South Beach Wine and Food 2010 - Part 2

The next day I was up early for a breafast with our advertisers followed by a lunchtime boat cruise featuring Food Network Star Melissa D'Arabian.


Then it was back to my favorite Miami Beach hotel, The Alexander, for a quick ocean afternoon nap.



When night fell it was time for the Bubble Q party.



Featuring a very acrobatic champagne server.



I closed the night with the AMEX VIP after party which lasted till 3AM.

South Beach Wine and Food 2010 - Part 1

I left for the 9th edition of the South Beach Wine and Food Festival the same day the worst snow storm of the season started. Most of the flights out of Newark airport were canceled, except for my flight to Miami.


Despite the heavy snow, our plane departed and within a few hours I was at the Rachael Ray Burger Bash



enjoying sliders from Iron Chef Morimoto.



Several burgers later I was off to the Food Network VIP After Party.



The party felt really special. Food Network has birthed so many TV stars that when we get them all together at a single event it feels like a Hollywood soiree. Current FN A-lister Guy Fieri shared the love with hit newcomer Marcella Valadolid.

An Author and Mother

My mother has lived a very remarkable life.

From her earliest days braving the great unknown as she left her Jamaican homeland to study in England.



To giving me so much vital support during my formative and award winning years in high school.



She's served her country



Been a bride



and now a published author



More about her amazing story at

http://www.remamjohnson.com

Farewell Marty

In February 1996 my wife brought home a 12 week old Lhasa Apso dog. I'd never owned a dog and never really wanted one. I didn't understand what all the hype was about "man's best friend", "a boy and his dog", and all that stuff.



But from 1996



to this past Christmas

14 years living with "little Marty" has changed my point of view and completely enriched my life. I'm now and will forever be a pet lover.



Tonight Marty passed away. Rest in peace my true friend.

December Update

It's been a pretty good month. Not major adventures at work, just winding down for the holiday break.

I did take a trip to Los Angeles last week to attend a live cooking performance by Food Network personality Guy Fieri

.
It's still pretty amazing to me that Food Network personalities are popular enough for people to pay money to see live, but I guess it proves that they are truly entertainers. The show began with a great flair bartending show by Hayden Wood, author of Woody's Liquid Kitchen.



And then Guy Fieri was joined by Food Network stars Robert Irvine and Sunny Anderson for 90 minutes of on-stage fun.



Finally, the LA trip gave me a chance to visit with my mother and 4 year-old nephew Jayden.

Cable Connection Week in Denver

I went to Denver last week for a week of cable industry conferences. One of the event photographers caught me lost in thought at the end of a long day.




I spoke at a bunch of different events. One session was on the difference between right brain and left brain leadership styles. We also introduced the Food Network diverse recipe project in partnership with NAMIC.


and networked with some of our key business partners. Food Network's Rachael Ray and HGTV's Vern Yip joined in of our events. I don't think I've worn a suit for so many consecutive days since the 1980s.



We also toasted to the launch of Cooking Channel, the new network I'm working on, with a special cocktail.

Cooking Channel

Michael Smith Named Top Chef At Cooking Channel
Food Network Veteran Marketing to Oversee Scripps Nets' New Outlet
by MCN Staff -- Multichannel News, 10/26/2009 5:46:41 PM

Michael Smith, the Food Network top marketer, has been named general manager of the new Cooking Channel, both at Scripps Networks Interactive.
Smith has guided Food Network's creative and brand strategies for the last 10 years, most recently served as senior vice president of marketing.
Michael Smith of the Cooking Channel
He will now oversee the development, staffing and production of the Cooking Channel, a multi-platform network that will cater to avid food lovers with informational and instructional cooking programming. Scripps said earlier this month it's reformatting Fine Living Network, in 55 million homes, into that channel next fall.
"Michael has earned the respect of everyone in the industry for his creative genius in building the Food Network name into one of the strongest brands in media as well as his leadership within cable and television," said John Lansing, president of Knoxville, Tenn.-based Scripps Networks. "He has the depth and breadth of experience needed to launch this new venture in a bold way. His strategic thinking, combined with his relationships with well-known and emerging food talent, will go a long way in making the new Cooking Channel a distinct destination for ‘foodies' everywhere."
Smith's marketing and creative teams during the last decade have won several industry awards, including the prestigious Brand Builder Award from Promax in 2003 and NAMIC's Luminary honors earlier this year. He also has been named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Minorities in Cable in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Smith is a regular speaker for groups such as the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) and the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC).
"The explosion of interest in food and cooking has been amazing, and we are perfectly positioned to build on our category dominance with the introduction of the new Cooking Channel," Smith said in the release. "The concept of the Cooking Channel has been received with such enthusiasm by our distribution partners, advertisers and talent, I am looking forward to serving up the pièce de résistance when we roll the new network out to consumers next year."
Smith earlier worked for Disney/ABC Cable Networks and for the CBS Television Network.
Brooke Johnson, president of Food Network, said in the release "Michael is a brilliant brand strategist who has helped develop some of the leading brands in cable. He also is a collaborative guy who knows how to lead people in the intense work of launching a new cable network."