WickeDeli's first employees

You may (or may not) know that WickeDeli already has two employees: John and Carol Brooks – they make up the other half of the WickeDeli management team. Here's a quick look at their valuable experience and the key roles they play:

John Brooks has over 25 years experience as an IBM Point of Sale project manager. His responsibilities included executive overview, systems' needs analysis and design, installation planning, implementation, training, and post-installation reviews for a variety of accounts including WalMart, May CO., Neiman Marcus, KFC, Steak and Ale, and Furr's Cafeteria. As the head of Information Systems for WickeDeli, he is responsible for leading all POS and Inventory efforts by:

• managing the POS / Inventory system from concept to inception;
• supporting, improving, and maintaining the POS system;
• continually determining business needs and reviewing system specifications to ensure efficiency;
• ensuring a high level of quality and inventory control by creating processes / standards;
• staying abreast of new products and technology; evaluating and making recommendations to owners to ensure WickeDeli remains in the forefront of the market;
• managing all user training materials and ensuring new employees are trained on system.

In his spare time he likes to write, spend time with family and do anything on the water.

Carol Brooks has over 25 years experience in IBM office systems and mid-range systems marketing. She worked with client teams to develop marketing strategies, presented cost benefit analyses to executives, and developed curriculum for senior IBM marketing professionals. Most recently she worked in IBM Corporate Community Relations implementing philanthropic programs in the nonprofit community. As the head of Marketing and Client Services for WickeDeli, she is responsible for leading social & community marketing efforts by:

• managing social enterprise and promotional strategies and campaigns;
• ensuring identity and brand awareness of, as well as loyalty to, WickeDeli;
• continually researching and understanding target audiences, social causes, business benefits, competitive edge, and customer preferences;
• ensuring the most suitable method(s) of communication and tools to measure results;
• ensuring effective campaigns by staying abreast of changing trends in the marketplace.

In her spare time she likes to garden, sew, read and spend time with family.

John and Carol’s expertise, dedication and creativity genuinely complement the needs of the company and team. We are lucky to have them!

Recipe for creating an identity

After three years (almost to the day), our original 'German Platter' concept certainly has evolved. The first year it was merely a thought - something to bring up in conversation over a late Sunday brunch and say, "Wouldn't that be cool". The second year was making sure we knew what we would be getting into by opening our own business, and then putting things in place to make sure we were able to do so. Somewhere in the middle of all this the name was created...and this last year has been pulling all the ingredients together to ensure WickeDeli can have a life of its own. And as you know (from your own teenage angst years), the first step in having your own life is figuring out who you are.

The identity of a company is pretty much the same as our own personal identities - there are complexities and simplicities. You know...layers. Like Shrek said, "Ogres are like onions...we both have layers." Some layers you want people to notice right away...and some you would rather leave a mystery - to encourage further discovery. I thought it would be harder than it was to bring out all the layers of WickeDeli - to make sure all the necessary elements were there, but with subtlety too. It wasn't really the "oh, I'll know it when I see it" process...it was more like the "dab of this, dollop of that, taste it...no, maybe a pinch more of that" type of process.

Overall it was an intense and truthful process. But I know the recipe is right, because every time I look at the life we have created for WickeDeli, I don't taste the onion at all. Instead all the flavors blend together - layer by layer - to create an interesting, provoking identity. Don't we wish we could all say that about ourselves.

-Tatiana

We are so very close...

...to

revealing

our

logo...



stay tuned...!

The current happenings...

(You may be wondering why we haven't posted in awhile...there was a much needed vacation in there somewhere).

We have received quite a few inquiries from friends, family and colleagues, like: "How are things going?", "What are you currently working on?", "What's going on?". So we thought we would give you a quick update on some of the things that are currently in the works:

• logo concepts in second stage of revisions;
• once the logo is solidified, Curtis Hart will take our logo and make www.wickedeli.com a better looking landing page;
  
• preliminary conversations with restaurant / space planners;
• preliminary conversations with Fort Worth real estate brokers;
• solidifying recipes (this means ongoing taste testing - yay for us!);
• drafting internal processes;
• professional pictures of management team;
  
• finalizing POS / Inventory system;
• finalizing market research data;
• finalizing finance / accounting details.

Things are moving along really well and (as always) we appreciate your ongoing enthusiasm and interest in not only the end result, but the journey!