The Never Heard of Side Of President Donald Trump

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Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

What Types of Companies Can Use CRM Systems?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are designed to assist companies in improving their relationships with their clients. They help the business to identify, attract and retain customers. A good CRM system supports client loyalty, which increases word-of-mouth advertising and results in additional clients for the business. One niche of a good CRM system is that it has a strong social media component, assisting the business in utilizing social media systems to greatly improve client relations. Think that your business isn’t the type of business that could benefit from a social CRM system? Think again! Many different companies can improve their bottom line using CRM systems, companies including:

1. B2B companies. A business that sells goods to other businesses is usually selling a lot of item volume at one time. This means that the loss of a single customer can be a huge financial loss for the B2B company. That’s why it is so important to keep all customers happy. CRM systems keep information organized and encourage prompt responses to issues with clients. This effective means of retaining customers can make a huge difference in a large business where losing even one customer can significantly decrease profits.
2. B2C companies. Although business-to-consumer companies work in smaller volumes than B2B companies, it is still crucial for them to retain their customers. CRM systems, especially those with a social component, help to simplify this process through extended communication with the customer. Additionally, B2C customers need to regularly add new customers to their client list in order to grow and CRM systems are designed to aid in this with targeted marketing that will facilitate lead generation in an efficient fashion.
3. Online retailers. Online retailers are competing with other retailers in their industry across the entire globe (rather than just locally like a physical store would). As a result, they really need to step up their game in order to stand out amongst the competition. Proper use of social CRM facilitates this, assisting the online retailers in building a brand as well as a credible following through social media interaction. Of course, some online retailers also have an individual storefront even though they do a lot of their sales online. In this case, the CRM system can also help to integrate the online and offline store so that customers find the entire shopping experience more pleasant.
4. Other e-commerce businesses. Online retailers make up a large percentage of the business that is done online but there are other e-commerce stores online as well. For example, B2B commodities exchange and the sale of subscriptions to premium web content are e-commerce sites that aren’t online retailers. Nevertheless, these types of business do benefit from the use of CRM systems for the same basic reasons that other online retailers do.
5. Mom and Pop stores. Many small independent location-based stores don’t feel like it is necessary to invest in the tools that are used by larger businesses. However, CRM systems can be really great for these small businesses. Such businesses benefit immensely from having an active social media presence in their community and industry niche. CRM systems that involve social integration make this much simpler and much less time-consuming, which is very important when you’ve only got a couple of people doing all of the work. And don’t worry; most CRM systems are designed to be highly user-friendly so even the least tech-savvy of Mom and Pop stores can get the hang of them rather quickly.

TYPES OF CRM SYSTEMS STRATEGIC CRM

 

Strategic CRM – Mainitain Long Term Relationship with Customers

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The aim of strategic CRM is to concentrate and enhance the knowledge about customers and use this knowledge to improve and customize the interactions with customers to maintain a long-term relationship with them. Determining and development of CRM strategies involves following steps: Amplify Commitment- Strategic CRM involves almost all the departments of an organization e.g. finance, sales, manufacturing, distribution, marketing etc. Hence it is essential to get support and use their important feedback while determining strategies. For this each and every department should be kept informed about all the developments and implementation of processes carried out or performed. Everyone should also be emphasized about the positive approaches and end results of the strategies. Building valuable project team- After organizational commitment is secured the next important stage in developing CRM strategies is building a determined and valuable project team. Each and every member of this team should be experiences and dedicated professional as these members will be the key decision makers in the whole process. They will be responsible to communicate all the related details and benefits of the CRM strategies to all the members of the organization. These members should be from following work groups to ensure all the aspects of strategies are addressed efficiently;

1. Management- Management professionals are responsible to provide motivation, leadership and management at every strategic development step especially when a change in business process or organizational structure is expected.
2. Technical- Automation of CRM strategies are important and must involve experienced technical hands. Also technical professional provide their useful contribution in building and managing software application and determining their compatibility with existing software features.
3. Sales and Marketing- These are final users of CRM system once the strategies are determined and implemented. The applied strategies are supposed to be successful once these users fell comfortable and satisfied by using all the CRM features. Being the end users these people are also responsible to provide useful feedbacks on efficiency and effectiveness while the strategies are in development phase.
4. Financial- The CRM strategies must also be gone through or evaluated under financial aspects. The financial professionals of the team can provide crucial analysis on assessment of enhanced productivity, evaluation of operational and production cost and final estimated cost of the project. They also help in assessing the investment cost per module or segment so that the product is delivered inside the budget.
5. External Experts- Many times some external consultants and other CRM vendors are substantially helpful in strategy development. These are people who are generally hired or outsourced for second fruitful opinion or if the organization is lacking with sufficient CRM experts. These professionals have vast experience in the same field and helps analyzing organization’s actual business needs, work with other professional to review and approve complex business structure and even helps in formulating the team members according to the expertise they posses.

Requirement Analysis- CRM strategies should always focus and concentrate on the actual business requirements. This process involves a series surveys and questionnaires with top level sales, marketing and financial managers to gather the actual expectations regarding the strategies to be implemented and what results these strategies will throw in the final stage. This is a very crucial factor in the development of an effective CRM system because if the results are not matching the actual requirement or if they diverge from focus points, then that means it’s not achieving the desired goals.

 

 

OPERATIONAL CRM

Operational CRM

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Operational CRM is mainly focused on automation, improvement and enhancement of business processes which are based on customer-facing or customer supporting. The main importance of a CRM system lies on how the selling, marketing and service oriented processes are automated, and for which operational CRM systems are embedded with following major automation applications:

1. Marketing automation- As the name implies, marketing automation is basically focused on automating marketing processes. In marketing, campaign management involves marketers to use customer specific information to determine, evaluate and develop communications that are targeted to customers in individual as well as multilevel or multichannel environment. Campaigns developed to communicate customers individually are easy and involves unique and direct communications. For multichannel environment the implementation of marketing strategies and campaign management is quite difficult and challenging. For example, some retailers have multichannel transactions like shops or stores, wholesale stores, websites, home shopping and even television shopping. Here integration and implementation of communication strategy is difficult and evaluation of performance and quality of campaigns needs to be automated and should be technologically sound across each of the channels. For handling this, a CRM marketing strategy called event-based marketing is inherited. Using event based marketing communication and offers are presented to customers as and when they are required. For example, credit card customer calls the call center for inquiring the current interest rates, this indicates that customer is specific about the interest rates and is trying to compare the interest rates and may switch to different competitor to find specific deals which suits him. Without wasting time the automated CRM system pops up an event of offer which is best suited for that customer and helps to retain him back.
2. Sales-force Automation- A CRM system is not only used to deal with the existing customers but is also useful in acquiring new customers. The process first starts with identifying a customer and maintaining all the corresponding details into the CRM system. This process can be distributed into many stages which includes generation of lead and then qualifying those leads as prospects. The Sales and Field representatives then try getting business out of these customers by sophistically following up with them and converting them into a winning deal. Automation of selling process is efficiently handled by Sales-force automation which automates all the methodologies or sales cycle and above described process sophisticatedly.
3. Service Automation- Service automation deals with managing organization’s service. The actual interactions with customers such as contact, direct sales, direct mail, call centers, data aggregation systems, web sites and blogs etc. are examples of operational CRM. Each interaction with a customer can be collected to the client database generally known as ‘customer’s history’ and the information can later be used wherever necessary. Any one in the organization can have access to this information about customer which gives a clear view of customers needs and important information on the customer such as products owned, prior support calls etc. It naturally eliminates the need to obtain this information individually from the customer. On the basis of the information, if required, the customer can easily be contacted at right time at the right place.

Operational CRM refers to services that provide support for various ‘front office’ business processes in helping organization to take care of their customers. Focus on customers’ value is important for a successful operational CRM strategy. Different customers have to be treated differently so information on variables like customers’ ranking, actual value and potential value is of strategic value.

 

ANALYTICAL CRM

Analytical CRM

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Analytical CRM supports organizational back-office operations and analysis. It deals with all the operations and processes that do not directly deal with customers. Hence, there is a key difference between operational CRM and Analytical CRM. Unlike from operational CRM, where automation of marketing, sales-force and services are done by direct interaction with customers and determining customer’s needs, analytical CRM is designed to analyze deeply the customer’s information and data and unwrap or disclose the essential convention and intension of behavior of customers on which capitalization can be done by the organization. Primary goal of analytical CRM is to develop, support and enhance the work and decision making capability of an organization by determining strong patterns and predictions in customer data and information which are gathered from different operational CRM systems. The following are the key features of analytical CRM:

• Seizing all the relevant and essential information of customers from various channels and sources and collaboratively integrating and inheriting all this data into a central repository knowledge base with a overall organization view.
• Determining, developing and analyzing inclusive set of rules and analytical methods to scale and optimize relationship with customers by analyzing and resolving all the questions which are suitable for business.
• Implementing or deploying the results to enhance the efficiency of CRM system and processes, improve relationship and interaction with customers and the actual business planning with customers.
• Combine and integrate the values of customers with strategic business management of organization and value of stakeholders.

Analytical CRM is a solid and consistent platform which provides analytical applications to help predict, scale and optimize customer relations. Advantages of implementing and using an analytical CRM are described below.

1. Leads in making more profitable customer base by providing high value services.
2. Helps in retaining profitable customers through sophisticated analysis and making new customers that are clones of best of the customers.
3. Helps in addressing individual customer’s needs and efficiently improving the relationships with new and existing customers.
4. Improves customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The power of CRM provides a lot of managerial opportunities to the organization. It implements the customer information in an intelligent way and creates views on customer values, spending, affinity and segmentation. Analysis is done in every aspect of business as described below:

1. Customer Analytics- This is the base analytic used to analyze customer knowledge base. It provides a better view of customer behavior and by modeling, assessing customer values and assessing customer’s portfolio or profiles and creates an exact understanding of all the customers.
2. Marketing Analytics- This helps discovering new market opportunities and seeks their potential values. It also helps in managing marketing strategies and scale and plan marketing performance at district, regional and national levels. Marketing analytics also focus on campaign management and planning, product analysis and branding.
3. Sales Analytics- Sales analytic provides essential environment to plan, simulate and predict sales volumes and profits by constantly analyzing organizational sales behavior. It helps in pipelining all the selling opportunities in an efficient way by indulging and improving the sales cycle.
4. Service Analytics- Analytical CRM has major role in enhancing the services which answering all the questions regarding customer satisfaction, quality and cost of products, complaint management etc. It even helps in improving and optimizing the services by sophistically analyzing the service revenue and cost.
5. Channel Analytics- This type of analysis helps to determine the customer behavior on channel preferences, like web channel, personal interaction, telephone channel etc. This information is efficiently integrated in customers’ knowledge base so that they can be contacted accordingly.

The essential results produced by Analytical CRM system could diversely help the organization to tackle customers’ based on values. It also helps in determining which customer is best to invest in, which can be treated at an average level and which should not be invested in.

 

 

COLLABORATIVE CRM

Collaborative CRM

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Collaborative CRM deals with synchronization and integration of customer interaction and channels of communications like phone, email, fax, web etc. with the intent of referencing the customers a consistent and systematic way. The idea is not only enhancing the interactions but also to increase and improve customer retention and liberty. Collaborative CRM entangles various departments of organization like sales, marketing, finance and service and shares the customer information among them to highlight better understanding of customers. For example, the information of preferred products could be shared with marketing department so that analysis can be performed in this aspect to provide preferred products to customers. The information regarding varied cost or price of a particular product in market defined by customers can be delivered to finance department so that strategies could be created to match the product cost with similar products in market and after analysis bring an affordable and efficient product in market. The information regarding a specific service which is not installed in the company’s environment and intimated by the customers can be transferred to service

department to improve or install that particular service in-house. All this is done efficaciously within the range of channels so that the process automates the needs and minimal time is required for fulfilling these needs.

Collaborative CRM can be broadly identified by two aspects:

1. Interaction Management- This management process deals with designing the communication or interaction channel process within an organization which is specific to customer interaction and finally enhancing the extent of communication between both the parties. The communication channel depends on the customers’ preference on how they require the interaction to be dealt with. Some customers prefer to be contacted via phone and email because of more comfort ability or non availability of manual interaction due to no time or unavailability of resources. Some of them prefer to have live online meeting or web meeting to reduce the travel time and lack of time or may be they prefer more clarified real time environment by sitting at desk and transact. Some of the customers insist for agent conducted services which is often face-to-face interaction as they believe that this way is more efficient and conclusive. Depending on these channels of interaction it is very important for organization to fulfill these needs of customers and gather information from them and implementing it into the CRM before interacting to enhance the interaction power.
2. Channel Management- After analyzing and implementing the interaction medium it’s important to enhance the power of channels through which the customers are interacted. By using latest technological aspects for improving channel interaction could help to contact customers in an efficient way and gather information from them to help organization to understand the customers. Hence it is important for an organization to clearly arrange the channel responsibilities and duties.

Below are advantages of Collaborative CRM:

• Enables valued customer interaction across the channels.
• Entangles web or online collaboration to cut down service cost of customers.
• Integrates customer interaction with call centers to enable multi-channel interaction with customers and helps them make understand the overall process vales.
• Describes a view of integrated customer’s details during interaction to server them in a better way.

This CRM solution brings customers, process and strategies and data together so that organizations could serve and retain customers more efficiently.

Social Networks and CRM

 

Customer satisfaction is an integral part of company growth and success. Customer relationship management (CRM) systems offer businesses a way to keep current customers satisfied, as well as a way of finding new customers. Social networking can play a huge role in both these endeavors.

Many companies incorporate CRM systems in order to manage and organize all the contact it has with both existing and prospective customers, through software or Web-based approach that supports these ventures. For example, customer data and interactions can be entered, stored, and accessed by personnel based on several categories. The data then can be used to encourage better customer service with comprehensive information, and to improve targeted marketing. Social networking offers yet another channel to accomplish both of these goals.

This natural marriage between next-generation social technologies and enterprise platforms brings together a powerful tool for the ever-changing corporate world. Whether your business is large or small, the benefits are countless. For example, a large corporation can use social networks for providing better customer service to their already large customer base. A small company may use social networks to reach more people and spread the word of their products and services. In the end, the main goals are providing better customer service and attracting new customers.

While the list of social networking possibilities are many, here are a few examples of social networks being used for customer relationship management:

Facebook

* Create a profile page free of charge and tell everyone why your company is the best. On your profile page you add logos, videos of products, customer testimonials, and pictures.
* Facebook is all about meeting people and growing your friend list. Use this to your company’s advantage by accepting new friends, all while creating more business.
* On Facebook, you have a “wall” where customers can post comments and engage in dialogue with one another. This can also be useful when connecting with product representatives, and sister companies.
* Use the polls on Facebook to get quick information and opinions from your actual customers. This knowledge is extremely valuable when making decisions about your future.

Blogs

* Having the customer be a part of the conclusion/solution can ensure a satisfied customer, because he or she helped solve the problem.
* Communicating with the customer may help alleviate simple tensions, and resolve misunderstandings. Employees tend to feel less stress when customers aren’t explosive and unhappy.
* Social networking is in real-time, which allows companies to be responsive and accurate. Customers are used to being frustrated by being put on hold in call centers. Blogs can help resolve this problem by offering an easy way to be heard.
* Sometimes customers are more comfortable reaching companies in a way that makes them relaxed. A blog can offer a non-confrontational way to ask questions and make suggestions in a casual environment.

Facebook and blogs are just two examples of how social networking is advancing customer relationship management. In general, integrating CRM social networking can bring companies to the forefront of the business world. It helps companies reach customers in a safe, easy to use, and quick way. In a world where customers want results fast, bridging the two channels together creates an innovative way to approach customer service.

 

What’s in a Name? Five Companies’ Mysterious Monikers

By: Molly Mann

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Always Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola was invented in 1885 by a pharmacist named John Pemberton, who intended his product to become a cure for headaches and fatigue.

The three key ingredients in the original Coca-Cola were cocaine (coca), caffeine (cola), and carbonated water. (In the late 1800s, the idea that carbonated or mineral water had healing properties was a popular belief.)

According to Evita Ochel of EvolvingWellness.com, the cocaine in Coca-Cola was banned by the early 1900s, but the company kept the name. Coca-Cola is now a major corporation with a portfolio of more than 3,300 beverages.

Say Pepsi, Please
Pepsi-Cola is another soft drink with an interesting story behind its name. Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist and drugstore owner in New Bern, North Carolina, invented Pepsi in 1898, according to PepsiCo, Inc.

During the hot summer, Bradham began experimenting with combinations of spices, juices, and syrups in his search for a refreshing new drink to serve his customers. His final creation was a unique mix of carbonated water, sugar, vanilla, rare oils, pepsin, and kola nut extract; it became so popular that his customers named it Brad’s Drink. Bradham, however, noticed that sales were growing and decided to form a company to market his beverage. He bought the trade name Pep Cola for $100 from a competitor in Newark, New Jersey, that had gone broke, and registered his own trademark, Pepsi-Cola, in 1903.

Initially, Bradham mixed the syrup himself and sold his drink exclusively through soda fountains, but he soon realized that he would do better to bottle Pepsi and allow his customers to drink it anywhere.

Bradham lost his company after gambling on the fluctuations of sugar prices during World War I. He had believed that prices would rise, but when they fell instead, they left him with an overpriced sugar inventory, and Pepsi-Cola went bankrupt in 1923. Then, in 1931, the Loft Candy Company bought Pepsi-Cola, and Loft president Charles G. Guth reformulated the drink, reviving the brand and beginning years of rivalry with competitor Coca-Cola.

The Name Game
Have the names of these companies determined their successes? I suppose there are more important things than a brand, but sipping a Brad’s Drink while BackRubbing on my Bok Choy doesn’t quite trip off the tongue as easily as having a Pepsi while Googling on my Apple.

Always Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola was invented in 1885 by a pharmacist named John Pemberton, who intended his product to become a cure for headaches and fatigue.

The three key ingredients in the original Coca-Cola were cocaine (coca), caffeine (cola), and carbonated water. (In the late 1800s, the idea that carbonated or mineral water had healing properties was a popular belief.)

According to Evita Ochel of EvolvingWellness.com, the cocaine in Coca-Cola was banned by the early 1900s, but the company kept the name. Coca-Cola is now a major corporation with a portfolio of more than 3,300 beverages.

Say Pepsi, Please
Pepsi-Cola is another soft drink with an interesting story behind its name. Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist and drugstore owner in New Bern, North Carolina, invented Pepsi in 1898, according to PepsiCo, Inc.

During the hot summer, Bradham began experimenting with combinations of spices, juices, and syrups in his search for a refreshing new drink to serve his customers. His final creation was a unique mix of carbonated water, sugar, vanilla, rare oils, pepsin, and kola nut extract; it became so popular that his customers named it Brad’s Drink. Bradham, however, noticed that sales were growing and decided to form a company to market his beverage. He bought the trade name Pep Cola for $100 from a competitor in Newark, New Jersey, that had gone broke, and registered his own trademark, Pepsi-Cola, in 1903.

Initially, Bradham mixed the syrup himself and sold his drink exclusively through soda fountains, but he soon realized that he would do better to bottle Pepsi and allow his customers to drink it anywhere.

Bradham lost his company after gambling on the fluctuations of sugar prices during World War I. He had believed that prices would rise, but when they fell instead, they left him with an overpriced sugar inventory, and Pepsi-Cola went bankrupt in 1923. Then, in 1931, the Loft Candy Company bought Pepsi-Cola, and Loft president Charles G. Guth reformulated the drink, reviving the brand and beginning years of rivalry with competitor Coca-Cola.

The Name Game
Have the names of these companies determined their successes? I suppose there are more important things than a brand, but sipping a Brad’s Drink while BackRubbing on my Bok Choy doesn’t quite trip off the tongue as easily as having a Pepsi while Googling on my Apple.

ask and it shall be given to you

• Gordon Ramsay at Claridges is considered the most glamorous of all of Ramsay’s London restaurants. It is estimated that it would cost approximately £72 for dinner and drinks as a bottle of house wine is priced at about £20. They offer a fixed price lunch of 3 courses, priced at £30. At Gordon Ramsay on Royal Hospital Road, you can expect to have to pay about £60 for dinner per person. A bottle of house wine here costs £18. This restaurant won the LondonEats.com Award for Best Overall Restaurant in 2003 and 2002. It also won the Time Out Awards for Outstanding Achievement in 2002. At Gordon Ramsay’s Boxwood Café, a Set Lunch Menu is priced at £21 for 3 courses. The A La Carte Menu has starters which are from £7.50 to £13.50 while the mains are from £14 to £25. They offer a Taster Menu for £55 which comprises 6 courses. The house wine at this venue costs £26 per bottle.

• Which Is The Most Expensive Restaurant In The World?

  Posted: Fri, 10 Sep 2010 10:55:16 +0000

  This is the type of thing that Forbes compiles lists of. Keep in mind restaurants make their wild profits on alcohol, not on food. This list only details expensive food. As for expensive booze, the sky is the limit. For wildly extravagant dining experiences, head for Tokyo: The Aragawa will set you back US $277 per head for a basic beef-based meal (but said to be some of the finest beef in the world). Drinks may not be included. Toronto: Well, 2 hours north driving, actually. $213 per head, for farm-grown produce on Eigensinn Farm. Paris: Arpege, meals heavy on veg but still cost a fortune: plan on $211 per person. London: Sketch, $176 per person, features New French cuisine (don’t ask me how that differs from Nouveau cuisine). Zurich: Petermann’s Kunststuben, $151 per head for a 6 course meal (wine is extra, though). Sydney: Tetsuya’s Restaurant, $135. Classic basics. Berlin: Vitrum, $118 per head. Classic German cuisine under chandeliers. Vienna: Steirereck, $114 buys you a 6 course meal for one. Wine still extra, of course. Madrid: Zalacain: 3 courses for $108, Classic Spanish cuisine and modern fare. Amsterdam: Yamazato, Japanese theme, $108 gets you 7 courses.

• How Many People Died In The Blitz?

  Posted: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:39:50 +0000

  The Blitz was the non-stop bombing done on the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany. It occurred between 7th September 1940 and 16th May 1941. The bombing was done through Luftwaffe and it struck a number of cities and towns all across the United Kingdom, thought it main attack was concentrated on London. The Blitz bombing resulted in the death of forty three thousand people and shattered more than a million homes. The main objective of the German bombing strategy was to knock Britain out of the war, which it could not achieve. The Blitz bombing was the initial example of Strategic Bombing. The meaning of the German Word “Blitz” is “Lightning”. The last major attack of the Blitz Bombing occurred on 10th May 1941, this attack resulted in many important buildings like the British Museum, House of Parliaments and St James Palace either being destroyed or damaged.

• What Is The Function Of A Nucleus?

  Posted: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:32:01 +0000

  Nucleus is the master organelle of all living cells .It is called as the brain of the cell. All the major functions of the cell are performed under the instruction of nucleus. In animal cells it is present in the middle of the cell whereas in plant cells it is pushed towards the periphery. Nucleus contains chromatin material.The chromatin material consist of DNA which is the hereditary material of the cell.The major functions are:-
  1.It is involved in cell division.
  2.It stores all the information that is to be transferred to the next generation.
  3.Assembly of ribosomes takes place in the nucleolus present inside the nucleus.
  4.DNA replication and transcription processes take place inside the nucleus.
  Transcription is the formation of mRNA. This messenger RNA then plays its role in the translation, the process of protein synthesis.Thus the information generated by nucleus governs the formation of enzymes and other proteins that carry out all the processes of body.

• Why Did Mark David Chapman Shoot John Lennon?

  Posted: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:28:27 +0000

  Because he was seriously delusional. He had convinced himself that the only way to show himself an important person was to do something as audacious as killing one of the most influential pop idols of the 20th century. Chapman had a history of mental illness and drug addiction. He was working as a security guard in Hawaii when he travelled to New York City with the express purpose of killing Lennon. He made this trip several times, but only finally did the horrible act in December, 1980. Chapman was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison for this cold-blooded and premeditated act. He’s been up for parole several times since the year 2000, but repeatedly denied. He is kept separate from other prisoners for his own safety, and still receives death threats daily in the mail. Chapman has occasional conjugal visits with his wife of 30 years, Gloria. He has claimed in his recent statements to the parole board that he now understands that Lennon was a real person, not just a cardboard cutout and pop icon. But the parole board has remained unconvinced that it would be safe to let him out.

• How Is The Name Hermione Pronounced?

  Posted: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:34:41 +0000

  Anyone who has read the Harry Potter books will know the answer to this one, because it is a cause of arguments in at least one of the books. The correct pronunciation is her-MY-o-nee, and not HER-mee-own as is often supposed. (Hermione is a main character in the JK Rowling series, Harry’s closest friend apart from Ron.) The name is ancient Greek in origin. It is derived from the messenger god Hermes (Mercury in Roman mythology) although the exact meaning is uncertain. In Greek mythology it is the name of the daughter of Helen of Troy and her husband Menelaus. Hermione marries her cousin Orestes (the son of Agamemnon, who later murders his mother, Clytemnestra.) To English speakers it may be better known as the name of the virtuous and patient wife of king Leontes in Shakespeare’s “A Winter’s Tale,” who is wrongly accused of adultery; but it has never been a common name.

• What Are Tissues?

  Posted: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:32:59 +0000

  A tissue is a part of the body in which cells of the same type work together to perform the same function. Examples of human tissues include epithelial tissue ~ the thin sheets of tissue that line parts of the body such as the intestines and the lungs. Nervous tissue is formed from nerve cells and different types of nervous tissue form the nervous system, the brain, spinal cord and nerves. Muscular tissue contains specialised muscle cells that can respond to signals from nerves and bring about movement in the body. The study of how cells work together to form tissues is called histology. Histologists look at cross sections of tissues to see how the individual cells are arranged. They usually use a powerful light microscope to do this as electron microscopes are reserved for studying individual cells and the inside of cells. It is important for trainee doctors to recognise normal histology, and part of a doctor’s training involves work at the microscope as well as dissection and anatomy lessons.

• What Is Egypt’s Annual Rainfall In Inches?

  Posted: Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:09:06 +0000

  Egypt receives only about 3.15 inches of rain per year in some parts of the country. Rain mostly falls along the coast of Egypt. The wettest region of the country is the area around the city of Alexandria. On an average, it receives only about 7.87 inches of rain annually.

  

  Daveness_98

  Alexandria has one of the highest percentages of relative humidity in the country. Sea breezes, however, help keep the moisture down considerably, and even though it is very humid, it is quite comfortable. As the rain moves southwards, the amount of rainfall received by the southern regions declines sharply. Cairo, the capital of Egypt, experiences very low relative humidity and receives only 0.39 inches of rain every year. On an average, the relative humidity in summer in Cairo on an average is about 77 per cent. The humidity is very low during the rest of the year and the areas south of the Egyptian capital receive extremely less rainfall.

• How Many Sonnets Did Shakespeare Write?

  Posted: Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:05:53 +0000

  William Shakespeare was well known for his sonnets, many of which had love as the main theme. There were 154 sonnets that he wrote in total and 152 of them were published in ‘Shakespeare’s Sonnets’ in 1609, and the other two sonnets were published previously in ‘The Passionate Pilgrim’ in 1599.

  

  Joanna D R

  In addition to his sonnets, he also wrote a number of other poems, which were longer. In ‘Shakespeare’s Sonnets’ some of the sonnets are actually a parody of some of the themes he covers, such as love and beauty. In ‘The Passionate Pilgrim’, number 138 and number 144 out of his collection of 150 sonnets appear. One of Shakespeare’s sonnets, (sonnet 18) is one of the more famous sonnets, and has been featured in many films such as ‘Shakespeare in Love’ and ‘Clueless’. The line ‘Rough Winds do shake the darling buds of May’ was also an inspiration, as the television programme ‘The Darling Buds of May’ took its name from this line.

• What Is The Deepest Mine In The World, And How Deep Is It?

  Posted: Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:13:04 +0000

  The deepest mines are vertical shaft mines; they literally are just tunnels into the ground going straight down, with side tunnels off the sides. The records, so far, are for these types of mines to reach about 3.5 km down (just over 2 miles) into the Earth’s crust. Most of these are in South Africa, extracting gold and diamonds. Possibly the deepest is East Rand, which has working levels extending to 3585 meters. At that depth the pressure on the rock is enormous. So much so that that when a tunnel is created, the rock face (in the tunnel) is prone to exploding. These explosions are called rock burst, and account for something like 250 deaths each year in South African mines. It’s also very hot down this far into the Earth’s crust. So much so that people can only work with industrial strength air conditioning units. The Western Deep mines (also working depth to about 3.5 km deep) is being extended to 4.1 km deep. The plan is to eventually get to 5 km deep, but it’s a tall order. It just gets too hot (estimated temperatures of 70 deg. C being quoted) and dangerous (rock burst, again) to send people down there.

• What Do Our Tonsils Do?

  Posted: Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:53:11 +0000

  Most people think we just have two tonsils, located on either side of the throat just behind the tongue. But this isn’t true. There are several pairs of tonsils of different sizes. Tonsils are small bundles of a special kind of tissue called “lymphoid”.Because of their location in the throat, they have a special job. They are the first line of defense against infections entering through the nose and mouth. The largest pair near the palate are “the palatine” tonsils. High in the back of the throat are some smaller ones. These are called “the adenoids”. Other small tonsils are found just below the surface in the back of the tongue, and there are still others in the back of the pharynx. The tonsils are covered by the same smooth membrane that lines the mouth. In the tonsils, this membrane dips down to form deep, thin pockets called “crypts”. The crypts trap germs and other harmful material from the mouth. The white blood cells surround the germs and help to destroy them. So fighting infection is the normal work of the tonsils. Sometimes germs become active inside the tissue of the tonsils, and this may cause inflammation of the whole tonsil. This inflammation is called “tonsillitis”. One or usually both palatine tonsils become enlarged red, and sore. The crypts are swollen and sometimes discharge thick pus. This is acute tonsillitis. It is an infection that happens suddenly and usually goes away in four or five days. Acute tonsillitis develops more often in childhood than in infancy or adulthood. It also happens more often during the winter months, when colds are common.

• What Was The Original Name Of Butterfly?

  Posted: Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:26:57 +0000

  ‘Buttorfleoge’ was the Old English word used for butterflies. The apparent reason is that they believed that butterflies used to steal milk. This same belief gave rise to a similar word in Dutch and German.

  

  HaPe_Gera

  There is an alternative folk etymology that the term has evolved as a contraction of the term ‘butter-coloured fly’. This term was generally used for the Brimstone Butterfly (that is the Gonepteryx rhamni), which often is the first butterfly of Spring. A lot of people are of the mistaken opinion that the word butterfly comes from a metathesis of the word “flutterby”. There are four stages in the lifecycle of a butterfy: Egg; larva (known as caterpillar); Pupa (chrysalis); Adult butterfly (imago). There are a lot of folk tales associated with butterflies. One Japanese superstition states that a person you love the most is coming to meet you if a butterfly enters your guestroom and sits behind the bamboo screen. On the contrary, a large number of butterflies is seen as a bad omen.

• In Which Year Was The First Electronic Computer Made?

  Posted: Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:18:53 +0000

  The Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC), first electronic digital computer, was built during 1937-42. It was built by John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry at Iowa State University. Atanasoff is now credited to the discovery of the first digital computer. The ABC incorporated several major innovations in computing including the use of binary arithmetic, regenerative memory, parallel processing, and separation of memory and computing functions. It has been considered for a long time that the first electronic digital computer was ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) and one can find that name in almost any Computer Science books as the first example of the first generation digital computer systems. ENIAC was built at the University of Pennsylvania under the direction of John Mauchly and J. P. Eckert. Work on ENIAC began in 1943 and it was completed in 1946. However, in the early seventies it was proven that the ideas behind ENIAC were taken from the ABC (Atanasoff-Berry Computer) computer.

• How Many Calories Would You Burn Swimming For 30 Minutes?

  Posted: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:12:14 +0000

  The amount of calories burnt when swimming for 30 minutes is relative to body type, sex and metabolism, as well as the intensity of the exercise.

  

  Jim Bahn

  However, for a woman of average weight and size, 30 minutes of swimming should burn 285 calories for back stroke, 273 for breast stroke, 261 for fast crawl, 285 for slow crawl, 204 for side stroke, and 105 for treading water. These figures are based on an average weight of 123lb. In comparison, a man weighing an average of 170lb, would receive the following calorie results: 390 for back stroke, 375 for breast stroke, 360 for fast crawl, 390 for slow crawl, 270 for side stroke and 144 for treading water.

• Who Has The Highest Divorce Settlement?

  Posted: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:30:55 +0000

  The world’s highest divorce settlement or most expensive divorce is of Rupert Murdoch and His wife Anna Murdoch which is of $ 1.7 Billion. Take a look at
  World’s Most Expensive Divorce
  and
  List Of World’s Most Expensive Divorces-You need to scroll down the page to take a look at those list of divorces.
  

• What Three Colours Make Up White Light?

  Posted: Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:52:16 +0000

  White light is not specifically a colour, but rather a spectrum containing all the frequencies of visible light. It can be produced using three frequencies of light, or primary colours. The most common are red, green and blue, although any type of colour can be used. When combined at the appropriate intensity, these colours will produce a white effect. This process is employed on television and computer screens through different levels of intensity to produce varying degrees of colour.

• How Many Arms Does A Starfish Have?

  Posted: Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:43:57 +0000

  Starfish are from the family in the animal kingdom called the echinoderms. There are several species of starfish and their ‘arms’ are more properly called rays. Most species of five rays, but some can have four and some have nine. Some species have a variable number, but always four, five or nine. Pycnopodia helianthoides, the sunflower star starts with around 9 rays and then add more as they grow. Adults usually have over 20.

  

  nugunslinger

  If a starfish loses one of its rays, it can quite often regenerate its tissue completely to form a new one. Usually, regeneration is only possible if the central part of the body, the part that doesn’t belong to the separate rays, is intact. Bizarrely, though, there are some species that can regenerate everything. Starfish from the Linckia species can be torn apart and a new starfish will grow up from each of the mangled fragments. The span of a starfish varies according to the species ~ the smallest are about 1 inch across from ray end to ray end and the largest are a whopping three feet.

• What GCSE’s Do I Need To Have To Get Into University?

  Posted: Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:37:46 +0000

  You will need A levels first, and it depends on what you want to study; also, different universities have different requirements. If you wanted to study a science subject, for instance, you would normally be expected to have two or more science Games; but for other subjects eg arts, you wouldn’t. Having said that, universities love science subjects because fewer people are doing science now, so if you did have more than one science GCSE it would give you an advantage anyway. The best way to get an idea is pick a university or college you might be interested in, go to their website and look at their entrance requirements. You can usually contact them direct too if you have more questions. Good luck.

• Where Was The First Battle Of The American Civil War Fought?

  Posted: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:02:13 +0000

  The first battle of the American Civil War was fought at Fort Sumter between the Union and Confederate armies. Fort Sumter was located in the Charleston Harbor, which was situated in the state of South Carolina. South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union, acting on its threat, which the Southern states had issued lest Abraham Lincoln gets elected as the next president of the United States. The battle at Fort Sumter was fought on the 12th of April in the year 1861. The reason for the fight was the conflict of land of the Fort Sumter between the Union and the Confederate States of America. The conflict soon turned into a full-fledged battle when both of the sides refused to give up Fort Sumter and despite of the strength of the Union army in terms of supplies and the number of soldiers, it was the Confederate army that won the first battle of the American Civil War at Fort Sumter.

• How Many Living Descendants Does William The Conqueror Have?

  Posted: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:45:17 +0000

  William the Conqueror (he of 1066 at the Battle of Hastings, England, all that) had at least 3 sons who survived infancy and an uncertain number of daughters (probably 7) with his wife Matilda.  All of the Royal Houses of Europe are descended from William and Matilda.  Anyone who can trace their ancestry to even a minor royale can claim descent. Assuming that most of William’s children had at least ten children, and keeping in mind that because these were wealthy people most of whose children tended to survive infancy, William and Matilda are ancestors to probably millions of people today.  One estimate is that between 1 and 1.5 million Americans alone can claim descent. Assuming that individuals in each generation produce an average of 5 children every 35 years, until 2005, that would allow 27 generations from 1066 to 1915 leaving 10*5^27 descendants, or approximately billions of  BILLIONS of descendants.. Assuming people never married their distant cousins (which they do).  Neverthless, it would be kind of surprising if many people of European ethnic origin aren’t descended from Wiliam the Conqueror.

• What are hawks’ enemies?

  Posted: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:37:42 +0000

  It has been said that crows are the enemies of the hawk. They have learned that ‘mobbing’ (the correct term) distracts the hawk so it can’t hunt and generally so badly annoys the bird that it leaves the area. With a hawk gone, the crows are safer so they’re really doing a ‘neighborhood watch’ which includes driving the ‘undesirables’ out of the neighborhood.

• How Does ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’ And ‘The Odyssey’ Compare?

  Posted: Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:35:59 +0000

  First of all, the George Clooney character’s middle name is Ulysses (the Latin version of Odysseus.) LIke Odysseus, he has been imprisoned before the film starts (Odyssues is held captive by a beautiful nymph and Everett/ Ulysses is in a chain gang, but they both want to escape.) They also both want to go home to their wives -Oysseus to Penelope and Ulysses to Penny – and both wives are being courted by other men. On the way, they encounter some similar adventures. The episode with the “fishing girls” who rob Pete and apparently turn him into a frog, echoes two incidents in the Odyssey. There is the enchantress Circe, who sleeps with men and then turns them into pigs; and the Sirens, who sing to sailors and lure them to their deaths. Odysseu manages to outwit both. Cyclops, the one-eyed giant, is similar to the “travelling salesman” who attacks the three friends. The way Everett comes home, winning fame and fortune, is also similar to Oysseus’ final triumph. The characters of the two men are rather similar too – both are a bit untrustworthy, but brave, resourceful and basically good-hearted. The film actually opens with a line from the Odyssey, but I can’t remember what it is.

• What President Took The Most Vacation Days During Their Term? Eisenhower Or Bush?

  Posted: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:33:59 +0000

  There are a lot of conflicting figures flying around, but according to my best information it seems to be Bush, who has taken 418 days off so far (even more than Ronald Reagan, or certainly will be more by the time he stands down.) Eisenhower apparently spent 222 days playing golf, but doesn’t seemed to have equaled Bush’s record. It seems Jimmy Carter spent the most time in the office – about 80 days’ vacation.

• Do Lion-tiger Hybrids (ligers) Really Exist?

  Posted: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:54:44 +0000

  A lot of people have wondered about ligers since they were mentioned in the popular film Napoleon Dynamite a few years ago. Many have been surprised to learn that they actually do exist, as do tigons, lepons, and jaglions. Lions and tigers both belong to the genus Panthera meaning that they have enough common genetic material to make breeding possible.

  

  aliwest44

  These amazing and somewhat mythical sounding hybrids are not found in the wild as most big cats will breed only with their own kind. However, captive breeding programs have created a number of these cat combinations over the past two centuries. The above mentioned cat hybrids were more common during the late 19th century when they were used as attractions in traveling circuses and sideshows. To produce a liger, breeders will mate a male lion and a female tiger. The offspring can weigh up to 1,000 lbs and be up to 12 feet in length. Each liger is unique in appearance and they can have both stripes and spots. If the liger is male, the liger may even have a small mane.

• What Does The Proverb ‘See Rome And Die’ Mean?

  Posted: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:32:08 +0000

  The actual Italian proverb is “See Naples (Napoli) and die.” The idea is that Naples has everything, and when you’ve visited it you have really lived life to the full; there is nothing more to experience. The saying dates from when Naples was more of a national and cultural centre in Italy than it is now. (For instance, it is close to the ancient and now-extinct city of Pompeii.) Today if we think of the “ultimate place” to visit in Italy, we might well think of Rome, as people would have done 2000 years ago; this is one reason why the saying is often misquoted as “See Rome and die.” Another reason for the mistake is that there are so many other sayings about Rome in different languages. These include “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” and “All roads lead to Rome.” So it would be natural to assume that “See it and die” applied to Rome too.

• What Is The Difference Between Delegation And Decentralization?

  Posted: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:27:51 +0000

  Delegation is giving specific tasks and responsibilities to someone else, usually a junior. For instance, if you are an office manager and part of your work is to put new names into a database, you could delegate that to a trainee. Executives are often advised to “learn to delegate” because it’s easy to take on too much work rather than share the burden. Decentralisation is on a much bigger scale. It means moving power and authority away from the centre (usually national government) and handing it over to bodies or organisations outside the centre, especially regional organisations. In politics, this might mean that an area of policy – social housing, for instance – that used to be decided by the national government, is now the responsibility of local government, local councils and so on. The verb “to decentralise” is also quite often used, as in “We need to decentralise decision-making.”

• How Do You Work Out Scale On A Map?

  Posted: Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:22:29 +0000

  If it is a map you’re drawing, the scale is the ratio of map distance to real-world distance. If it is a published map, the scale is usually found near the legend. It will often be of the form   1 in = 10 mi or   1 cm = 160 km or   1:125000 Here is a picture of different map scale indications. (Note: The above scales are all different, not equivalent.)

• Who Did The Voice Of KITT In The TV Series Of Knight Rider?

  Posted: Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:06:30 +0000

  The voice of KITT was Willian Daniels, an Emmy-award winning actor, whose voice has made him his living. Born in Brooklyn, New York and graduated from NorthWestern University, he has also been the president of the Screen Actors Guild in his long career. Daniels appeared as John Adams in the Musical 1776 and won his Emmy starring in St. Elsewhere. He played Dustin Hoffman’s father in the Graduate and also appeared in the Incredible Hulk, Scrubs and the King of Queens. Knight Rider is an American TV drama series which ran for four years but has survived on re-runs since the late Eighties! Most people realised who KITT was when watching the TV series Boy Meets World when the voice of KITT met the face of actor William Daniels, as he starred as Mr Feeny. KITTS arch nemesis was called KARR who was played in voice by Peter Cullen (who also voiced Optimus Prime in the Transformers).

• How Many Films Did John Wayne Die In?

  Posted: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 08:47:19 +0000

  Well, John Wayne died onscreen for 8 movies which are:

  

  Central Airport Reap the Wild Wind The Fighting Seabees Wake of the Red Witch The Sands of Iwo Jima The Alamo The Cowboys The Shootist Apart from these movies, He was shown dead at the beginning of the movie The Man who shot liberty Valance and the whole movie is his flashback. And In the movie The sea chase, at the end his ship is destroyed by the British and it can be implied that he died as a result.

• What Happened To Actor Mark Hamill After The Star Wars Films?

  Posted: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 08:38:57 +0000

  Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the first three of the Star Wars films, failed to achieve any further major on-screen success in his acting career.

  

  He performed in theatre productions and later carved out a second career for himself doing voice-acting in films, television episodes and computer games. In this, he achieved some distinction supplying the voice for the part of The Joker in the Batman television series. In 2004 he directed his own film for the first time, Comic Book : The Movie, a mockumentary about a group of comic fans who try to stop Hollywood mangling the creative vision of a legendary comic creator once it buys the rights to his work. Hamill later penned his own comic, The Black Pearl, which is being made into a video game and may later be made into a film. He has described himself as well-off financially, having sensibly invested the high earnings he had as an actor during his time in the limelight.

• How Do You Make Edible Salt?

  Posted: Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:17:21 +0000

  To make edible salt there are two main methods are Solution mining and Solar salt production.  The former is the most commonly used procedure whereby both industrial and edible salt is produced in Northern Europe. In is achieved by pumping water into the underground salt deposits, after which saturated brine is produced and then it is pumped back to the surface.

  

  Pink Sherbet Photography

  The solar salt production method is used in hot countries. In this process salt is made by allowing heat from the sun to evaporate sea water in shallow pools or pans. This is not possible in colder countries. Another process of obtaining salt is Rock Salt mining which is an underground process. It entails drilling, blasting, and crushing the rock to dig out the salt. By this method the salt is physically dug out and the salt obtained from this method is used to maintain roads during the winter.

• What Does Sclerotic Mean?

  Posted: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:58:42 +0000

  The word sclerotic has two meanings. It is defined as something which is related to sclerosis and is also used to refer to a person who is suffering from sclerosis. Sclerotic is another word for hardened. It also means of or relating to the sclera or sclerotic tissue, which is a tissue of the eyeball. The word sclerosis is defined as a condition in which the organs which are within the nervous system of the human body, particularly the brain and the spinal cord, harden. Sclerosis is the name of the condition which results from the degeneration of such elements of the nervous system as the myelin sheath. The phrases that are closely related to the word sclerotic are sclerotic coat (the fibrous membrane or albuginea which is whitish in colour which, along with the cornea, forms the outer covering of the eyeball), sclerotic ring (the ring of bones which support the eye and which are located in the orbit of the skull of many vertebrate animals, except mammals and crocodiles) and sclerotic lesions (scar tissue which may develop in the liver, spleen or bones of people who are suffering from a progressive ailment called Gaucher disease).

• Why Do Dogs Lick People?

  Posted: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 08:38:45 +0000

  Licking is a universal behavior in canines and most dogs do this with passion. There are many theories behind licking. Some say that it is one of the ways it expresses itself with another of its breed or human beings. Hence it may be either to greet somebody or just show its happiness and pleasure to be close to the person of its liking.

  

  Greencolander

  Another theory states that the habit of licking in dogs as seen in most animals is a sort of cleaning ritual. Bitches also lick up puppies and do this for considerable amount of times and cleaning them up could be one reason for doing this. However, when a pup licks its mother, it could be asking for solid food. Similarly, when a dog licks the face of its owner, it could mean the same thing. Lastly some say, dogs lick human beings as they like the taste of salt. You may try and see if your dog licks you up more when you return home after a workout session, dripping with sweat!

• Which Continent Is Host To The Most Countries In The World?

  Posted: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:29:33 +0000

  Africa, with Asia coming a close second. As long as you consider Europe and Asia as separate, which is perhaps not justified. Africa has 54 countries on the continent, see list here. Depending how you count them, which ones might be considered part of Europe (like Turkey) and which are part of “Asia” Asia has between 32 and 51 countries (see list here). If the countries of Europe (45 in total, see list here) were included in a supercontinent of “Eurasia”, then Eurasia would beat out Africa by a massive margin (45+51=96). South America has only 13 nations on the mainland. North and Central America combined (including the Caribbean) have 24 countries (see list). My answers disagree with Wordy’s partly because some places get listed as countries when they might better be described as autonomous regions or occupied territories.

• What Function Does Iron Have In The Human Body?

  Posted: Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:04:00 +0000

  Iron is one of the most common metals on the Earth and it is present as a mineral in many ores in rocks. It is also required by many life processes in animals and plants. Iron forms an important part of many proteins and enzymes that help the human body function efficiently. It is a component of haemoglobin, the protein involved in the movement of oxygen around the body. It is also required for the control of the cycle of cell division and growth and for cell differentiation. Almost two thirds of the iron in the human body forms the co-factor in haemoglobin and if the body does not absorb enough iron in the diet the ability of the body to transport oxygen is affected. Iron deficiency can lead to tiredness, dizziness, fainting, pale skin and an overall lack of energy. It also decreases the ability of the immune system to fight of infection. Iron also forms part of another protein called myoglobin, which supplies oxygen to active muscle cells.

• What Do Praying Mantis Eat?

  Posted: Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:54:00 +0000

  I’ve done plenty of research… I keep a couple in my garden to protect the plants.. Planning on buying mantis eggs for the extra small pests like mites.

  

  audreyjm529

  To the point.. THEY EAT MAINLY INSECTS.. And they go for the biggest ones they can find.. This includes: Grasshoppers, crickets, roaches, butterflies, moths, bees, spiders, flies, dragonflies, ect. . When it comes to small pests u usully need to get mantis eggs which hatch to little 4mm mantids which eat aphids, mites, etc. The best part about fully grown mantids is that they also eat rodents and small mammals/reptiles; such as birds, mice, snakes, geckos, salamanders, etc. The one thing i wanna know is… Do they really eat leaves when left no other choice? I always thought they roam around for a bit when they’re hungry lookin for usual prey, as opposed to sitting tight waiting for prey to cross paths.

• What Is Xenophobia?

  Posted: Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:19:05 +0000

  Xenophonia is a fear of strangers.  It is not a phobia in the sense that a stranger will cause someone with xenophobia to have a panic reaction or attack, but it is a dislike of strangers and usually foreign strangers.

  

  Wetsun

  Most cultures are xenophobic to some extent in the sense that people will be polite to strangers, but will still prefer to live and work amongst people who share the same culture.  However, now immigration has become more common, people mix more with other cultures. For most people this is a good thing and they enjoy meeting people of different faiths, different belief systems etc, but some people find this distasteful and want foreigners to ‘go back home’. Xenophobia is usually different from racism in the sense that racists do not like people of different colours or cultures, whereas xenophobes are quite indiscriminate.  They just dislike all (foreign) strangers, whatever colour or race they are !

• Why Does Adding Sugar Make Boiling Water Temperature Higher?

  Posted: Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:54:16 +0000

  The boiling point of water depends on the pressure, however if sugar is added to water, then the pressure and hence the boiling point changes. The boiling point of a solution of sugar in water, or of a juice, under a given pressure, increases with the concentration of the solution. This is to say that decreasing purity also increases the boiling point.To explain in more detail, the increase in the boiling point of water depends on the number of molecules you add to the liquid. Sugar has very large molecules. Sugar has a molecular weight that is 3 times larger than that of salt. It does not split up in different particles when in water as salt does. So adding 7g of sugar into water you’re adding 700,000,000,000,000,000,000 particles to the water. As soon as any of the sugar dissolves in the water, the boiling point of the water will begin to rise by half a degree Celsius for every 180 grams of sugar dissolved. Sugar in the water should raise the boiling point of the solution, meaning that it will need to reach a higher temperature before it begins to boil. Thus taking longer to boil, but raising the overall boiling point.

• What Is Judaism?

  Posted: Tue, 03 Aug 2010 16:08:25 +0000

  Judaism is the religion of the Jews. It originated more than 3500 years ago. It was founded in 1300 B.C. in Mesopotamia. It is an Abrahamic faith ~ it considers Abraham to be its patriarch. Judaism was founded by Moses and Abraham. People who practice Judaism are called the Jews. Christianity is an off shoot of Judaism. The Jews pray in a synagogue. The holy book of the Jews is called the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh. Hitler organized the Holocaust in order to wipe out Judaism. Judaism is one of the world’s few monotheistic religions ~ they believe that there is only one God. Judaism expects all Jews to play the role of leaders for other nations. Judaism believes that the people of Israel have been chosen by God. The Sephardic, which was based in Spain and the Ashkenazic which was based in German were two of the branches of Judaism. The modern version of Judaism is slightly difficult for an outsider to interpret because the lines between people and nation have gotten blurred over the years.

• What Is Prime Factorization?

  Posted: Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:17:16 +0000

  Prime factorization is writing a number as the product of prime numbers.

  Examples
  24 = 2*2*2*3 = 2³*3    (2 and 3 are prime numbers)
  11 = 11    (11 is a prime number)
  57 = 3*19
  _____
  It is easier to do prime factorization if you are familiar with the prime numbers under about 50. (These are the numbers that are missing from your times tables, because they are not the product of anything.)

• What Does The Phrase ‘Crossing The Rubicon’ Mean?

  Posted: Tue, 03 Aug 2010 10:11:46 +0000

  “Crossing the Rubicon” means embarking on a course of action on which there is no going back. The phrase comes from the time when Rome changed from a republic to an empire. Julius Caesar, who was the governor of the Roman province of Gaul, took his armies across the river Rubicon, which marked the boundary between Gaul and Italy, to attempt to seize power in Rome. The governor of a Roman province had great power within his own domain, including direct command over large armies. Because of this, Roman rulers had feared that a governor might be tempted to use his armies to seize power in the capital. For this reason, they made it a capital offence for a Roman governor to take his armies outside the boundaries of his province into Italian territory. So, when Caesar took his armies across the Rubicon, he had made himself liable to execution, and would either succeed in his goal of becoming Roman dictator or would fail and be killed.

• How Many Toes Do Birds Have?

  Posted: Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:29:12 +0000

  Most birds have four toes on each foot with a claw at the end of each toe.  It is generally the claw which is used, more than the toe.  Different species of birds have different arrangements of toes which have evolved to suit their way of life.

  

  insane photoholic

  Perching birds, such as robins have three toes pointing forward and one pointing backward on each foot.  This enables ease of grip when they are perching on a branch. Climbing birds such as parrots have two toes which point forward and two pointing backwards.   The back toe helps the bird retain its balance as it climbs. Birds which do not fly, but run have only three toes on each foot, all of which point forward.  However, the ostrich proves the exception to this rule, although a running bird it has only two toes on each foot, which again point forward, although it does not need any assistance with balance whilst climbing or perching.

• What Is A Carp?

  Posted: Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:25:30 +0000

  A carp is a freshwater fish that is found all over the world.  In some places carp have been introduced both for sport and human consumption and in others these fish are considered a pest.  Carp that have been domesticated and selectively bred are popular in Japan where they originated as an ornamental fish.

  

  corrieb

  Wild carp are brown or dark green in colour and are unremarkable in appearance.  They have two barbells or small whiskers that hang in front of their faces.  They have a low-slung mouth and eye and are somewhat plump and look like an oversized goldfish.  Carp have long dorsal fins, several small and evenly spaced fins along their lower bodies, and split tales.  These fish are known to grow to a remarkable size and weight.  In Europe, where carp are fished for sport, they have been documented at over 36 kgs (80 lbs).  Most areas in the United States consider carp to be an invasive pest.  Carp are omnivorous fish and they will consume anything and everything in their path, which often leads to waterways being muddied and aquatic plants being shredded.  The consequence of this feeding pattern is that native fish species find the area no longer inhabitable and will either die off or migrate.  Either result is damaging to the ecosystem.  Many states actively attempt to eliminate carp in order to save native species. Carp were originally introduced in the United States as food fish despite not being eaten in North America.  The fish is popular as food in other parts of the world despite being quite bony and needing careful filleting or preservation.  Depending on the environment in which the carp has been raised, it can have somewhat sweet flesh.  The firm white meat of the carp is extremely sensitive to environmental factors and can change significantly based on what type of food the carp has eaten and whether or not it has been exposed to any contaminants.  The majority of carp reared in the United States has accumulated levels of pollution that are unsuitable for human consumption. In Europe, carp are considered primarily a sport fish but are also eaten.  Anglers these challenging fish in lakes all over Europe, in the eastern nations in particular.  In Japan, brightly coloured carp are highly sought after and are known as ‘koi’.  Koi are often found in ornamental water features and lakes and some are surprisingly tame.  They will often accept food offered by hand or come to the water’s surface to ‘socialize’ with their human admirers.  Some koi will sell for extremely large sums.

• What Is The Difference Between A Midge And A Mosquito?

  Posted: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:49:06 +0000

  Midges are tiny two-winged biting insects, particularly abundant in wetter parts of the UK.

  

  Midges are actually a species of gnat (genus= Culicoides), that fly in swarms and are usually found near their breeding grounds.  Only the females feed on blood (they need protein to produce eggs).  The males feed on nectar.  Midges fly more slowly than walking humans, and they don’t like direct sun, very dry air (low humidity) or wind. At least 37 species of midge have been recorded in Scotland.  The overwhelming majority of the bites to people in western Scotland come from the Highland midge (latin name Culicoides impunctatus), which has a particularly fearsome reputation. Mosquitoes are related to midges (same taxonomic order, Diptera), but different taxonomic families (Culicidae for mozzies, and  Ceratopogonidae for midges).

  

  Like midges, male mosquitoes feed on nectar and only the females bite.  But mozzies stray further from their breeding grounds, can fly faster than midges, and don’t almost always feed in swarms.

• Why Do Frogs And Toads Have Nasty Slimy Skin?

  Posted: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:12:47 +0000

  Amphibians, which include frogs, toads, salamanders and newts have very delicate skin that has no obvious form of protection. To try to make themselves as safe as possible, amphibians have glands in their skin that secrete a slimy mucous. This keeps the skin moist when the animal is out of water and it acts as a sort of waterproof coating when the animal is in the water.

  

  Noël Zia Lee

  In frogs, the mucous acts as its main form of defence from predators because it makes the frog too slippery for predators to catch. Some amphibians secrete poisons and toxins into the secretions that coat their skin. In some species, these glands are spread evenly over the body surface but in others they just occur at key points. Toads have toxic skin glands just above their eyes called parotid glands and these are capable of squirting out poison to get a predator before it gets too close, rather than waiting until the predator takes a bite to get a dose of repelling toxin.

• What Is The Pancreas?

  Posted: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:57:01 +0000

  The pancreas is a vital glandular organ situated deep within the abdominal cavity behind the stomach next to the duodenum or small intestine in a horizontal position. It is about 8 inches in length and divided into three parts the head, body and tail.

  

  adrigu

  It plays a fundamental part in the digestion process by secreting different types of digestive juices (exocrine functions) containing various enzymes essential for the breaking down of the vital nutrients like proteins and fats. It also secretes various hormones (endocrine functions) including insulin that helps in maintaining the level of glucose in the blood produced during the metabolism of carbohydrates, as well as ensuring its proper utilization by the body cells as a source of energy. The pancreas is made up of soft tissue that houses various types of groups of cells called islets of Langerhans that secrete different types of juices, which become active only when they reach the small intestine and mix with other juices like bile from the liver. Sometimes the pancreatic cells lose their ability to manufacture the juices in the required quantities inducing a chronic condition of poor digestion and weight loss or in some cases the juices attack the organ itself inducing inflammation and leading to a violent attack of vomiting and diarrhea known as acute pancreatitis most diseases of the pancreas are related to high intake of alcohol.  Or the beta cells within the pancreas stop producing insulin due to which the body cells fail to utilize the glucose in the blood essential for their basic processes, which is then passed through urine this condition is known as diabetes.

• What Is A Rainforest?

  Posted: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:44:23 +0000

  A rainforest can be described as a tall, dense jungle. It is called a rainforest because of the high amount of rain it gets each year. Rainforests have a minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750mm and 2000mm.

  

  Ted Percival

  The climate of a rainforest is very hot and humid, meaning that the animals and plants that live there have to learn to adapt to the climate. The largest tropical rainforests exist in the Amazon Basin (the Amazon Rainforest), Nicaragua (Los Guatuzos, Bosawas, and Indio-Maiz) and many other places. Places where temperate rainforests can be found include British Columbia, southeastern Alaska, western Oregon, and Washington, Scotland and Norway. It has been estimated that many hundreds of millions of new species of plants, insects and microorganisms are still undiscovered. Rainforests are divided into four different parts, each with different plants and animals, adapted for life in that particular area. Tropical rainforests are the source of many medicinal drugs, with over half the medications originating from the rainforest. Many foods originally came from tropical forests. Rainforests also have value as tourism destinations.

• What Is The Anomalous Expansion Of Water?

  Posted: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:09:57 +0000

  Water shows unusual expansion. If we take a cube of ice at -5°C and heat it, it expands till ice starts melting. During melting its temperature remains 0°C but its volume decreases. If heat is continuously supplied to water at 0°C, it further contracts up to 4°C and then it starts expanding. Thus water has its minimum volume and maximum density at 4°C. The anomalous expansion of water helps preserve aquatic life during very cold weather. When temperature falls, the top layer of water in a pond contracts, becomes denser and sinks to the bottom. A circulation is thus set up until the entire water in the pond reaches its maximum density at 4°C. If the temperature falls further, the top layer expands and remains on the top till it freezes. Thus even though the upper layer are frozen the water near the bottom is at 4°C and the fishes etc. can survive in it easily.

• Which Is The Longest River In Scotland?

  Posted: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:49:47 +0000

  The longest river in Scotland is the Tay with a total length of 193 km (120 miles) from its point of origin located in the Ben Lui near the town of Oban in the southern highland region of Scotland to its mouth at the Firth of Tay where the river empties in to the North Sea.

  

  Ross2085

  The river is the 7th longest river in the UK and the largest in terms of drainage area covering about 3220 km (2000 miles); its tributaries are the Almond, Isla, Braan, Tummel and Lyon. The river is known by several names especially in its earlier stages like river Connonish, the Fillan River and the Dochart River. The Tay in its later stages is a tidal river after passing through the town of Perth in Perth and Kinross before entering the Firth of Tay; the major city lying on the Firth is Dundee the fourth largest one in Scotland. The river Tay is known for occasionally flooding upstream near Perth; the river was also the site of an accident when the Tay Rail Bridge collapsed on December 28, 1879 when a train was passing over it.

• What Is Buddhism?

  Posted: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:59:14 +0000

  Buddhism was founded in India in the sixth century by Siddhartha Gautama, an Indian prince who renounced his wealth to pursue an ascetic lifestyle and spiritual perfection. He told his learning to his followers.

  

  Wonderlane

  Siddhartha achieved nirvana but decided to remain on earth to teach his followers how they could achieve of the spiritual enlightenment.  Siddhartha was known as the Buddha. There are 350 million followers of Buddhism today. The majority of Buddhists are living in the Central Asia, Korea, China, Japan and South Asia. According to Buddhism, there is suffering everywhere that originates in people’s desires from pleasure. Siddhartha offered a noble path as a route for transformation. This emphasizes on right seeing, thinking, action, efforts, mindfulness and mediation. Buddhism does not support the caste system. Buddhism stressed on the spiritual achievements rather than involvement in this world. Buddhism does not preach the creation of wealth and property.  Buddhism has good culture than the Hinduism. The people who belong from the Buddhism strictly follow the preaching of Siddhartha. The Buddhism stressed that this world is just a short period of life and the real life starts after the death of the person. Still there is large number of Buddhism.

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FACTS ON PASTRIES

Palmier pastries

Blackberry pie made with a pastry crust

Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked goods made from ingredients such as flour, butter, shortening, baking powder or eggs. Small cakes, tarts and other sweet baked goods are called “pastries”.

Pastry may also refer to the dough from which such baked goods are made. Pastry dough is rolled out thinly and used as a base for baked goods. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts and quiches.^[1][2]

Pastry is distinguished from bread by having a higher fat content, which contributes to a flaky or crumbly texture. A good pastry is light and airy and fatty, but firm enough to support the weight of the filling. When making a shortcrust pastry, care must be taken to blend the fat and flour thoroughly before adding any liquid. This ensures that the flour granules are adequately coated with fat and less likely to develop gluten. On the other hand, overmixing results in long gluten strands that toughen the pastry. In other types of pastry, such as Danish pastry and croissants, the characteristic flaky texture is achieved by repeatedly rolling out a dough similar to that for yeast bread, spreading it with butter, and folding it to produce many thin layers of folds.

Many pie recipes involve blind-baking the pastry before the filling is added. Pastry dough may be sweetened or perhaps unsweetened.

Contents [hide] 1 Main types of pastry 2 Background 3 Definitions 4 Physics and chemistry of a pastry 5 History 6 Pastry chef 7 Gallery 8 See also 9 References

//

Main types of pastry

Pecan and maple Danish pastry, a puff pastry type

Profiterole or cream puff, a choux pastry

Strudel, a phyllo pastry

Shortcrust pastry

Shortcrust, or short, pastry is the simplest and most common pastry. It is made with flour, fat, salt, and water. The process of making pastry includes mixing of the fat and flour, adding water, and rolling out the paste. It is cooked at 180°C and the result is a soft, tender pastry. A related type is the sweetened sweetcrust pastry.

Flaky (or rough puff) pastry

Flaky pastry is a simple pastry that expands when cooked due to the number of layers. This is perfect if you are looking for a crisp, buttery pastry. The “puff” is obtained by beginning the baking process with a high temperature and lowering the temperature to finish.

Puff pastry

Puff pastry has many layers that cause it to expand or “puff” when baked. Pastries are made using flour, butter, salt, and water. Pastry rises up due to the combination and reaction of the four ingredients and also from the air that gets between the layers. Puff pastries come out of the oven light, flaky, and tender.

Choux pastry

Choux pastry is a very light pastry that is filled with cream. The pastry is filled with various flavors of cream and is often topped with chocolate. Choux pastries can also be filled with things like cheese, tuna, or chicken to be used as appetizers.

Phyllo (filo) pastry

Phyllo pastries are usually paper-thin and greatly stretched. They involve several stretched out layers and are wrapped around a filling and brushed with butter. These pastries are very delicate and can break easily.^[3]

Background

Pastries go back to the ancient Mediterranean almost paper-thin multi-layered baklava and filo. Medieval Europe took on pastry making after the Crusaders brought it back. French and Italian Renaissance chefs eventually perfected the Puff and Choux pastries, while 17th and 18th century chefs brought new recipes to the table.^[4] These new pastries included brioche, Napoleons, cream puffs, and éclairs. French chef Antonin Careme reportedly was the first to incorporate art in pastry making.^[5]

Definitions

Red Velvet Cake with pastry cream

Pastry

A mixture of flour, fat, possibly egg and sugar, the fat usually dispersed as small solid globules coated with flour and the whole brought together with liquid prior to shaping and baking. There are many types of pastry.

Pastry bag or Piping bag

An often cone shaped bag that is used to make an even stream of dough, frosting, or flavored substance, to form a structure, decorate a baked good, or fill a pastry with a custard, cream, jelly, or other filling.

Pastry board

A square or oblong board preferably marble but usually wood on which pastry is rolled out.

Pastry brake

Opposed and contra-rotating rollers with a variable gap through which pastry can be worked and reduced in thickness for commercial production. A very small version is used domestically for pasta production.

Pastry case

An uncooked or blind baked pastry container used to hold savory or sweet mixtures.

Pastry cream

Confectioner’s custard. An egg and flour thickened custard made with sweetened milk flavored with vanilla. Used as a filling for flans, cakes, pastries, tarts, etc. The flour prevents the egg from curdling.

Pastry cutters

Various metal or plastic outlines of shapes, e.g. circles fluted circles, diamonds, ginger bread men, etc. Sharpened on one edge and used to cut out corresponding shapes from biscuit, scone, pastry, or cakes mixtures.^[6]

Pastry blender

A kitchen implement used to properly combine the fat and flour. Usually constructed of wire or plastic, with multiple wires or small blades connected to a handle.

Physics and chemistry of a pastry

Different kinds of pastries are made by the nature of wheat flour and also due to certain types of fats. When wheat flour is kneaded into plain dough and made with water it develops strands of gluten, which are what make the bread tough and elastic. In a typical pastry, however, this toughness is unwanted so fat or oil is put in to slow down the development of gluten. It is common to use lard or suet here because they have a coarse, crystalline structure that is very effective. Using only unclarified butter does not always work well because of its water content; clarified butter is virtually water free. Shortcrust pastry using only butter may develop an inferior texture. If the fat is melted with hot water, or if liquid oil is used, the thin oily layer between the grains offers less obstacle to gluten formation and the resulting pastry is tougher. In hot water pastry, liquid oil or melted fat is used, the layer or oil between the grains makes it easier for gluten to form, making the pastry tougher.^[7]

History

A typical Mediterranean baklava, a phyllo dough pastry sweetened with syrup

Shop selling pastries in Syria

European traditions of pastry-making is often traced back to the short crust era flaky doughs that were in use throughout the Mediterranean in ancient times. These recipes were popularized in Western Europe by Crusaders returning home.

In the Mediterranean, the Romans, Greeks and Phoenicians all had filo-style pastries in their culinary traditions. There is also strong evidence that the ancient Egyptians produced pastry-like confections. It is very possible that Egyptians made and ate pastries. They had professional bakers that surely had the skills to do so, and they also had needed materials like flour oil and honey. In the plays of Aristophanes, in 5th century BC, there are mentions of sweetmeats including small pastries filled with fruit. The Romans used flour, oil and water to make pastries that were used to cover meats and fowls. They did this during baking to keep in the juices, but this was not meant to be eaten by people. A pastry that was meant to be eaten was a richer pastry that was made into small pastries and contained eggs or little birds. It was often served at banquets. Greeks and Roman both struggled in making a good pastry because of the fact that they both used oil in the cooking process and oil causes the pastry to lose its stiffness.^[8]

In medieval North Europe they were able to produce nice, stiff pastries because they cooked with lard and butter. There were some incomplete lists of ingredients found in medieval cookbooks, but no full, detailed versions. There were stiff, empty pastries called coffins or ‘huff paste’, that were eaten by servants only and included an egg yolk glaze to help make them more enjoyable to consume. Medieval pastries also included small tarts to add richness to the snack. It was not until about the Mid 16th century until actual pastry recipes showed up.^[7][9] These recipes were adopted and adapted over time in various European countries, resulting in the myriad of pastry traditions known to the region, from Portuguese “pastéis de nata” in the west to Russian “pirozhky” in the east. The use of chocolate in pastry-making in the West, so commonplace today, arose only after Spanish and Portuguese traders brought chocolate to Europe from the New World starting in the 1500s. Many culinary historians consider French pastry chef Antonin Carème (1784–1833) to have been the first great master of pastry making in modern times.

Pastry-making also has a strong tradition in many parts of Asia. Chinese pastry is made from rice, or different types of flour, with fruit, sweet bean paste or sesame-based fillings. Beginning in the 19th century, the British brought western-style pastry to the far east, though it would be the French influenced Maxim in the 1950s that made western pastry popular in Chinese-speaking regions starting with Hong Kong. Still, the term “Western Cake” (西餅) is used to differentiate between the automatically assumed Chinese pastry. Other Asian countries such as Korea have traditionally prepared pastry-confections such as tteok, hangwa, and yaksi with flour, rice, fruits, and regional specific ingredients to make unique type desserts. And Japan also has specialized pastry-confections better known as mochi and manju. Pastry-confection that originate in Asia are clearly distinct from those that originate in the West that are generally much sweeter.

Pastry chef

Pastry chef with croquembouche

Those who make pastries professionally are known as either bakers or pastry chefs, depending on whether they produce pastries for a bakery or a restaurant. Pastry chefs use a combination of culinary ability and creativity in baking, decoration, and flavoring with ingredients. Many baked goods require a lot of time and focus. Presentation is an important part of pastry and dessert preparation. The job is often physically demanding; requiring attention to detail and long hours.^[10] They are also responsible for creating new recipes to put on the menu. Pastry chefs work in restaurants, bistros, large hotels, casinos and bakeries. Pastry baking is usually held in a slightly separate part from the main kitchen. This section of the kitchen is in charge of making pastries, desserts, and other baked goods.^[11]

Gallery

Linzer torte	a Dutch Poffert, bundt cake.	a Petit four	assortment of cookies (also called biscuits in some areas)
Cream puff pastry, Dutch Moorkoppen	Tompouce, a Dutch and Belgian pastry	Liège style waffle	English Pork pie topped with cherries

See also

Food portal

• Cake shop
• Huff paste
• Pastry fork
• Pastry brush
• Pâtisserie
• Konditorei

Coordinates: 40°43′15″N 73°59′17″W / 40.72083°N 73.98806°W / 40.72083; -73.98806

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vital tips about catering and event management

Catering

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to:navigation, search

A professionally catered event

Catering is the business of providing foodservice at a remote site or a site like a hotel, public house(pub) and other varius locations

Contents [hide] 1 Mobile catering 2 Event catering 3 Catering Officers on ships 4 See also 5 References

Mobile catering

Main article: Mobile catering

A mobile caterer serves food directly from a vehicle or cart that is designed for the purpose. Mobile catering is common at outdoor events (such as concerts), workplaces, and downtown business districts.

Event catering

Event ranges from box-lunch drop-off to full-service catering. Caterers and their staff are part of the food service industry.

When most people refer to a “caterer”, they are referring to an event caterer who serves food with waiting staff at dining tables or sets up a self-serve buffet. The food may be prepared on site, i.e., made completely at the event, or the caterer may choose to bring prepared food and put the finishing touches on once it arrives.

The event caterer staff are not responsible for preparing the food but often help set up the dining area. This service is typically provided at banquets, conventions, and weddings. Any event where all who attend are provided with food and drinks or sometimes only hors d’oeuvres is often called a catered event.

Many events require working with an entire theme or color scheme. A catering company or specialist is expected to know how to prepare food and to make it attractive. As such, certain catering companies have moved toward a full-service business model commonly associated with event planners. They take charge of not only food preparation but also decorations, such as table settings and lighting.

The trend is towards satisfying all the clients senses with food as a focal point. With the correct atmosphere, professional event caterers with experience can make an event special and memorable.

Beautifully prepared food alone can appeal to the senses of taste, smell, and sight – perhaps even touch, but the decorations and ambiance can play a significant part in a successfully catered event.

Catering is often sold on a per-person basis, meaning that there is a flat price for each additional person. However, things like lighting and fire permits are not scaled with the guest count, so per-person pricing is not always appropriate. It is necessary to keep the cost of the food and supplies below a price margin in order to make a profit on the catering.

As many others in the food service industry, caterers and their staff work long hours. It is not uncommon for them to work on holidays or 7 days a week during holiday event seasons.

A comprehensive, formal full-service catering proposal is likely to include the following elements:
* Time-line matters: rental arrival time, staff arrival time, bar open time, meal serve time, bar close time, rental pickup, out-of-venue time. Each of these factors affects the catering price.

For example, a rental quote for an “anytime” weekday delivery is usually much more economical than an “exact-time” delivery.

• General menu considerations: Clients may have specific dietary or religious needs to consider. these include Halal, Kosher, Vegetarian, Vegan and food allergy requests. Increasingly, clients are interested in food sustainability and food safety.
• Hors d’oeuvres: it should be clear if these are passed or stationary. Most caterers agree that three or four passed items are appropriate for the one-hour period prior to a meal.
• Meal Rentals: May include tables, chairs, dance floor, plants, tabletop (china, flatware, glassware, linens, chargers), bar glassware, serving equipment, salt/peppers, etc. It should be clear whether table and chair setup and take-down is included. Most rental companies do not automatically include setup and take-down in the rental charges.
• Labor: Verbiage varies from caterer to caterer, but generally speaking, an event will have a Lead/Captain/Event Manager, a Chef, perhaps a Sous Chef or Kitchen Assistant, Wait staff and Bartenders. The labor on a plated dinner is generally much higher than the labor on a buffet, because a plated dinner involves double the china, and usually a minimum of three served courses, plus served coffee. Simply put, there’s a lot more to do. To do it properly requires roughly 10 to 50% more staff. On a large event, this can be substantial, especially if overtime or doubletime applies.
• Service Charge: Sales Tax, Some quotes will include lighting, fire permits, draping, florals, valet and coat check. Many venues discreetly get a “cut” of the catering bill. Caterers are contractually committed to not disclose this fee specifically in their contracts with the clients. Therefore, catering will sometimes cost substantially more at one venue versus another.Also, caterers must compete with illegal operators. A legitimate caterer will have a business license and a health permit both showing the address of the place from which they do business.

Catering Officers on ships

Merchant ships often carry Catering Officers – especially ferries, cruise liners and large cargo ships. In fact, the term “catering” was in use in the world of the merchant marine long before it became established as a land-bound business. The “Careers Scotland” website ^[1] gives the following definition of a Catering Officer’s duties:

Merchant Navy catering officers oversee the purchase, preparation and serving of food and drink to crew members and passengers. They are also responsible for accommodation services, including the provision of linen, bedding and laundry. They may be in overall charge of administration, organising record keeping, wage payment, and the interpretation of customs and immigration records that apply while the ship is in port.

On larger ships, responsibilities may be shared with the purser, who looks after passengers’ comfort and facilities such as banking and shopping, while the catering officer concentrates on organising stores, overseeing the preparation of menus and meals and generally managing dining rooms and services. On a cruise liner, catering officers may be known as ‘hotel services managers’.

Merchant Navy officers sometimes work in difficult and uncomfortable conditions. They spend long periods of time away from family and friends.

If you’ve ever attended a gallery opening, bridal shower, book signing, rehearsal dinner or even a bar mitzvah, you’ve probably had a catering experience. When you attend an elegantly appointed wedding reception or a plated fund-raiser with food as tasty, if not tastier than the local dining hot-spots, you almost definitely have a catering team to thank.

Catering seems pretty straightforward and simple: You cook some food and serve it, right? That is the basic idea, but there’s more to it. A whole lot more.

Photo courtesy Joel An event like this requires a great deal of planning and preparation.

Thanks! Special thanks to Joel Dondis, President and Chef Proprietor and all the other great folks at Joel, a full service catering and event planning company, for helping us out with this article.

In this article, we’ll take you behind the scenes to see what catering is all about. From the initial client-caterer meeting to the big event, catering involves a lot of planning and preparation, teamwork, creativity and some pretty cool equipment.

First, let’s consider what defines catering today.

Food is definitely the star in the catering world, but it’s only one part of the equation. Chef Joel Dondis of Joel, a full service catering and event-planning company located in New Orleans, Louisiana, agrees. Like many catering companies today, Joel includes full event planning. As catering companies have moved toward the full-service, event-planning model, the focus has morphed. It’s not that food is no longer a focal point, but rather that it is part of a broader mission. Dondis suggests that catering is about satisfying all the senses:

• Sight
• Hearing
• Touch
• Smell
• Taste

Photo courtesy Joel Today caterers want every aspect of an event to be just as perfect as the food. This chocolate souffle cake certainly looks perfect to us…

With the right atmosphere, you can appeal to all of these senses in a way that makes an event special and memorable. Of course, beautifully prepared food can appeal to your sense of taste, smell and sight – perhaps even touch, but it shouldn’t outshine the rest of the event. Caterers today generally want every piece of the puzzle, from the decor to the glassware, to have that same kind of impact.

Photo courtesy Joel Joel Dondis, President and Chef Proprietor of Joel pictured behind the scenes of a rehearsal dinner.

Up Next 10 Restaurant Secrets to Creating an Incredible Meal Dinner Preparation Tips PlanetGreen.com: Feed 8 for Under $100

From flatware to flowers, lighting to linens and tables to tunes, everything should complement the food to create a unified overall experience. According to Dondis, continuity is key. You want every aspect to be in sync with each other. For example:

• Does the venue fit the occasion, climate and group size? No matter how lovely the surrounding gardens, you probably wouldn’t want to have formally attired guests dining outside in 98-degree weather.
• Does the menu fit the occasion and tastes of the group? For a retirement celebration, where the retiree is getting ready to embark on a 6-month sabbatical in Spain with her spouse, tappas stations would be an inspired idea.
• Does the decor suit the venue and event? White linen, china and crystal stemware might not be the most appropriate table setting for a casual, pool-side barbecue reception. Festive prints, such as blue and white checked tablecloths and matching napkins with plain glass plates and mason jars might be a better fit.

Whether it’s a cocktail party for 50 friends or a corporate event for 500, the goal is the same: deeply satisfying the guests. So, how does a caterer accomplish this grand task? It all starts with a few simple simple

Meeting the Caterer

A popular mantra in the catering business is “How can I make it happen for you?” For most, this isn’t an empty statement. A caterer worth his or her salt (and all the other spices in the spice rack) stands firmly behind this phrase.

After you make contact with a catering firm, the caterer’s first job is to figure out what you want and decide how the company can create it for you. This process usually begins with a client-caterer meeting — sort of like a first date. Whether it happens during the initial phone call or a scheduled appointment, the client services representative wants to get as much information as they can to help them prepare a proposal for you. As a client, you should be ready to answer these questions:

• What is the proposed date and time of the event?
• Is this a social or professional function?
• Do you have a general budget in mind?
• How many guests will attend?
• Have you selected a venue or setting?

Of course, depending on the type of function, other questions can (and should) come into conversation. Keep in mind that this initial discussion is critical because it will be the backbone of the caterer’s proposal. So, if you have certain ideas in mind, you need to be as explicit as possible. According to Dondis, this — what’s in the client’s “minds-eye” — is the most important thing to discover.

Photo courtesy Joel The catering company can work with the florist to create centerpieces to match the table setting.

One of the biggest mistakes a client can make is to only think about the budget. You can’t expect to say to a caterer “I have “x” amount to spend; what can I get for that?” and get a reasonable answer. You also need to explain what you hope to get for that budget. When the caterer understands your budget and your expectations, he or she can figure out if they match-up. If they do, great. If they don’t, then don’t worry — it’s not a wash. It just means that it’s time for more questions. Remember you’re dealing with professionals and they’re equipped to help you.

Photo courtesy Joel These Ahi Tuna skewers make a tasty and practical cocktail choice. Food items that can be served sans flatware are great for mobile, socializing guests.

Let’s say you’re planning a 50th wedding anniversary for your parents, and like most of us, you’re on a pretty strict budget. Initially you have something really elaborate in mind. But, you discover that with the number of guests you hope to invite, your budget isn’t going to afford you the luxurious event you envisioned. So it’s time to prioritize. The client services representative asks you a series of questions related to your parent’s tastes — perhaps something like this:

• What is their favorite kind of food?
• Do they like formal or informal functions?
• When they entertain, what are their gatherings like?
• Do they prefer small or large groups?
• What do your parents like to do in their spare time?
• What’s their favorite vacation destination?

From your answers, it’s clear that your parents would be much more comfortable with a relaxed, casual atmosphere.

Photo courtesy Joel Like the Ahi Tuna skewers pictured above, these cheesecake lollipops are perfect cocktail party fare.

Instead of a formal seated dinner with assigned seating and place-cards, your parents would much rather everyone be able to move about and socialize. A new vision starts to take shape in your mind: An outdoor southern-inspired cocktail party with fairy lights in the trees, soft jazz playing in the background and a light scent of magnolia blossoms swirling around the guests. With this new information, the catering firm can prepare a proposal that accommodates both your expectations and your budget.

Next, let’s take a look at what goes into preparing a proposal.

Mmm…Pie!

Catering is a business. And, just like many other businesses there are always new and exciting growth opportunities. It could be something like expanding your market area or increasing the services you offer. For Joel Dondis of Joel, it’s e-commerce.

Photo courtesy Joel Joel’s famous White Chocolate Pecan Pie

Imagine the best pecan pie you’ve ever had. Now, with that in mind, imagine another pie. This one has the same familiar appeal, but it’s better. Way better. It’s made with traditional pie fillings — just the right amount (a lot) of Louisiana pecans — perfectly encased in a pecan-meal crust and laced with white chocolate. Sounds really tasty, doesn’t it? Trust us, it is. And, apparently we’re not the only folks that think so. This was the very first dessert Dondis ever served at one of his catered functions. Word of mouth spread and soon everyone was talking about this pie.

This White Chocolate Pecan pie was such a success that Dondis decided to take it to the next level — the Internet. Now everyone, including catering clientele and their guests who have raved about this pie, can serve it in their own homes. Perfect for a dinner party or holiday gathering — think about Thanksgiving and Christmas — ordering is easy and delivery is quick.

Dondis hasn’t stopped there. The pecan pie is now available in a dark-chocolate variety. If you’re looking for something a little more exotic, Joel also offers a Coconut Macadamia Pecan Pie. It has a homemade coconut crust and is filled to the brim with traditional pecan pie fillings, dark chocolate, shredded coconut and macadamia nuts. In addition to pies, Joel also has rich chocolate pecan brownies for you to indulge in. If you’re in the mood for a more traditional Southern sweet, try Joel’s melt-in-your-mouth pralines (pronounced prah-leens in New Orleans).

Photo courtesy Joel

With the caption “Southern Comfort,” this delectible dessert has even been featured in the pages of InStyle Magazine as a “Top 100 Gourmet Food Gift” for the holiday season.

For ordering details, you can visit the Joel Web site, call 504.827.2400 or 800.335.8994 or email pecanpies@joels.com.

Preparing a Catering Proposal

Taste This! Roulade of chicken with leeks. Tomato Napoleon. Crawfish salad. Cheesecake lollipops. All of this sounds scrumptious, but if you haven’t tasted it before, how can you be sure? Schedule a tasting with your caterer before finalizing the menu. They will prepare a complimentary sampling of items from the proposed menu for you to try.

The foundation of a proposal is the information gathered during an initial inquiry or meeting with the prospective client:

• type of event
• date
• time
• guest count
• venue
• favorite foods or menu ideas

Armed with these guidelines, the caterer can build a detailed proposal that includes the actual menu, beverages, an itemized listing for equipment rental, the staff requirements and any necessary food or beverage taxes.

<!– <Photo courtesy –> Sample: Catering menu

<!– Photo courtesy –> Sample: Breakdown of rental estimates

<!– Photo courtesy –> Sample: Breakdown of personnel requirements

When planning a proposal, caterers generally consider several other factors in addition to the basic information. For example, the staff at Joel know that their social clients usually eat less food (18-22 bites — think bite-sized candy bar or an orange wedge, an average sized bite of food) than their corporate clients (22-28 bites). The time of day and length of an event can also dictate how much food you need. A party held right after work, during “cocktail hour”, say from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. could center around hors d’oeuvres and other light fare because the guests will probably have plans for dinner after the reception.

Other menu planning considerations include:

• Balanced menu – a standard menu should include a balance of two proteins (meat, poultry or seafood), one vegetable and one starch (pasta, rice or potatoes).
• Courses – for seated dinners with multiple courses, each course should complement the next and there should be some variety. For example, if you’re having a beef entree, then you might consider a seafood appetizer.
• Buffets – the number of buffet stations corresponds to the number of guests. According to the folks at Joel, a good rule of thumb is one buffet per 75 guests. If the guest list is large, say 750 or more, you can increase the number of guests per buffet ratio to one buffet per 100 guests.

When the proposal is ready, the caterer gives it to the client for his or her perusal. After the client accepts the proposal, the caterer schedules another meeting to discuss the decor and layout and to plan a detailed timeline of the event.

<!– Photo courtesy –> Sample: Estimated summary of costs

Catering: Planning the Event

Elbow Room No one likes to attend cramped functions where you feel like you’re going to knock something over on the way to the buffet. To ensure adequate space, here are some general guidelines: Cocktail parties (stand up) 5-6 sq. feet per person Cocktail parties (some seated) 8 sq. feet per person Reception, tea type (some seated) 8 sq. feet per person Dinner (using banquet tables) 8 sq. feet per person Dinner (using round tables of 10) 10 sq. feet per person Cathedral Seating (seating in rows) 6 sq. feet per person Dance Area 2 to 4 sq. feet per person

Caterers and other event planners today have many useful tools to assist them in planning the perfect event. One product, called Room Viewer, automates the process of drawing up floor plans for events and parties. Whether indoors or out, no matter the shape or specs of the room, this computer aided design (CAD) software helps the caterer utilize the space to its best potential. According to the TimeSaver Software Web site, Room Viewer can enhance the work of:

• Meeting Planners
• Facilities Managers
• Caterers
• Special Event Planners
• Rental Companies
• Production and Audio Visual Companies

The client services department at Joel uses Room Viewer to lay out an entire function, from the buffet tables to seating arrangements to floral displays. Not only does the software help in the planning phase, but it’s useful during the execution of the project, too. Caterers can make print-outs showing exactly where everything should go (even down to the placement of utensils) so the catering staff will have a precise map of the event. These print-outs are especially helpful when caterers work with outside vendors, such as equipment rental companies that supply everything from tables and chairs to linen and china. Each vendor is given a printed diagram of the event plan to use for planning and setup.

<!– Photo courtesy –> Sample: Buffet station diagram

In addition to CAD-based software programs, there are many business-management software packages specially suited for catering and the food-service industry. A quick search on the Internet provided this list:

• Caterease
• CaterPro for Windows
• CaterPlus
• CaterTrax
• Event Master
• Maestro Sales and Catering
• Party Perfect
• Visual Synergy Systems
• Total Party Planner
• WinEASI Catering Enterprise

These programs are very versatile and, once you understand how to utilize them, they’re incredible time-savers. For example, the folks at Joel use the Visual Synergy products to manage databases for recipes, marketing, client lists and vendors. Caterers might also use the software to maintain purchasing records, produce receipts and create event calendars. This kind of software really helps keep everyone in the company well informed, because it makes it easy to share information across the board. From the planning stage to execution, each part of the team can work from the same documentation.

Photo courtesy Joel Using a caterer for a dinner party at your home gives you more time to spend with your guests.

The Synergy International Web site explains in greater detail what their software can do. Two software packages that are particularly useful for catering businesses are “Visual Synergy Small Business” and “Visual Synergy Enterprise.” Some of the handy features of these products are:

Visual Synergy Small Business

• Full Sales & Revenue Management Tool
• Event Calendar Management and Event Schedule Reports
• Customer Marketing – Tracking and Reporting
• Revenue Management for Food, Beverage, Equipment, Staff & Miscellaneous items
• Packing Lists for Production and Warehousing
• Event Staff Scheduling and Reporting
• Proposal/Contracts & Invoicing

Visual Synergy Enterprise

• Proposal & Contract Creations
• Sales Prospects & Contract Management
• Recipe Costing & Purchase Orders
• Inventory Tracking & Reservation Priorities
• Custom Report Writer
• Track Event Profitability
• Event Labor Scheduling & Management

Catering Schedule

One of the most valuable tools in planning and executing an event is a detailed schedule. Depending on the nature and length of an event, these itineraries can be several pages long, covering each moment, from setup to service to breakdown almost minute-by-minute. Large events may have 100 or more staff members on hand. These schedules are a script of exactly what should happen and when; providing direction to each of the many staff involved.

Photo courtesy Joel The catering staff carefully checks each place setting — making sure the glasses gleam and the silver shines!

Caterers have to consider several factors before finalizing the schedule. Set-up time is a big consideration. For example, if an event is outside, with no set structures, the caterer might need a couple of days to get the site ready, depending on the number of tents, decor and layout. Cleanup is also a major concern. For standard functions, the folks at Joel generally like to have at least 3 hours for setup and a couple hours for breakdown.

Photo courtesy Joel Edible art: This semolina poundcake pleases the eye and the palate.

The caterer also needs to consider the nature of the gathering. If it’s a wedding reception being held in a different location from the ceremony, will all the guests arrive on time? If there is a cocktail reception, how long should that last prior to the dinner? The caterer also has to leave time for a bouquet toss, toasts and the cake cutting. If the event is at a rented facility with a strict end-time, the team has to precisely time and execute all this according to the schedule.

Keep in mind that some facilities do book more than one event in a day. If you’re arranging a morning function and have the place booked until 3:00 p.m., that means you, all of your guests, the catering crew, and all their equipment and supplies must be off-premise by 3:00 p.m. sharp.

In addition to planning the schedule, there’s other preliminary work that needs to be done. Before the event, the catering firm’s Kitchen Administrator examines the menu and decides what to order. Visual Synergy Software may play a big role in this part of the job. The kitchen staff enters precise measurements to create a detailed database of recipes. The staff can easily expand these recipes to suit any number of guests. Once the team has the right recipe for the appropriate group size, it’s easy to see what they need to order.

Photo courtesy Joel This catering firm’s kitchen is very much like a restaurant kitchen.

Photo courtesy Joel Hundreds of pots and pans are on hand to facilitate cooking for any number of guests. No event is too big or too small!

The timeline for this work definitely depends on the size of the function. For a corporate event for 300 people, for example, the kitchen staff at Joel would order food about two weeks in advance and start the actual food prep one week out. A smaller gathering, perhaps 100 guests or so, doesn’t require as much time. The staff would order the food one week ahead of time and the food prep would start a few days prior to the event. Catering kitchens are similar to restaurant kitchens, in that the staff gets most of the foodstuffs and supplies from large distributors, but goes to local markets or specialty shops for specialty items.

Photo courtesy Joel The shelving in this walk-in refrigerator can be used to store trays of prepared food.

So everything is planned and ready to go, let’s see how the big day unfolds…

Catering: Set-up, Service and Clean-up

The big day has arrived. This is when the catering team finally puts the itinerary to use. It’s time to load up all the equipment, supplies and foodstuffs. Working from an extensive packing list, the crew loads vans and trucks with all the supplies. Nothing goes unchecked – the crew accounts for every linen, glass, chafing dish, tray, pot, pan and silver piece on the packing list. They even itemize small items like aluminum foil, saran wrap and garbage bags. The team at Joel has a 14-foot truck to move equipment and supplies from their premises to the event site. The crew loads the heavy stuff first — ovens, fryers and hot boxes — followed by tables, pots and pans, glassware, china and serving pieces. Finally, when everything else is on board, they load the food.

Photo courtesy Joel Glasses safely stored in racks are easy to transport.

At this point, you might be thinking, “Back-up there a minute — did you say ovens?” Yes, ovens! Caterers use an array of portable appliances and heavy equipment — ovens, fryers, hot boxes and dishwashers to name a few. For example, Joel uses industrial convection ovens that have been put on wheels and converted from natural gas to propane for mobility. One tank of propane provides enough power for five hours of cooking time. Complete with burners for stove-top cooking, each oven cavity can accommodate four sheet pans of food. That may not sound like a lot, but at forty 8-ounce filets per sheet pan, that’s 160 steaks!

Photo courtesy Joel This portable oven enables on-site baking and cooking.

The Set-up

Party for Five? No, make that 12,000! When the Joel team held the annual commencement dinner for a local university, they had an impressive 12,000 guests. Six tents with fully-equipped, temporary kitchens in each one enabled the team to feed the guests in an amazing three hours!

The catering crew transports the supplies to the event site and unloads it all. If the site has cooking facilities, the crew unloads the cooking equipment (pots, pans, serving dishes, etc.) and food right away. Then they set up the tables and chairs, according to the precise floor plan. Typically, the client services representative or coordinator that planned the event manages all the setup work. Sometimes, the firm has to execute this front-house setup in concert with other vendors. This is where the detailed schedule, floor-plan and layout come in handy. Thanks to the detailed plan, the florist knows where to place arrangements, the musicians know where to set up their instruments, and so on.

Photo courtesy Joel Creativity, organization and incredible teamwork are what it takes to create beautiful settings like this.

For an outdoor event without cooking facilities, things get a little more interesting: The crew has to assemble a temporary kitchen immediately. The team divides the tents into two staging areas, one for presentation and serving and one for cooking. A hanging wall separates the two areas of each tent. On the kitchen side, tables line the outside walls and run down the center. The crew also sets up the ovens, hotboxes and other equipment. Hot boxes are large insulated steel booths lined with racks that can hold 40 to 50 sheet pans of food. The kitchen staff uses sterno cups, small cups of inflammable gel, to keep the hot boxes warm. Once lit, a sterno cup will burn for about 4 hours.

If the caterer is serving the food buffet style, the crew will set up stations with serving platters and chafing dishes around the event. The kitchen staff cooks and prepares the food and buffet attendants and runners keep the stations stocked. Sterno cups keep food warm and dry ice keeps food cold. For example, at a dessert station, the team at Joel will use dry ice wrapped in linen to support a ceramic serving bowl of ice cream. This prevents the ice cream from melting for three, possibly four hours.

Large seated dinners require even more staff and organization. For these events, Joel uses something called the “T formation.” Basically, they set up prep tables in the shape of a T. Kitchen staff flanks the center-column table, with one person per item on each side. As the crew passes plates from the base of the “T” up to the top, each person adds one part of the meal. Once the plates reach the top of the “T”, the final person in the line garnishes them, and the waitstaff brings them to the guests. This assembly line method keeps the kitchen from becoming too congested with people moving about.

Photo courtesy Joel Caterers attach PVC pipes to the legs of prep-tables, raising the table-tops up to chest level to make food-prep easier for the cooking staff.

The Service

Different functions call for different types of service. For example, for a cocktail buffet, the team at Joel uses this formula to decide what the staffing needs are:

• 1 Coordinator per event
• 1 Supervisor per event
• 1 Waiter per 30 – 50 people
• 1 Steward per 100 people
• 1 Buffet Attendant per buffet / station
• 1 Runner per buffet / station
• 1 Bartender per 75 people
• 1 Kitchen Manager per buffet station

So, a cocktail buffet for 150 people with seven buffet stations would have a service staff consisting of three to five waiters, seven buffet attendants, seven runners, one or two stewards and two bartenders. The coordinator or event supervisor meets with the service staff to go over their duties. Some will be manning the buffet stations, some will circulate through the event serving hors d’oeuvres and others will run food from the kitchen to the buffet and bus dishes. With everyone properly informed of their responsibilities, the event should run smoothly. Throughout the event, the coordinator continues to oversee each phase, making sure the detailed schedule is strictly followed.

Photo courtesy Joel Innovative presentation: buffet selections are suspended from above for a floating effect.

The Clean-up

After the function is over, it’s time to clean everything, break down all the equipment and tables and pack it all up to go back to the catering premises. The crew breaks out the original packing list to make sure they account for everything. As with every other stage of the function, the team has to execute the clean-up meticulously. The caterer’s goal is to leave the space as clean — if not cleaner, than they found it. The team washes supplies such as glassware, silver and dishes and wraps them for storage. They identify and clean all rented supplies, and return them to the rental agency.

Photo courtesy Joel This silver is wrapped in plastic to keep it clean and tarnish-free.

Photo courtesy Joel The plastic wrap on these plates keeps them fresh and clean for the next function.

As you can see, catering can be an exciting career that requires creativity and excellent organizational and people skills. Let’s take a look at what you can do to prepare for a career in catering.

A Career in Catering

Photo courtesy Joel <!– CAPTION –>

Joel Dondis of Joel, a full service catering and event-planning company located in New Orleans, Louisiana, took time out of his busy schedule to talk to us about catering, how he got started in the industry and what would-be caterers can do to get into the business.For Dondis, the cooking-bug struck early. By the age of twelve, he had secured his first apprenticeship with a noted chef and restaurateur from the Basque region of Spain. Dondis went on to attend the Culinary Institute of America in New York and then traveled to Europe to gain even more hands-on experience. He worked at the Schloss Hotel and Restaurant Gargantua, in Frankfurt, Germany. When Dondis returned to the United States, he worked for the Brennan family in their restaurant “Mr. B’s” and then at the world-renowned Emeril’s Restaurant where he earned the title of Sous Chef. The Sous Chef is second-in-command in a restaurant or kitchen, ranking immediately below the Head Chef.

As the president and chef-proprietor of a thriving catering and event planning company, Dondis wears many hats. He has traveled to the Bahamas, Florida, Washington DC, and New York City to cater some noted high-profile events. Joel even trained Princess Margaret’s chef at her home on the island of Mystique in the Lower Grenadines. An average day might find him working on company finances, marketing and business development, mentoring new staff, talking with clients or creating new recipes.

If you’re creative, love cooking, enjoy working with people and have a strong entrepreneurial drive – catering could be a good profession for you. So, what should you do if this sounds like a viable career option? Several caterers, Dondis included, believe that a combination of formal training and practical experience work well. Dondis particularly stresses the importance of business classes. Running a catering company is very much like running a restaurant or any other kind of business. A strong background in business administration can only enhance your ability to handle the myriad of responsibilities that come your way. Caterers debate who offers the best apprenticeship or internship opportunities. For some, Europe is where you want to be. For others, the U.S. is just fine. No matter where you choose, find a setting where you can be comfortable so that you’ll be open to gaining valuable practical experience.

Food Careers

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Food careers vary greatly. There are many different types of chefs who work with food, plus countless other positions which don’t involve preparing food. Learn all about the different food careers out there here on HowStuffWorks.

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