sweetriot blog - cacao | culture | cool!

GEL coming soon!

GEL is not just a conference it is a special community of people committed to great design and great customer experiences.  It shares some similarities with the authentic community at SxSW.

Mark Hurst and Phil Terry hosted a spring gathering recently and sweetriot cacao was standing by.   I shared cacao with Ji Lee from the very creative Bubble Project and many others.  The venue was beautiful - the Tai Ping carpet company. 

The GEL conference is coming up in May, so if you are looking for new perspectives and creative inspiration, you may want to check it out.  I'm hosting a special cacao talk on Day 1 too!  :)

Emeril Live & Megan!

We just celebrated "World Megan Day" in the NYC office.  Why, you may ask?  Well, our special rioter, Megan, is moving back down South and has completed her 6 week project with the riot.  We are sad to see her go. 

To celebrate, Megan and I were invited to see the Food Network's Emeril Live as part of a special program with our partner, Balducci's.  sweetriot was featured in a special Balducci's giveaway given to every audience member!  During the live taping, Megan and I sat at the very FRONT & CENTER table!  As Emeril ran in, we joyously waved our sweetriot signs and proudly wore our "I Riot for Cacao!' t-shirts.

Can you imagine though...at the 1st break, the producer's told us we couldn't wave the signs and that we had to wear jackets over our shirts?!!   You would think we were criminals.  It truly is amazing how the signs and the word 'riot' scares people. 

Nonetheless, we had a great time watching Emeril cook up some amazing Italian.  He is warm and entertaining and considering we were just 3 feet away from him, he is probably still wondering, "Who were those Riot-Girls?"  Unfortunately, due to our hidden t-shirts, he may never experience the true joy of cacao.

The photos above were taken before the taping; once in the studio, no photos were allowed.  If you're interested, the episode is #404 on May 15th -- my birthday!  :)  BTW, have you been shut down lately for activist behavior?  Let me know.

Expo West was on fire!

The largest natural products show in the world, Expo West, just occurred , and we have just arrived home from the L.A. area.  It was a crazy show with many cacao lovers.  Our destination for Expo West was Anaheim, the home of DisneyLand. Unfortunately, we did not even see a bit of DisneyLand due to our busy schedule in the Convention Center.  Maybe next time.  :) 

Nina, Matt, Heidi and I all traveled to the show and spent time with many friends along the way including Guy, Jeff, Jim, & Amy Joe from Whole Foods, Ted from Jungle Products, Greg from Odwalla and Adina, the Pizza Pitza Guys and more!  Luckily, despite the fact that we are standing at a booth for 3 days, we tend to even have fun as you may be able to notice in the photos.

I have to tell you again that I have the most amazing team.  They organized everything for the show from NYC, and we had our most beautiful set up ever!  We even had a film festival backdrop to take photos of our partners & friends at the show.  Nice.  The Fancy Food Show in NYC is our next big gig...want to join us...let me know.

Disney visit!

Yes, we've arrived in LA and we're gearing up for Expo West.  While here, I had a chance to go to the magical land of Disney.  Not the park, but rather, the studio lot and main office where it all happens.  My very cool friend and fellow speaker from SxSW, Judith, invited me over for lunch --  it was a wonderful and sunny trip to Burbank.

I had a chance to see where movies are actually made and to see the 'campus' area where the Disney magic happens.   You can't help but love Mickey and his jovial friends!  Judith and I also made sweetriot sundaes (see above) - yum - I can't recommend sweetriot on ice cream more highly! 

Here are a few photos from the tour behind the scenes...

sweetriot Under Siege?

OK, you may have heard about the theft of sweetriot Cacao from my San Francisco rental car -- it happened just a few days ago.   Well, last night in NYC, my dear Nina, sweetriot's first full-time Rioter and a Very Important Rioter indeed, was robbed on an NYC subway car. 

What did the thieves take?   One special thing -- our main office phone -- the riot-line!  Yes, it's true, the riot-line is a roving, bubbling, rumbling mobile phone...our very own Treo, which Nina carries with her at any given second.   (See Nina above - would you steal from that smiling face -- it just doesn't make sense unless they are addicted to sweetriot and needing a fix.)

Between the cacao and the riot-line, we are now afraid that someone out there is trying to take over the business.   If you happen to see any cacao being sold on the streets of San Francisco and phone-calls coming in from the riot-line, beware, it's not us - they are rioter imposters.  Nina and I already have the NYPD and the SFPD on the chase, but if you hear anything, please let us know!

PS - We love NYC and swear this type of thing really doesn't happen often on the subway - it's a very safe city - come visit us!

A break for inspiring art.

I always find art inspiring and try to stop by a gallery whenever I have a few extra minutes.  My cool grocery buyer from Real Food on Polk Street (great store) in the loving and multi-ethnic neighborhood of Russian Hill, San Francisco was nice enough to tip me off about a gallery show opening at New Langton. 

I stopped into peruse and found a unique blend of contemporary art.  My personal favorite is pictured above which had Eastern European city maps inside of glass balls in a pattern on the wall with accompanying music (by Nina Katchadourian). San Francisco has a great art scene including first Thursday's, which showcase a string of galleries at once.  Check it out next time you are there. 

I just landed in LA where the sun if of course shining!  The team is flying in for Expo West, and we are excited.  Let us know if you want to stop by.

Livin' the West Coast La Vida

I'm on the West Coast for sweetriot business and have had a chance to see all sorts of friends along the way.  After the theft of my luggage, I stopped by the new Craigs List Foundation offices in San Francisco where they kindly handed me t-shirts for my 'lack of clothing' situation (Thank, Darian).  I saw my old Yahoo! and grad school colleagues at a really cool wine bar called Cav, and we topped off the evening with a few oysters at Zuni Cafe -- well worth a visit! 

The end of the SF weekend was spent with my old a cappella singing group, the She-E-O's.  We sang a bit, ate sweetriot, and talked about life.  It's good to stop for reflection every once in awhile, especially when you are starting a crazy company.  I'm off to LA soon...more on that later.

Seth Godin & Purple Cows

There is a great author, blogger, speaker, ex-Yahoo! who took the time to write about sweetriot today and his name is Seth Godin.  If you haven't seen his writing, it's time to take notice.

My personal favorite book of Seth's is 'Purple Cow.'  The book speaks about the importance of creating remarkable things and about being truly unique.   There really is no reason to create products which are alike.

When I recently emailed with Seth, he said he had a tin right near desk and that he loved it.  I was so excited as he truly is a great thinker in terms of wonderful products -- it was an honor to know sweetriot was already in his home.   Are there other 'thinkers' you follow and respect?  I'd like to know.

Craig Newmark, Heather Armstrong, and Jason Kottke at SxSW

I recently caught up with Craig Newmark, Heather Armstrong, and Jason Kottke at SxSW where I spoke on bootstrapping and starting a new company, one of my favorite topics.  :)  Luckily, I found out Craig, Heather and Jason are sweetriot lovers as we shared some cacao in the green room before our sessions. 

What is great about each of them is their unassuming nature.  They have created presence on the web but they are kind and approachable.  Like everyone else, they grapple with things like the growth of their website or how to get through all of their daily email. 

Craig spoke at SxSW on building community on Craig's List and his amazing role as customer service representative - yes, that is his title and he is committed to it.  Service is truly at the core of his work.  Jason Kottke of Kottke.org and Heather Armstrong of Dooce spoke on the growth of their individuals blogs and how to create a sustainable lifestyle around them.  Continue to watch out for all 3 of these great individuals.

Protect your sweetriot!

I'm in San Francisco and have to report that my rental car was broken into last night.  While in a protected parking lot, someone broke the glass of the back door and stole the sweetriot out of it. 

Literally half of my suitcase was sweetriot, so clearly, that's what they were after!  6 cases (72 tins), and 5 "I riot for cacao" t-shirts...what more could a cunning thief ask for?

I have no suitcase, no clothes, and am running dangerously low on sweetriot cacao.  Uh oh.  Wish me luck. 

Moral of the story:  protect your sweetriot.  You never know what thief may be just around the corner trying to steal your cacao!