A Long December…

…hoping forgiveness for quoting Adam Duritz (The Counting Crows) here, but it seems an appriopriate phrase to describe the rapidly approaching month!  We’ve got a LOT going on in December and I am certainly not complaining.  Thanks to all of the Holiday revelers who have chosen to add some GreatQ to their festivities!  I LOVE spending all those hours tending the smoker on those sub-zero nights! (he says with a touch of sarcasm!)  I DO for sure appreciate your business and support. 

In addition to all of the gigs we’ve got scheduled for December (we have PLENTY of room for more!) we have the ‘business’ side of the business to deal with as well!  I have been busy researching and planning some MAJOR imporvements to our ability to effectively and efficiently meet the ever increasing demand for GreatQ!  I think that I’ll have some BIG news soon…I know I keep saying that, but there’s certainly some Great stuff on the horizon!

It’s also time to start considering all of those upcoming BBQ contests!  Entry dates and even deadlines are rapidly approaching!  My personal goal is to get out there and do some serious competing this year.  First of all because we LOVE to go to competitions, there’s always something to learn and our fellow competitors are always so gracious!  Another reason to compete is to get the word out about GreatQ, we are always happy to interact with visitors and to talk “Q” with any and all who are willing!  Yet another reason to compete is to support organizations that we belong to and believe in; Kansas City BBQ Society and the National BBQ Association.  Finally, and certainly not the least of the reasons to compete…HARDWARE!  Yes, that’s right…we want bragging rights and we’ll be out to earn them…so stay tuned and I’ll let you know where we’ll be!

So it is with much appreciation and thanks that I look toward the next month and the coming year with the support of all our GreatQ4U! clients past, present and (hopefully) future!  As always, I am more than willing to talk turkey (or pork, or brisket, or chicken….) with anyone interested in GreatQ, so if you’ve got something you want to talk about, shoot me an e-mail: jim@GreatQ4U.com and I’ll be in touch!  Thanks for stoppin’ by…type to you again soon! – jak

Setting records at GreatQ4U.com!

Thanks to all the folks who have stopped by the GreatQ4U! Website this month so far…we have managed to have our busiest month ever!  We cartainly appreciate all of the attention that we’ve been getting and the nice things our clients say about us to their friends who then use us to provide GreatQ at their events too!  We also wlecome with open arms all of the folks new to the GreatQ4U! experience and invite you to give us a call: (717) 254-1937 or shoot us an e-mail: info@GreatQ4U.com to discuss your upcoming event or to just chew the fat about “Q”!

I must say that the increased volume of traffic isn’t entirely a freak of the internet, as any reader of the blog knows, we’ve been branching out across the internet a bit!  In addition to GreatQ4U.com and this Blog, we’ve begun to add videos from our travels to YouTube which you can access directly from the website, we’ve also got a GreatQ4U! page on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/business/dashboard/#/pages/GreatQ4U-BBQ-Catering-in-Central-Pennsylvania/30070237853 - I know…it’s a long link, but I’m still learning.  Please feel free to stop by and “Friend” us or contribute to the Discussion Board, this month’s topic is ‘Your Favorite BBQ Meal’…should be enough to stimulate some Great feedback!  We’re also experimenting with various online marketing strategies that we hope will allow us to keep that big smoker full this year!

SO, as you search around the broad expanses of the internet…check us out!  BUT, more importantly…if you’ve got ANY kind of event coming up and want to add the one-of-a-kind taste of ‘artisinal’ meats and sides…you know how to get in touch!  Thanks for stoppin by…talk to you again soon! – jak

Christmas is coming…

…the goose is getting fat…You know how it goes!  While that song has two distinctly different endings, one of which is certainly more entertaining in small groups of people than the other, it also brings attention to the upcoming Holidays!  Trust me, this is NOT an entry meant to hasten the arrival of the Christmas season, au contrare…I too cannot believe that the Christmas season has managed to extend itself to just after Halloween. 

I remember in the not-too-distant past when the Department stores would wait until after the Macy’s parade on Thanksgiving and our first ‘official’ glimpse of Santa to begin filling every one of our senses with Christmas gift giving ideas and I liked it that way!  In fact, the only thing I dread more than the MONTHS early arrival of Christmas everything is the constant complaining of my wife about it! (Don’t tell her I said that!)  She is absolutely militant about early Christmas cheer…or more specifically the need to eliminate it alltogether!  SO…I know that I am treading on ‘relative’ly thin ice here and I will be cautious in my comments from here forward!

The only reason I mention all of that stuff is that with the Holidays fast approaching, our smokers are quickly filling up with Turkey!  As it turns out, it’s NOT just for Thanksgiving anymore!  We are still taking orders for fresh smoked Turkeys that will be delivered Hot off the smoker on Thanksgiving Day, but space is running out.  If you’re interested in limiting the amount of cooking you’ll be doing next week…just give us a call and we can hook you up with a fresh bird, basted with our own organic herbs and smoked in Hickory, Maple and a touch of Oak to bring out a truly Great Fall flavor!  We’ve also got your back for any other Business or Family gatherings you may be planning during this Holiday Season.

So, as the cold winter weather approaches and your thoughts turn to whatever you’ve got coming up for Thanksgiving and Christmas…keep us in mind!  We’d love to show you how GreatQ can add a tremendous experience to your celebrations!

GreatQ4U! Website Changes

Just a quick update to point out a few things new on the GreatQ4U! website!  We’ve tried to clean up the front page a bit to make it easier for visitors to ‘take in’ all that information!  In addition, we added a direct link to our Online Store as well as a link to our new line of GreatQ4U! Cooking accessories, tees, sweats and more.  To get there you can click on the conveniently placed Tee Shirt on the home page or by simply clicking here!  We’ve started to offer a variety of things with our logo on them as a way for our loyal followers to spread the LOVE!  Quality of our logo wear & accessories is as important as the quality of our Q, so  you should expect the best!  As always, if you’ve got an issue…let us know! You can call me just about any time in the office at 717-254-1937 or visit our Customer Feedback page on the Blog here!

We’ve also made some recent format changes and content additions to our sister website, How2Q.com.  Our goal for this site is to share not only our tips, tricks and ideas about BBQ, but to encourage others to share as well!  Visitors to the site will learn how to start the process of creating a Signature BBQ Sauce or Rub of their own, they’ll get some helpful tips from the pros and hopefully pick up some useful advice about Q!

Finally, we’re reaching out to new audiences every day through a new online advertising campaign using a number of Social Networking sites such as MySpace and FaceBook as well as a few of the bigger search engine providers!  Please visit our FaceBook page and add us to your friends list!  We welcome folks from these sites to our online ‘Q-Shack’ and hope that you’ll remember us when you’ve got an event that could use some GreatQ or if you know of someone looking for GreatQ!

That’s it for now…lots of updates to come on our BIG plans for 2009!  Look for BIG changes to our menu and opportunities to help us do some tasty R&D in the coming weeks!  Thanks for stoppin’ by – jak

Why Pellets???

Ah’ perhaps the most frequent question we’re asked by folks when we’re out Q-ing around!  It’s the kinda’ question that has enough to it to get some folks all stirred up.  That said, I can answer the question pretty easily with the caveat that there might be some BBQ folks out there who take ‘issue’ with my rationale.  A good place to look for verification of my assertions would be the winner’s stands of your bigger BBQ competitions.  See what folks are using and decide for yourself what’s good for your intentions!

Now that I’ve got THAT out of the way, the reasons that we use Pellets for cooking GreatQ are pretty simple;  First of all, the quality is consistent.  All our pellets are 100% hardwoods from a wide variety of trees, no filler or glue or anything like the stuff that’s in pellets for woodstoves!  Secondly, pellets allow us to create perfectly blended ‘custom’ smoke using a consistent amount of smoke from one wood mixed with another or several others for that matter!  Finally, the auger and fan driven system in the Treager Grills allows us to pretty precisely control the temperature of the smoker.

SO…Great quality, Consistent ‘Custom Blend’ Smokes and Precise Temperature control tossed together with the relative low maintenance and the hour or so of sleep you get overnight at the competitions make pellets the right choice for us!

Looking ahead, one eye on the past…

Wow…its November already!  Trick or Treat has come and gone and that blasted candy still sits on the kitchen table…calling out to me everytime that I walk by!  We’ve just completed the longest and most historic election season perhaps of all time and everyone is watching their purse strings closely.  It is truly a crazy time to be at the helm of any ship trying to navigate the troubled waters of the business world.  Our success is because of our clients and I am grateful for it, in fact I constantly consider the many ways we could improve on what we already do pretty well!  Sure, there are the occasional mishaps; spilled baked beans, tough corn, etc…but the bigger challenge is knowing exactly what the next step should be.

One thing is for sure, we are prepared to knock the socks off our 2008 performance and it was pretty good!  We’ve focused a great deal of energy on increasing our capacity while maintaining our ability to insure quality.  We will never sacrifice the quality of our Q for anything!  Not deadlines or profit margins, not customer demands or inavailability of product…we always put the Q first!  I strongly believe that if your call yourself GreatQ4U, than that’s exactly what you should deliver!

Stay tuned to the blog to be the first to know what our plans for the upcoming months and year will be.  I will make sure that the news hits here before it goes anywhere else.  A few hints; look for us at more competitions in 2009 and be prepared for us to dramatically improve our abilities to very effectively cater ANY kind of event!  I’ve probably already said too much! 

One thing we can always use is summer help!  If you know anyone who’s a true Q Enthusiast, have them drop us a line to info@greatq4u.com and we’ll be happy to talk to them about opportunities to help!

As always…make it a Great Day! – jak

Cold Weather + Less Business = MORE Work!

You know, I’m not sure I understand it…and I’ll admit that I’m less than a math scholar, but I’ll be darned if that equation seems to work out that way EVERY year!  Now, I’m not sayin’ we’re not keeping the Pits burning…but it’s no secret that folks don’t think so much about “Q” here in the Northeast in the cooler months!  I can’t say that I look forward to the ’slow months’ though as it always seems like there’s more work to do!

Looking back at the past year and what we’ve done, trying to figure out what that means for the next year.  Thinking about menu options and working on recipes then updating all the ’stuff’…brochures, website, BLOG…etc!  Whew, I’m getting tired just typing it all!  Alas, I am not complaining!  Not at all, in fact I am quite pleased with our progress so far this year.  I would have liked to get out on the competition circuit a bit more, but can’t complain about that thanks to the amount of business we had!  Thanks again to all of our clients in 2008, we look forward to seeing you again next year!

I’d also like to point our a new feature on the BLOG which is the “Customer Feedback” page.  You can find the link on our main Blog page under GreatQ4U Customer Service  or just click there for that matter!  This new feature allows current clients to give us a bit of marketing help by going on and on about how much our Q Rocked! It also provides a place for folks to offer suggestions to help us improve the products and services that we offer!  Want to see something added to our menus? Interested in something you don’t see on the website or in our brochure?  Think we could have done a bit better with your event?  This is the place to let us know!

If you’re considering a BBQ event next year, this is meant to be a place for you to get objective, third party appraisals of our performance.  We hope that once you’ve seen what our customers have to say, you’ll give us a call to see how we can help to make your next event truly special: 717-254-1937. 

As always, thanks for stopping by! – jak