by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Morton’s The Steakhouse has 78 restaurants spread across the country and nearly 4,000 employees. It’s easy to see how difficult having a company-wide meeting could be.
Thanks to a recent partnership with Pittsburgh-based Velocity Broadcasting, those kinds of meetings are now possible. At the Morton’s on the Southbank, Velocity has installed a 10-foot, high-definition screen complete with surround sound. What makes the set-up unique is the ability to hold these meetings live.
“We are the only restaurant in the country that has set up to do these events,” said Carol Kimsey, the sales and marketing manager at Morton’s.
Recently, Morton’s Chairman, CEO and President Tom Baldwin hosted a company-wide meeting using the Velocity technology. He talked about the company and his plans for the future. Kimsey said the real beauty of holding the meeting through such a medium was the ability to reach every employee at the same time and explain health care changes. By using Velocity, Morton’s was able to host a live meeting and the technology allowed employees to phone in questions.
“Jennifer Spock handles our insurance and there were lots of questions,” said Kimsey. “It was a hot topic and a great way to reach out to all of our employees. Many of them don’t have access to a computer and are uncomfortable picking up the phone.”
The Velocity Broadcasting capabilities were on full display Wednesday afternoon. Forty-six Morton’s across the country hosted a live satellite press conference that originated from WQED in Pittsburgh (the home of the Mr. Rogers Show for over three decades). The news conference featured several people including Baldwin, Velocity CEO and executive producer Philip Elias, Morton’s President Edie Ames, Velocity President Russell Rice and a couple of business executives who have used the live telecasts.
Each site included a wide screen TV and cameras, all controlled by Velocity from Pittsburgh. According to Rice, through Velocity’s precision marketing concept, a business is able to reach its target audience — whether that’s employees or potential clients or business partners — simultaneously and deliver a clear, consistent message without distractions.
“With the Velocity concept, you know who’s in the room and you have their undivided attention,” he said. “You can deliver a consistent message to all of your prospects. That’s impossible when everyone is traveling and you are conducting meetings one-on-one or you are having small meetings in different cities.”
Hosting a nationwide meeting using the Velocity network isn’t cheap. It costs $2,800 to reserve the rooms at Morton’s and the company must also pay for food and beverages and cover production costs. However, for a pharmaceutical company, it may prove cheaper, easier and more productive than flying 1,000 sales reps into a city for a one-day meeting. Rice said the Velocity system is better than teleconferencing or a Web cast.
“The presentation tool is designed to deliver the message clearly and precisely,” he said. “There are interruptions in the office and the impact of the message via the Web is smaller.”
The “precision marketing” concept is called MindShare.
“The media landscape has changed,” said Elias. “This new platform allows companies and agencies to produce a show that’s never been done before. We can deliver MindShare in one evening. We have also found that when Morton’s is involved, there is a 90-95 percent RSVP rate.”
Baldwin said one of the keys to the Velocity concept of holding live, nationwide meetings is the ability to reach a company’s key decision-makers or stakeholders at one time in a comfortable setting.
“We see Velocity as a value-added product and a perfect complement to our business,” he said. “It gives companies the ability to reach the ‘C’ level executives. Velocity is unique to Morton’s and you can’t find it anywhere else.”
Kimsey said a local pharmaceutical company has used the Velocity system to hold a meeting recently. However, when not used by Velocity, the boardroom and screen at Morton’s can be used for other activities. Kimsey said the room was actually rented during the Super Bowl and the recent NCAA men’s basketball national championship game.