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The place to talk Marshall University sports! => HerdFans => Topic started by: W0lfman on July 11, 2017, 06:02:05 PM
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Does anyone know John Pauley who works a Smithfield foods? I was thinking a connection like him would be a great contact to reach out to regarding the food served at the Joan. Smithfield foods is an excellent brand and would make a great partner.
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Would be nice but they seem fixated on that nasty thunder dog and plastic ginos pizza as our only options.
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Would be nice but they seem fixated on that nasty thunder dog and plastic ginos pizza as our only options.
"Low grade dog food"
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Sodexo makes the food decisions
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Sodexo needs to up their game and that thunder dog needs to be replaced with a regular Stewie dog.
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i'd settle for more reasonable prices!
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They should bring in 4-5 food trucks per game.
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Does anyone know if he is already involved with MU? Since we are trying to become more fan friendly offering better amenities it honestly seems like he'd be someone we'd have a relationship with.
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Does anyone know if he is already involved with MU? Since we are trying to become more fan friendly offering better amenities it honestly seems like he'd be someone we'd have a relationship with.
Again, that would have to go through Sodexo. Sodexo gets about 70-75% of the profit on each item sold. MU gets 25-30% of the profit.
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Again, that would have to go through Sodexo. Sodexo gets about 70-75% of the profit on each item sold. MU gets 25-30% of the profit.
And again, Marshall needs to look at this hard the next time the contract is up. Just don't rubber stamp it and re-up with them. If they want to enhance the game day experience, having more and better food options would go a long way. I love the idea of having food trucks lined up on 20th street before the game. Would add to the festive atmosphere. Hell, if they did that, going out at halftime may be worth it.
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It took Marshall ten years to get credit card machines in the concession stands, and I'm pretty sure there's still no ATM inside the stadium. Temper your expectations.
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Sodexo needs to up their game and that thunder dog needs to be replaced with a regular Stewie dog.
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Just get rid of hem they both suck
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It took Marshall ten years to get credit card machines in the concession stands, and I'm pretty sure there's still no ATM inside the stadium. Temper your expectations.
there's been an atm (or two) on the west side for as long as i remember. but carry on...
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Does anyone know John Pauley who works a Smithfield foods? I was thinking a connection like him would be a great contact to reach out to regarding the food served at the Joan. Smithfield foods is an excellent brand and would make a great partner.
Smithfield is in the retail and wholesale meat business. They could provide some items to a food service company, but they are not in the restaurant side of the industry. It would be up to the food service vendor serving MU to contact them, not MU.
http://www.smithfieldfoods.com/our-brands
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I'm all about the caramel apples. Generally the only thing I buy inside the stadium and they don't offer them until well into fall as a general rule.
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As long as the lemonade peeps stay, I'll be fine! 😁
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As long as the lemonade peeps stay, I'll be fine! 😁
Drop a splash of mango rum in that stuff... tasty
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I'm all about the caramel apples. Generally the only thing I buy inside the stadium and they don't offer them until well into fall as a general rule.
As long as the lemonade peeps stay, I'll be fine! 😁
Drop a splash of mango rum in that stuff... tasty
a rogue dentist
a marshmallow
and someone fresh off a island vacation!
i could be wrong
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Drop a splash of mango rum in that stuff... tasty
you mean shine
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I dated his wife in Junior High School but I doubt that gets my foot in the door to introduce him to MU.
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Smithfield is in the retail and wholesale meat business. They could provide some items to a food service company, but they are not in the restaurant side of the industry. It would be up to the food service vendor serving MU to contact them, not MU.
http://www.smithfieldfoods.com/our-brands
Also owned by the Chinese
https://www.revealnews.org/article/how-china-purchased-a-prime-cut-of-americas-pork-industry/
"But in 2013, a Chinese firm bought this quintessential slice of Americana – Main Street and all. The takeover, valued at $7.1 billion, remains the largest-ever Chinese acquisition of an American company.
Naturally, it riled patriots and protectionists. Pope’s mother asked him why he sold to the communists. Pope also had to defend himself in the local newspaper: “These are not Russian communists. They like Americans.”
Some xenophobia was to be expected. Anti-Chinese racism in America goes back nearly as far as, well, holiday ham.
But behind the usual flag waving and Red Scare antics lies a stark new reality: Chinese companies, at the urging of their government, have launched a global buying spree, a new phase in their unprecedented economic experiment. And they’re targeting a resource that climate scientists, economists, the U.S. government, even Wall Street, all forecast will become dangerously scarce in the coming decades: food.
Food is poised to become the oil of the 21st century, with scarcity and demand creating a situation ripe for wars, riots and uprisings."
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Food is aweful but I think Sedexto is a campus wide contract.
Have to update options as crappy Ginos pizza and other items (nachos, popcorn, pretzels etc) have been around for 30 yrs. I don't think the vending areas are equipped to cook, only heat, but I could be wrong. Still add a couple of large smokers outside East gates and sell BBQ, chicken sand, and burgers at minimum. The options now make hospital food seem gourmet. I've had better choices at little league and youth soccer concession stands.
Atlanta Falcons said they wanted to change how stadium food vending is done. They will charge $2 a soft drink and have free refill stations around stadium as an example of thinking outside the box.
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Kill the contract when up and open each window to the highest bidders, buying the spot on both sides of the stadium. For example, Steak Escape buys west side vending window and they get east side as well. Now fans get cheesesteaks and fries without walking around stadium. Repeat with other bidders. Get more money working with individual companies. Put all the pretzels, popcorn, pre-made pizzas, candy, etc out on the concourse with some bottled water and pop vendors and the kettle corn/lemonade/candy apple etc. No need to have a window dedicated to a popcorn machine and a frozen pretzel warmer. Hotdogs, too, could be sold out of a warmer just like they are now, sitting on a table in the concourse. Use the vending windows for things actually being cooked.
I don't know about you guys but I miss playing Virginia Tech simply for the chance to go there and get the deep fried turkey legs. Those things are awesome.
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Heck, even Class A Rookie League baseball franchise in Bluefield, WV, offers Barbecue sandwiches, Brats with onions/peppers. (both delicious) at its home ball games.
Marshall U. bringing up the rear in still another area. So, what else is new?????
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Kill the contract when up and open each window to the highest bidders, buying the spot on both sides of the stadium. For example, Steak Escape buys west side vending window and they get east side as well. Now fans get cheesesteaks and fries without walking around stadium. Repeat with other bidders. Get more money working with individual companies. Put all the pretzels, popcorn, pre-made pizzas, candy, etc out on the concourse with some bottled water and pop vendors and the kettle corn/lemonade/candy apple etc. No need to have a window dedicated to a popcorn machine and a frozen pretzel warmer. Hotdogs, too, could be sold out of a warmer just like they are now, sitting on a table in the concourse. Use the vending windows for things actually being cooked.
I don't know about you guys but I miss playing Virginia Tech simply for the chance to go there and get the deep fried turkey legs. Those things are awesome.
i'm guessing sodexo has first right of refusal, like most contract like that. but the plan you came up with means marshall is going to have to hire a ton more people, lose overall money for the campus food service contract guarantee, etc.
fyi, vt's awesome turkey legs are made by a company pretty much identical to sodexo.
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i'm guessing sodexo has first right of refusal, like most contract like that. but the plan you came up with means marshall is going to have to hire a ton more people, lose overall money for the campus food service contract guarantee, etc.
fyi, vt's awesome turkey legs are made by a company pretty much identical to sodexo.
It takes money to make money. At some places food accounts for over 20% of stadium revenue. You would think it would pay off in the long run. Hard to believe the food is still so aweful. To think MU doesn't have the power to change it, and likely make more money, is why WV is in the situation it is in IMO.
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It takes money to make money. At some places food accounts for over 20% of stadium revenue. You would think it would pay off in the long run. Hard to believe the food is still so aweful. To think MU doesn't have the power to change it, and likely make more money, is why WV is in the situation it is in IMO.
the food sucks for sure. if it was smarter/better/more revenue someone else would be doing it on their own, but absolutely everyone from college to nfl etc uses sodexo, centerplate, aramak, someone like that do this for them.
concessions aren't that big of a seller (i mean they are, but in the relative scheme of our athletic budget they're not). i know someone got a foia on louisville concessions a couple years ago. louisville averaged about $370,000 per home football game in total concession sales. you figure we draw half the crowd size, so $185,000 per game or $1.1m per football season in revenues. remember, that's revenue, not profit. you'd start from there and work your way down taking out the vendor's cut, the salaries needed to added several people to athletics department staff to oversee everything since sodexo is no longer doing it, costs of purchasing the pop, pretzels, etc, credit card transaction fees, etc. it adds up quickly. there's not a ton of money to be made there compared to letting sodexo handle all that and taking our 30% or whatever it is.
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the food sucks for sure. if it was smarter/better/more revenue someone else would be doing it on their own, but absolutely everyone from college to nfl etc uses sodexo, centerplate, aramak, someone like that do this for them.
concessions aren't that big of a seller (i mean they are, but in the relative scheme of our athletic budget they're not). i know someone got a foia on louisville concessions a couple years ago. louisville averaged about $370,000 per home football game in total concession sales. you figure we draw half the crowd size, so $185,000 per game or $1.1m per football season in revenues. remember, that's revenue, not profit. you'd start from there and work your way down taking out the vendor's cut, the salaries needed to added several people to athletics department staff to oversee everything since sodexo is no longer doing it, costs of purchasing the pop, pretzels, etc, credit card transaction fees, etc. it adds up quickly. there's not a ton of money to be made there compared to letting sodexo handle all that and taking our 30% or whatever it is.
Absolutely correct.
At the most Sodexo takes 40% of the money we pay for an item. Then after their expenses they give us 30% of that. Do the math. It is NOT a big revenue stream.
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Seems to me that with us needing all the revenue we can get, Marshall should look into offering more food choices and upgrading the concession service. We know the reason it's not been a revenue gangbuster - everyone knows the food sucks. If it were better I am pretty sure revenues would increase. Jmo
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Seems to me that with us needing all the revenue we can get, Marshall should look into offering more food choices and upgrading the concession service. We know the reason it's not been a revenue gangbuster - everyone knows the food sucks. If it were better I am pretty sure revenues would increase. Jmo
Keep in mind, Sodexo has a huge MU contract with the cafeteria's and sports venues. Marshall has to look at the big picture. They must be pleased with the contract with Sodexo since it has lasted for decades.
I would assume that others have put in a bid over the years but haven't been better than the one that exists.
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By bidding campus cafeterias and athletics all as one contract you pretty much ensure that only a few firms will bid. Maybe that's the most efficient way for MU (and others) to do it, but it eliminates a small outfit (with better food) who might only be interested in doing football.
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By bidding campus cafeterias and athletics all as one contract you pretty much ensure that only a few firms will bid. Maybe that's the most efficient way for MU (and others) to do it, but it eliminates a small outfit (with better food) who might only be interested in doing football.
by "small outfit" you mean a restaurant, they can work with sodexo to sell foot at our games. plenty of "small" vendors do exactly that.
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During the basketball season there was a brat and philly stand. Who ran that? I've never seen it at football games but that would be a welcome addition.
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Keep in mind, Sodexo has a huge MU contract with the cafeteria's and sports venues. Marshall has to look at the big picture. They must be pleased with the contract with Sodexo since it has lasted for decades.
I would assume that others have put in a bid over the years but haven't been better than the one that exists.
I have to wonder, has the University ever, or recently, done a survey of its on campus residence students on their opinions of the campus food service? The quality of food? Quantity? Value? etc., etc. I know that some of the major review organizations of colleges and universities do rate campus food services. A few years ago, I believe, JMU use to tout on their main web site that their campus food service program was ranked second in the nation by a Princeton University review. Maybe the MU administration should consider this one area that needs evaluated and possibly improved as part of its efforts to grow student enrollment at the school.
I am assuming that all students living in MU's dorms are required to buy meal plans from the school. It was that way decades ago (ugh!) and figure it hasn't changed.
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by "small outfit" you mean a restaurant, they can work with sodexo to sell foot at our games. plenty of "small" vendors do exactly that.
Can't believe you guys have no issues with the food selection.
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Can't believe you guys have no issues with the food selection.
Other than occasional box of popcorn at a basketball game, I can't tell you how many years it has been since I have bought anything other than a soda for my girlfriend at a game.
We often go out to eat on the way to a game or after the game so no need to eat at the stadium/arena. The same goes for the venues at other schools as well.
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For those coming from out of town/driving back same day it is an issue for FB. A 2-3 hr drive each way + a 4 hr game doesn't leave much time for a sit down type meal before or after game....especially with traffic and wait times. Even if I had time wouldn't it benefit MU if I spent $8-$10 a person in the stadium vs at a local restaurant?
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The food in the Big Green Room is good IMO, but that is not what I really am looking for when I come to the Joan.
When I come into town, I want a Huntington experience. For those of you who live in the land of milk and honey, you may not get it, but I don't necessarily want the best food. I want a Huntington experience. I like that Stewies and Gino's are sold at the stadium. I just wish that the best Stewarts and Gino's were sold at the stadium.
I've given up on my memories of hot Dr. Pepper and Lemon from the 70s, but I still think that replacing Kayo's Thunder Dog with a real Stewie and offering Gino's Pizza Bread's are realistic.
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During the basketball season there was a brat and philly stand. Who ran that? I've never seen it at football games but that would be a welcome addition.
That is also ran by Sedexo
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Other than occasional box of popcorn at a basketball game, I can't tell you how many years it has been since I have bought anything other than a soda for my girlfriend at a game.
We often go out to eat on the way to a game or after the game so no need to eat at the stadium/arena. The same goes for the venues at other schools as well.
Isn't that the point, though? If the food was better, I mean like a meal not a snack better, you wouldn't occasionally eat at the stadium? We went to a Steeler's game last year and they had amazing choices. The only thing bad about their food was deciding what to try. And with beer sales in stadium now, there are likely gonna be people that want a decent sandwich or dog to go along with it. Like when you see the guys at big venues grab a large sausage or brat and throw on a giant bun and then get a tong full of peppers and onions and start loading that puppy up. Or some pulled chicken/pork etc.
Just because we are using Sodexo, doesn't mean they can't change our menu around and offer better quality. They don't because they don't have to. If they don't sell a gd thing for a season, they might change their minds.
I don't understand why we'd have to spend a ton of money to do it ourselves. Let everything sold be contracted out on bid. Then you just need a coordination team to keep track of license and collect our portion. The sales would be staffed by each bidders employees. Right now Sodexo is employing people to do this and charging us for them, too. Anytime there is a middle man, the middle man is getting the bulk of the profit. That money would be better split between the food producers and the school.
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Isn't that the point, though? If the food was better, I mean like a meal not a snack better, you wouldn't occasionally eat at the stadium? We went to a Steeler's game last year and they had amazing choices. The only thing bad about their food was deciding what to try. And with beer sales in stadium now, there are likely gonna be people that want a decent sandwich or dog to go along with it. Like when you see the guys at big venues grab a large sausage or brat and throw on a giant bun and then get a tong full of peppers and onions and start loading that puppy up. Or some pulled chicken/pork etc.
Just because we are using Sodexo, doesn't mean they can't change our menu around and offer better quality. They don't because they don't have to. If they don't sell a gd thing for a season, they might change their minds.
I don't understand why we'd have to spend a ton of money to do it ourselves. Let everything sold be contracted out on bid. Then you just need a coordination team to keep track of license and collect our portion. The sales would be staffed by each bidders employees. Right now Sodexo is employing people to do this and charging us for them, too. Anytime there is a middle man, the middle man is getting the bulk of the profit. That money would be better split between the food producers and the school.
honest question, if your solution was such a financial windfall as you suggest (us getting more of the profit) why does literally no other fbs or nfl team do that? texas makes money hand over fist, but uses sodexo.
there just isn't enough money in it to go that route. we'd have to hire people to oversee the contract/financial part of it, we'd have to hire people to prep, cook, and serve all of the big green room and suites, we'd have to hire people to run around making sure things are going smoothly at all the concession stands on game day, etc.
of course, this is all assuming that we have enough restaurants that'd be willing to pay whatever fees/% we ask for to setup a concession stand. considering, that anyone other than a hot dog or pizza vendor is free to do so these days and no one has, i'd say they just might not be that interested.
the solution to our crap food situation isn't to do something no one else is even doing, it's to open up our contract the next time it's up and encourage centerplate and others to bid against sodexo to get the best possible outcome.
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Texas and others do use Sedexo but i'm quite sure they aren't serving bad boxed pizza as their feature menu item. This goes to the point that, even with Sedexo, MU has the power to do better and chooses not to. It's not rocket science. It's just lack of business acumen or being adverse to risk/creativity. BTW, many pro vendor stations are staffed by volunteers who keep the tips for their org. It may even be that way at MU as I don't recall the people wearing Sedexo uniforms/badges. And if the food is better in the Big Green room, does that mean MU is losing money on the BG room? I doubt it.
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Texas and others do use Sedexo but i'm quite sure they aren't serving bad boxed pizza as their feature menu item. This goes to the point that, even with Sedexo, MU has the power to do better and chooses not to. It's not rocket science. It's just lack of business acumen or being adverse to risk/creativity. BTW, many pro vendor stations are staffed by volunteers who keep the tips for their org. It may even be that way at MU as I don't recall the people wearing Sedexo uniforms/badges. And if the food is better in the Big Green room, does that mean MU is losing money on the BG room? I doubt it.
most of our concessions are staffed with volunteers. sodexo has several people though overseeing things because ultimately they're responsible for those concessions, if we ditched sodexo we'd have that responsibility on our laps.
i'm genuinely curious how you think marshall lacks business acumen or being adverse to risk or creativity here?
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Go to Sedexo's website and you will find that can offer just about anything.
MU should simply have a meeting and say: our stadium food sucks and want to upgrade it with the goal of offering more things and also increasing revenue. We want to know what other schools are doing and use them as a model. We would like to do it gradually over a 2-3 yr period. We also want to use fan feedback. Then have a list of some "must have" pieces....like 2-3 things people could consider as a meal etc. You might say, "how do you know MU hasn't done that". My answer is: since MU has literally made very few changes over last 30 years they haven't tried very hard.
In my mind, I see no reason why concessions should not be able to do a Costco type concession. They have a track oven. They offer pizza by the slice or whole pizza, hot dogs, a ciabatta (sp) bread turkey sandwich, a churro pretzel, 3 flavors of yogurt (an ice cream type yogurt machine), soft drinks and a few other things. The food quality is all top notch. All contained in an area approx. the same size as the current stadium vending booths.
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Go to Sedexo's website and you will find that can offer just about anything.
MU should simply have a meeting and say: our stadium food sucks and want to upgrade it with the goal of offering more things and also increasing revenue. We want to know what other schools are doing and use them as a model. We would like to do it gradually over a 2-3 yr period. We also want to use fan feedback. Then have a list of some "must have" pieces....like 2-3 things people could consider as a meal etc. You might say, "how do you know MU hasn't done that". My answer is: since MU has literally made very few changes over last 30 years they haven't tried very hard.
In my mind, I see no reason why concessions should not be able to do a Costco type concession. They have a track oven. They offer pizza by the slice or whole pizza, hot dogs, a ciabatta (sp) bread turkey sandwich, a churro pretzel, 3 flavors of yogurt (an ice cream type yogurt machine), soft drinks and a few other things. The food quality is all top notch. All contained in an area approx. the same size as the current stadium vending booths.
what if sodexo said no to our requests?
edit to add: costco food is great, that'd be a wonderful option. of course those pizza ovens run $10k or more each and our current facilities for concessions do not allow for actual cooking in them and require a substantial renovation to set them up to allow that.
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here's the real issue, the concessions food is just a throw-in. sodexo's real money maker is the right to handle all food service for the entire campus. that's where they make their money. i don't think i've ever seen a questionnaire regarding athletic concessions, but i do know they do several for campus wide food service. if the feedback in those questionnaires is positive the university will have no real reason to switch from sodexo.
i think we have a couple years left on our deal with them, i do wish mike and the athletic department would speak with the individuals on main campus about our concessions food. i do wish main campus would listen to them and put sodexo on notice that we'd like to see improvements to concessions food or we'll open up bidding in a couple years instead of just automatically renewing with them. but, the problem is athletics have very little leverage with sodexo because the concessions for athletics is just a small part of the whole operation, and most importantly a small part of revenues sodexo is generating. if main campus is happy with the service sodexo is providing to the major parts of the deal, the feedback campus wide is mostly positive, there's very little incentive or reason for them to do anything but continue with sodexo in the future.
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Texas and others do use Sedexo but i'm quite sure they aren't serving bad boxed pizza as their feature menu item. This goes to the point that, even with Sedexo, MU has the power to do better and chooses not to. It's not rocket science. It's just lack of business acumen or being adverse to risk/creativity. BTW, many pro vendor stations are staffed by volunteers who keep the tips for their org. It may even be that way at MU as I don't recall the people wearing Sedexo uniforms/badges. And if the food is better in the Big Green room, does that mean MU is losing money on the BG room? I doubt it.
I helped set up my kids' high school to run a stand at Panthers' games. We worked with a national company (not Sedexo) that handled every aspect of concessions at the Panthers' stadium, even for non-NFL games. We were paid a % of profit and then kept all of our tips. Had to have several point persons who went through training, then they trained the workers on gameday. The company handled vendor quality control and would check with our point persons on product quality. Changes in food offered through vendors was made by the company handling all the concessions -- including the cart vendors. I would have to believe Sedexo's contract with MU works in a similar way. (BTW, we make about $22-25K for a 14-15 game season -- a nice cash flow for high school athletics).
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here's the real issue, the concessions food is just a throw-in. sodexo's real money maker is the right to handle all food service for the entire campus. that's where they make their money. i don't think i've ever seen a questionnaire regarding athletic concessions, but i do know they do several for campus wide food service. if the feedback in those questionnaires is positive the university will have no real reason to switch from sodexo.
i think we have a couple years left on our deal with them, i do wish mike and the athletic department would speak with the individuals on main campus about our concessions food. i do wish main campus would listen to them and put sodexo on notice that we'd like to see improvements to concessions food or we'll open up bidding in a couple years instead of just automatically renewing with them. but, the problem is athletics have very little leverage with sodexo because the concessions for athletics is just a small part of the whole operation, and most importantly a small part of revenues sodexo is generating. if main campus is happy with the service sodexo is providing to the major parts of the deal, the feedback campus wide is mostly positive, there's very little incentive or reason for them to do anything but continue with sodexo in the future.
I would find it hard to believe that all the entities on campus that deal with Sodexo and food service in general don't meet a few times a year to make sure each person/department has no issues, or if they do, work together to get them resolved. Leverage the collective body. It's not rocket science. Sometimes I really think those at MU only do what is required just to make sure they keep a job.
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I would find it hard to believe that all the entities on campus that deal with Sodexo and food service in general don't meet a few times a year to make sure each person/department has no issues, or if they do, work together to get them resolved. Leverage the collective body. It's not rocket science. Sometimes I really think those at MU only do what is required just to make sure they keep a job.
a few times a year probably not, once a year most likely.
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I helped set up my kids' high school to run a stand at Panthers' games. We worked with a national company (not Sedexo) that handled every aspect of concessions at the Panthers' stadium, even for non-NFL games. We were paid a % of profit and then kept all of our tips. Had to have several point persons who went through training, then they trained the workers on gameday. The company handled vendor quality control and would check with our point persons on product quality. Changes in food offered through vendors was made by the company handling all the concessions -- including the cart vendors. I would have to believe Sedexo's contract with MU works in a similar way. (BTW, we make about $22-25K for a 14-15 game season -- a nice cash flow for high school athletics).
Exactly! It's not reinventing the wheel. There can be no logical reason that MU has literally the worst concession food/options I've seen anywhere
And I submit it likely has very little to do with Sedexo....as they work with thousands of org's....so it isn't like good food isn't available. Heck, Sedexo is putting an Aunt Annies sampler in Liberty University Library.
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a few times a year probably not, once a year most likely.
Communication has never been MU's strong point. Therein lies one of the issues. jmo.
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Exactly! It's not reinventing the wheel. There can be no logical reason that MU has literally the worst concession food/options I've seen anywhere
And I submit it likely has very little to do with Sedexo....as they work with thousands of org's....so it isn't like good food isn't available. Heck, Sedexo is putting an Aunt Annies sampler in Liberty University Library.
i'm not sure what them putting an aunt annies in at liberty, we have a full starbucks, a mini-starbucks, a pizza hut, chickfila, etc on campus?
there are a lot of places that have better concessions than us, but if you think we're the worst you really need to spend more time going to games at mac schools or cusa schools. largely pretty similar.
fyi, if any local vendor would like to become a partner for sports concessions they're free to do so. we have many local companies already doing so. i think a big issue with our food is the way our concessions are setup, you can't cook in them and the small concourses prevent having grills, etc just outside of the concession stand cooking fresh food. instead everything has to be made hours ahead of time and then stored in hotboxes until sold.
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Communication has never been MU's strong point. Therein lies one of the issues. jmo.
i agree with you there.
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Where there is a will there is a way. That's the last I'll say about it.
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I've given up on my memories of hot Dr. Pepper and Lemon from the 70s, but I still think that replacing Kayo's Thunder Dog with a real Stewie and offering Gino's Pizza Bread's are realistic.
I was beginning to think I had made up Hot Dr. Pepper and Lemon, no one I talk to has ever heard of it. That being my not from Huntington friends, I forget to ask the ones I used to go to games with.
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I also remember having hot Dr Pepper going to games with my dad.
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I would find it hard to believe that all the entities on campus that deal with Sodexo and food service in general don't meet a few times a year to make sure each person/department has no issues, or if they do, work together to get them resolved. Leverage the collective body. It's not rocket science. Sometimes I really think those at MU only do what is required just to make sure they keep a job.
Svherd, your last sentence goes right to the crux of the matter. It should be pretty clear that there is a lot of LAZINESS rampant in the upper levels of MU's athletic administration.
Turn over all food service at sporting events to an entity like Sodexho- -out of sight, out of mind. Another thing MH doesn't have to deal with. Same with running the school's athletic web site, Herd Zone. Let IMG essentially run it; MU just plugs in a little content. Site is mediocre, at best, and apparently MH could care less, even though content is often horribly outdated. Check under the athletic facilities: content about the DOT describes ongoing construction that will be completed in 2008!!! Content about the HC describes upgrades done in the 90s, crowds in 80s/90s, early 2000 improvements. Doesn't Hamrick realize that first place many prospective student athletes may go to find out about a school is the athletic department's official web site, as well as the University's main web site? MU is deficient in both in many ways.
I wonder if MH has ever really spent a lot of time thoroughly looking at the Herd Zone site to see how it can be improved? Wonder if he has checked sites of similar schools to see what others are doing as a means to improve MU's product? I do know that on the ETSU and JMU sites, you will frequently find IN DEPTH status assessments from their respective athletic directors detailing many issues/projects, etc., that the athletic departments are involved with, the status of such entities, concerns of fans, future goals, plans, etc. The AD at ETSU frequently has a detailed video directly covering and discussing ongoing issues in the school's athletic department. I do know that, IMO, that these other 2 schools sites are far superior to MU's in content, ease of navigation, and certainly not half obliterated by Ads like Herd Zone!!
Doesn't MU have a school of mass communications and journalism? Has Hamrick ever approached them to see if they could produce some athletic related videos for dissemination through the Herd Zone web site? Asked the school for possible assistance/suggestions on upgrading and improving the web site? Suggesting a collaboration where the athletic department may offer some stipend for senior or grad students in the SOMCC (journalism) over an academic semester/year to work on ideas/projects on improving the Herd Zone site, upgrading content, etc., which then could be passed on to IMG for implementation?
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Svherd, your last sentence goes right to the crux of the matter. It should be pretty clear that there is a lot of LAZINESS rampant in the upper levels of MU's athletic administration.
Turn over all food service at sporting events to an entity like Sodexho- -out of sight, out of mind. Another thing MH doesn't have to deal with. Same with running the school's athletic web site, Herd Zone. Let IMG essentially run it; MU just plugs in a little content. Site is mediocre, at best, and apparently MH could care less, even though content is often horribly outdated. Check under the athletic facilities: content about the DOT describes ongoing construction that will be completed in 2008!!! Content about the HC describes upgrades done in the 90s, crowds in 80s/90s, early 2000 improvements. Doesn't Hamrick realize that first place many prospective student athletes may go to find out about a school is the athletic department's official web site, as well as the University's main web site. MU is deficient in both in many ways.
I wonder if MH has ever really spent a lot of time thoroughly looking at the Herd Zone site to see how it can be improved? Wonder if he has checked sites of similar schools to see what others are doing as a means to improve MU's product? I do know that on the ETSU and JMU sites, you will frequently find IN DEPTH status assessments from their respective athletic directors detailing many issues/projects, etc., that the athletic departments are involved with, the status of such entities, concerns of fans, future goals, plans, etc. The AD at ETSU frequently has a detailed video directly covering and discussing ongoing issues in the school's athletic department. I do know that, IMO, that these other 2 schools sites are far superior to MU's in content, ease movement, and certainly not half obliterated by Ads like Herd Zone!!
Doesn't MU have a school of mass communications and journalism? Has Hamrick ever approached them to see if they could produce some athletic related videos for dissemination through the Herd Zone web site? Asked the school for possible assistance/suggestions on upgrading and improving the web site? Suggesting a collaboration where the athletic department may offer some stipend for senior or grad students in the SOMCC (journalism) over an academic semester/year to work on ideas/projects on improving the Herd Zone site, upgrading content, etc., which then could be passed on to IMG for implementation?
i hope to god our athletic director has better things to do than make sure all of the content is up to date on herdzone.
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i hope to god our athletic director has better things to do than make sure all of the content is up to date on herdzone.
Obviously, iherdya, like running an overall MEDIOCRE athletic program, which he is doing quite well, see all those CHAMPIONSHIPS the Herd has garnered during his TENURE!! Of course, he, and apparently you, are satisfied with the STATUS QUO!!
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Obviously, iherdya, like running an overall MEDIOCRE athletic program, which he is doing quite well, see all those CHAMPIONSHIPS the Herd has garnered during his TENURE!! Of course, he, and apparently you, are satisfied with the STATUS QUO!!
i think you have some solid ideas, you should share them with aaron goebbel and/or jason corriher.
i also think your vastly overstating what other schools are doing with their athletic sites. i've had to visit dozens and dozens of them in the last few months doing research, most of them are garbage with very limited information.
i do think we could be organizing our web stuff better, we do a lot of stuff on twitter that i don't see cross-promoted on herdzone.com, mike powers and crew do tons of video interviews with coaches, their press conferences, that we don't for some reason put on herdzone. mike does q&a on twitter every couple of weeks, and contrary to popular belief he answers the majority of the questions.
also, i like how we're lazy for using a food service vendor when every division 1 program does the exact same thing and has for 15-20 years.
fyi, img doesn't run our site and most prospective student athletes find out about our school, facilities, etc by the mass amounts of mail we send them with all of that information, as well as social media. i wish we'd do away with the one popover ad on herdzone (i usually use adblocker in chrome so don't see it), but the other ads are similar to what jmu is doing on their site.
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we don't see all of it, but some of the stuff our football recruits are tweeting that we're sending them is impressive. we hired a graphic designer for football recruiting and are churning out some really good looking stuff. i have a former business partner that's made a successful business doing similar things for texas a&m, tcu, etc. that's a really big market right now and looks like we're doing a great job of it.
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i think you have some solid ideas, you should share them with aaron goebbel and/or jason corriher.
i also think your vastly overstating what other schools are doing with their athletic sites. i've had to visit dozens and dozens of them in the last few months doing research, most of them are garbage with very limited information.
i do think we could be organizing our web stuff better, we do a lot of stuff on twitter that i don't see cross-promoted on herdzone.com, mike powers and crew do tons of video interviews with coaches, their press conferences, that we don't for some reason put on herdzone. mike does q&a on twitter every couple of weeks, and contrary to popular belief he answers the majority of the questions.
also, i like how we're lazy for using a food service vendor when every division 1 program does the exact same thing and has for 15-20 years.
fyi, img doesn't run our site and most prospective student athletes find out about our school, facilities, etc by the mass amounts of mail we send them with all of that information, as well as social media. i wish we'd do away with the one popover ad on herdzone (i usually use adblocker in chrome so don't see it), but the other ads are similar to what jmu is doing on their site.
It's lazy because there's been no change in the terrible quality in 20+ years. If they weren't lazy, they'd approach sodexho and attempt to have some things changed.
Maybe the university proper can learn some marketing tools from the AD.
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The best advise is never go to the game Hungary.;eat before you go in and after the game.We do need hot Dr Pepper in November.
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i think you have some solid ideas, you should share them with aaron goebbel and/or jason corriher.
i also think your vastly overstating what other schools are doing with their athletic sites. i've had to visit dozens and dozens of them in the last few months doing research, most of them are garbage with very limited information.
i do think we could be organizing our web stuff better, we do a lot of stuff on twitter that i don't see cross-promoted on herdzone.com, mike powers and crew do tons of video interviews with coaches, their press conferences, that we don't for some reason put on herdzone. mike does q&a on twitter every couple of weeks, and contrary to popular belief he answers the majority of the questions.
also, i like how we're lazy for using a food service vendor when every division 1 program does the exact same thing and has for 15-20 years.
fyi, img doesn't run our site and most prospective student athletes find out about our school, facilities, etc by the mass amounts of mail we send them with all of that information, as well as social media. i wish we'd do away with the one popover ad on herdzone (i usually use adblocker in chrome so don't see it), but the other ads are similar to what jmu is doing on their site.
Appreciate the info. I'm just saying that we could "tweak" our web site without that great of an effort in my opinion. When we had Jack Bogaczyk on the staff, who was a veteran and excellent "wordsmith", we could have easily had him update the data/narrative regarding all the athletic facilities. Can't believe that NONE of the improvements and/or upgrades that have been done since MH came to MU are discussed at all in the description of the Henderson Center. We have nothing, written description and picture, on the site about the Bobby Pruett Center, Dunfee weight room, etc.
I'm sure MU does ok in communicating with prospective student athletes it is in contact with. I'm just saying that the casual student athlete who just wants to learn about MU athletics and hasn't had ANY contact with anyone at the school would probably get on a computer and Google Marshall, find the school's web site and from there the athletic department site to learn a little about both. First impressions are often very important.
Of the names you mentioned, I told one of these gentlemen over TWO years ago about how out of date some of the data is on the web site and was told it would be "looked into". So much for that.
Appreciate the info about ad blocker and Chrome. Just wish I was "sophisticated" enough to take advantage of the info. Just so damn tired of having half the Herd Zone site blocked with ads every time I get on the site. Finally, I just believe that Hamrick could take the time and use Herd Zone to communicate, either through a letter to Herd Fans or, as I mentioned, a video. Twitter is limited, what, to 140 characters, and can be used for a brief response to a specific question. IMO, can create more questions, and possibly problems, than provide good answers in many instances. Just ask a certain fellow in DC!!
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I was beginning to think I had made up Hot Dr. Pepper and Lemon, no one I talk to has ever heard of it. That being my not from Huntington friends, I forget to ask the ones I used to go to games with.
I remember it because it was a huge deal. I was five and my dad had just joined the MU Faculty in 1972. We had season tickets starting in that year. Dad said that he only remembers them serving Hot Dr. Pepper for the Ohio game that year. Whether it was one game or more, it is a vivid memory.
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Svherd, your last sentence goes right to the crux of the matter. It should be pretty clear that there is a lot of LAZINESS rampant in the upper levels of MU's athletic administration.
Turn over all food service at sporting events to an entity like Sodexho- -out of sight, out of mind. Another thing MH doesn't have to deal with. Same with running the school's athletic web site, Herd Zone. Let IMG essentially run it; MU just plugs in a little content. Site is mediocre, at best, and apparently MH could care less, even though content is often horribly outdated. Check under the athletic facilities: content about the DOT describes ongoing construction that will be completed in 2008!!! Content about the HC describes upgrades done in the 90s, crowds in 80s/90s, early 2000 improvements. Doesn't Hamrick realize that first place many prospective student athletes may go to find out about a school is the athletic department's official web site, as well as the University's main web site? MU is deficient in both in many ways.
I wonder if MH has ever really spent a lot of time thoroughly looking at the Herd Zone site to see how it can be improved? Wonder if he has checked sites of similar schools to see what others are doing as a means to improve MU's product? I do know that on the ETSU and JMU sites, you will frequently find IN DEPTH status assessments from their respective athletic directors detailing many issues/projects, etc., that the athletic departments are involved with, the status of such entities, concerns of fans, future goals, plans, etc. The AD at ETSU frequently has a detailed video directly covering and discussing ongoing issues in the school's athletic department. I do know that, IMO, that these other 2 schools sites are far superior to MU's in content, ease of navigation, and certainly not half obliterated by Ads like Herd Zone!!
Doesn't MU have a school of mass communications and journalism? Has Hamrick ever approached them to see if they could produce some athletic related videos for dissemination through the Herd Zone web site? Asked the school for possible assistance/suggestions on upgrading and improving the web site? Suggesting a collaboration where the athletic department may offer some stipend for senior or grad students in the SOMCC (journalism) over an academic semester/year to work on ideas/projects on improving the Herd Zone site, upgrading content, etc., which then could be passed on to IMG for implementation?
If we didn't have IMG we wouldn't have jumbo video at football and basketball. We wouldn't have an upgraded sound system and so on. They fronted the money and were paid back over the term of our contract. A win-win. Same goes for Sodexo. They are paying for par
t of the concourse expansion in the west side. MU will pay them back overtime. The bookstore company is paying for the new stadium bookstore facility.
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Which has what to do with questions about the quality of food offerings/quality at Herd sports venues? Or about possible improvements to the Athletic Web site? So they front $$$ for some stadium upgrades, advertising ribbon, etc. As best as I can find out the concourse "upgrades" are minimal, at best. They give money, but that in itself doesn't mean that they should dictate things that the athletic department should be in charge of. If enough Fans, etc., complain and question the food service offerings at Herd venues, shouldn't the AD at least have the concern and gravitas to look into and address said complaints? And, if necessary, go to Sodexho, IMG, etc., to discuss and possibly address, work out the issues?
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Which has what to do with questions about the quality of food offerings/quality at Herd sports venues? Or about possible improvements to the Athletic Web site? So they front $$$ for some stadium upgrades, advertising ribbon, etc. As best as I can find out the concourse "upgrades" are minimal, at best. They give money, but that in itself doesn't mean that they should dictate things that the athletic department should be in charge of. If enough Fans, etc., complain and question the food service offerings at Herd venues, shouldn't the AD at least have the concern and gravitas to look into and address said complaints? And, if necessary, go to Sodexho, IMG, etc., to discuss and possibly address, work out the issues?
he can go to img, he probably can't go directly to sodexo because it's a school wide contract instead of an athletic department contract.
fyi, img doesn't dictate things, sponsors dictate things. they'd be similar with or without img. we've had a long relationship with img (isp before img bought them out), but i really like what learfield is doing these days. their purchase of sidearm sports was a great move in my opinion.
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Sodexos contract is close to being up. I dont see Marshall not resigning another contract with them.
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Sodexos contract is close to being up. I dont see Marshall not resigning another contract with them.
close is of course a relative term, but i believe it was a ten year contract starting 09-10 school year. so we'd have two more years left on the contract.
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Sodexos contract is close to being up. I dont see Marshall not resigning another contract with them.
so you expect them to sign another contract with Sodexo?
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so you expect them to sign another contract with Sodexo?
god i hope we at least accept other bids. i was trying to think when the sodexo contract originally started, i feel like it was early 00's? almost 20 years with the same company is a long ass time to just keep going and not take time to revisit things.
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close is of course a relative term, but i believe it was a ten year contract starting 09-10 school year. so we'd have two more years left on the contract.
Which means, iherdya, that Mike Hamrick has plenty of time to GET OFF HIS DUFF, look into and research thoroughly fans concerns/complaints, possible changes/additions to food offerings, etc., etc. Let's just hope he doesn't take his typical status quo, easy way out approach and just perfunctorily agree to go along with another contract with Sodexho with no real changes forthcoming.
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Which means, iherdya, that Mike Hamrick has plenty of time to GET OFF HIS DUFF, look into and research thoroughly fans concerns/complaints, possible changes/additions to food offerings, etc., etc. Let's just hope he doesn't take his typical status quo, easy way out approach and just perfunctorily agree to go along with another contract with Sodexho with no real changes forthcoming.
And if he gave a %^&* about the fans, I'd say you're right. You and I both know it won't happen though.
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Marshall needs to tell Sodexho to pound sand. They have wrung every cent they can out of what they provide to Marshall. Their "food" takes away from the game day experience. It's just another product that has turned to %^&* in the name of cost cutting. I am sure they thought nobody would notice. This is why many companies are getting away from outsourcing and bringing core functions in house. The ability to control your product is paramount.
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Which means, iherdya, that Mike Hamrick has plenty of time to GET OFF HIS DUFF, look into and research thoroughly fans concerns/complaints, possible changes/additions to food offerings, etc., etc. Let's just hope he doesn't take his typical status quo, easy way out approach and just perfunctorily agree to go along with another contract with Sodexho with no real changes forthcoming.
he can do all that, but ultimately the decision will be made by main campus whether to renew with sodexo or not. athletics concessions will play a part of that decision, but based on how little those revenues are compared to the rest of the contract it'll play a much smaller part on the decision making process.
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Marshall needs to tell Sodexho to pound sand. They have wrung every cent they can out of what they provide to Marshall. Their "food" takes away from the game day experience. It's just another product that has turned to %^&* in the name of cost cutting. I am sure they thought nobody would notice. This is why many companies are getting away from outsourcing and bringing core functions in house. The ability to control your product is paramount.
why would we tell sodexo to pound sand? i'm with you guys that concessions sucks, but the vast majority of feedback i've heard about their other services (that make up probably 80-90% of revenues they generate for us) has been great.
considering pretty much every d1, nfl, nba, nhl, etc team uses someone like sodexo for their concessions and basically every major college campus has a food service contract instead of doing it themselves, your outsourcing analogy really doesn't fit. that said, i know several major tech firms i've had to work with have pulled back on outsourcing, i know just as many that have started/increased. just because some are doing it, doesn't mean it's becoming the norm.
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he can do all that, but ultimately the decision will be made by main campus whether to renew with sodexo or not. athletics concessions will play a part of that decision, but based on how little those revenues are compared to the rest of the contract it'll play a much smaller part on the decision making process.
No doubt true, iherdya, but again I'd like to know if there have been ANY student evaluations/assessments of the campus food service? Would think that in exploring ANY and ALL possible areas of the University with the goal being to grow, and SIGNIFICANTLY grow, the enrollment over the next few years, that the administration would conduct a survey of the campus living experience, i.e., dorm life, quality of campus food services, etc. If such survey would identify similar problems, deficiencies, and dissatisfaction with Sodexho's performance in its operation of the campus food services matching some of the criticisms that have been mentioned regarding the company's performance, or lack thereof, at the Joan and the Cam, then maybe some changes overall need to be made.
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Nothing wrong with giving them the campus, but telling them that athletics will not be included unless X, Y, Z. Also, there is the matter of alcohol sales in stadium, now. That will be an increase in the athletic venue revenue stream with a major profit margin. Sodexho is not going to want to give that up, offering us a bit more leverage.
All I'm asking for is that they serve us (MU) as we require or we find another way. They've offered crap for 2 decades. They offer better other places. We certainly are not the lowest rung on the ladder of venues they service and have a good steady fanbase. No reason not to explore changes. And if they are unwilling, then pound sand.
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Nothing wrong with giving them the campus, but telling them that athletics will not be included unless X, Y, Z. Also, there is the matter of alcohol sales in stadium, now. That will be an increase in the athletic venue revenue stream with a major profit margin. Sodexho is not going to want to give that up, offering us a bit more leverage.
All I'm asking for is that they serve us (MU) as we require or we find another way. They've offered crap for 2 decades. They offer better other places. We certainly are not the lowest rung on the ladder of venues they service and have a good steady fanbase. No reason not to explore changes. And if they are unwilling, then pound sand.
Actually, Marshall only expects to make about $50k per year with beer sales. MU gets 30% of what Sodexo gets
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Nothing wrong with giving them the campus, but telling them that athletics will not be included unless X, Y, Z. Also, there is the matter of alcohol sales in stadium, now. That will be an increase in the athletic venue revenue stream with a major profit margin. Sodexho is not going to want to give that up, offering us a bit more leverage.
All I'm asking for is that they serve us (MU) as we require or we find another way. They've offered crap for 2 decades. They offer better other places. We certainly are not the lowest rung on the ladder of venues they service and have a good steady fanbase. No reason not to explore changes. And if they are unwilling, then pound sand.
as herdmeister mentions beer revenues isn't going to be THAT much. sodexo literally makes millions on the campus part of the food service contract and probably doesn't make even $1m on athletics.
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as herdmeister mentions beer revenues isn't going to be THAT much. sodexo literally makes millions on the campus part of the food service contract and probably doesn't make even $1m on athletics.
But given our dire financial situation with at the school, any increase in revenue is needed and with food inprovements, we can possibly make more. Add to that, beer sales and improved food options add to the gameday experience that MH has been harping on lately. It shouldn't be as hard to rectify as some suggest.
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But given our dire financial situation with at the school, any increase in revenue is needed and with food inprovements, we can possibly make more. Add to that, beer sales and improved food options add to the gameday experience that MH has been harping on lately. It shouldn't be as hard to rectify as some suggest.
i honestly think the biggest issue with our food concessions is right now there's no way to actually cook the food in the concession/during the game. literally everything is made hours ahead of time and then sits in a hotbox becoming gross. it'd take i'm guessing hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate our current concessions to actually cook food or build a large kitchen area near the stadium for mass food production during the game.
hopefully when we do a full concourse expansion we include areas for grilling so they can at least grill burgers, dogs, whatever for a better/fresher option.
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That is a great point about not being able to cook the food at the stadium....I have been at those concession stands for many years and never paid attention that no cooking goes on.....maybe serve sushi which does not need any cooking...catch it fresh from the Ohio.