main thing, get my laptop fixed. We are about to embark on a few projects where having a viewable screen will be handy. I will talk more about that once we wrap up the History series. We also just rolled out an all new Summer Menu for Cafe Evoke Catering. It will be sent out with this month's newsletter so if you have not had a chance to sign up, please do so! We would love to keep you up to date on things that have been going on! Also, keep an eye out for our upcoming advertisement to be in Central Oklahoma's Perfect Wedding Guide. Cafe Evoke Catering is currently the featured wedding professional on the site. So, there will be a lot of fun stuff coming up probably by the end of this week that we want to tell you about. News from the entire Cafe Evoke family will be shared as we pave the way to our future in our new community - Oklahoma City! Thanks again for reading this blog. Your comments/questions/answers/complaints are always welcome via email or by using the comment section. ...be bold Related Links: Follow Us on Twitter Cafe Evoke on Facebook Cafe Evoke on Myspace The Global Exchange Fair Trade Store is your Online Source for Socially Conscious Gifts

What is your market?

For the past several months, I have been trying to figure out what our market really is here in Bozeman -- who really wants coffee catering, who can afford it, and how do we get to them. Coffee Catering is really getting popular around the country as an althernative to an open bar and also for those that are interested in throwing parties with a unique twist. I am online every day looking at other companies around and feel that our set up (equipment), service, and quality are amongst the highest out there. That does not get us business as you all know. We need to be sure we are getting into the pockets of the community. We have defined our target market as woman, weddings and corporations. We have began to tailor our marketing dollars to only these areas and are going to begin a very big push (more to come on this very soon). We are particpating in bridal shows in which we will set up our equipment and serve free coffee in hopes to book events on that same day. We are advertising in papers that woman mostly read and have our ad coming out in the yellow pages next fall. We also have our Montana Bride ad coming out any day now which will get our name and information in front of many brides to be that will be getting married in Bozeman. We are also going to begin offering airpot coffee service in which we brew coffee and take it to businesses for meetings, etc. I hope this opens more doors for us. This will be a big thing for us to offer to businesses around Bozeman and Big Sky. The money is not as good for this service but the fact that the prep time is so short, it should only ad to our services -- and bottom line. Sometimes you have to create your market. Yes, being the first to enter this market is nice but it certainly makes the road difficult. I like to think of it as a backcountry ski day. Someone has to cut the trail on the way up. It is hard and will wear you out. What is the benifit of this? First tracks on the way down. That is what we are doing with Cafe Evoke Catering -- carving our way for the future. We have to educate people and tell them what coffee catering really is. We have to show them that they want and need us at their events. We will be doing many things that we have not done before which will lead to things we have never had before -- business, customers, community. This blog is going to change corse in a matter of weeks. It will be honest and show the struggles this "big push" will cause. It will also be an exciting time to see what happens when we carry out our plans for serving the community of Bozeman Montana the best tea, coffee, and espresso the industry has to offer. ..be bold Tagged: cafe evoke, coffee catering, coffee, espresso, tea, bozeman, montana

It's Advertising

You have to remember, there is only 1 (maybe 2) billboard in Bozeman. There are some on the Interstate but not in town. I do not think that we would have gone to that level for advertising -- not yet anyway -- so the second best option was to do the trailer and/or my car. We went with the trailer first and it looks great. The idea was to have something that people would be able to see. The problem we are having is that we are the first (and only to my knowledge) coffee catering company in Montana. We get asked all the time what we actually do and when we explain it to people, they get very excited. We have already had one call for information from the trailer and if the party gets booked, we are 1/3 of the way to paying for it. We want to attract phone calls so that we can send photos, prices, and references. This not only helps us books parties, it also gives us contact information for future marketing campaigns. I like to think of it as "putting your business card in the jar for a free lunch." Every time someone calls and asked me to send them information, I have an email address to add to my files. While I do not intend to send these people spam email, I do plan to send them updates and specials as we create them. My car will be next and it will be great to have this rolling advertising each and every day. We have also done with with our travel mugs. They are white and really stand out when people use them. We give these out to anyone that books an event as a "thank you" but are also trying to get as many people to use them as we know (want one? let me know!). The more we can have our name, brand, and identity out in public, the better off we will be. Again, the whole idea here is to stir up questions and curiosity. We will keep plugging away at this market and saturate it the best we can. To use, that means educating the public on what a coffee catering company really does and how it all works. Not only is this the most unique service available for events in Montana, it is also the best coffee service in the state. ..be bold Tagged: cafe evoke, coffee catering, coffee, espresso, tea, bozeman, montana, marketing

Equipment Update

OK, for those that were up late last night wondering what in the world was going to happen with Cafe Evoke Catering after yesterday's discovery of damaged equipment, here is your answer. We are going to have it all fixed! I talked with Bridge Industries yesterday who built the cart and they are going to send me a new faucet assembly (under $30.00) and our maintenance guy for our espresso machine is coming out with a new gauge and will take the thing apart to clean it and check all the seals and boiler to be sure that is OK. This is a nice outcome to a very bad situation. I have learned from this however -- if your gut says to have someone bring your machine in so it does not freeze, listen to it. The cart looks a bit sad with the faucet missing and drip trays off the machine but it will get fixed. We will be out of commission for the next week or so but that should not put us behind any. I have some more paper work and "admin" stuff to work on and this will give me a chance to get that done. ...be bold Tagged: cafe evoke, coffee catering, coffee, espresso, tea, bozeman, montana, boiler, winter, bridge industries