THE LAB:GALLERY Presents INTERSECTION February 10-March 2, 2012
Follow Friday ~ Close To Home Edition
Posted on 11. Jun, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Community, Hotel, Lily's Restaurant
Here at the Roger Smith Hotel, social media is less about being a ‘department’ and more about building a culture. People and stories have always been a part of the hotel and now with the reach of social networks more people can participate, connect and enjoy our community. We have an amazing staff here at the hotel and some have taken the initiative to make social networking a part of their jobs on a daily basis. If you have ever been to the hotel you have probably met them and hopefully agree with me when I say these three individuals are worth the follow on this wonderful June Friday!
Yamile Diaz:
Yamile is the face, heart and soul of Lily’s restaurant here at the Roger Smith Hotel. He takes customer service seriously and it shows. He speaks multiple languages ( great for our visitors from overseas ), he is willing to do whatever it takes to make a guest happy and most of all he cares. If you have the stomach to handle one of the most energized people you could meet please stop by and say hello to Yamile…Or you can find him on Twitter as @RSYamilio
John Knowles:
John is the President and CEO of Panman Production and has produced numerous films, live broadcasts and content for the Roger Smith Hotel.Most recently John and his team produced a series of six short films called “The Roger Smith Shorts” which were screened last night at the Brooklyn International Film Festival. His creative juices and passion for new innovative ways of sharing visual arts on and off line have taught me about a whole new way of creating and sharing stories.
John can easily be found -> On Twitter @PanmanProd @Pancity or see his YouTube channel Roger Smith News.
Melissa Rodriguez:
Melissa is one of our friendliest bartenders, although she is so much more. Aside from entertaining, serving and being a creative mixologist, Melissa is in culinary school and has started a food blog FoodVixenNYC. Melissa is a text book example of what it means to be a Roger Smith employee.
Many of you know Melissa in real life… until now you may not have known how to find her when not sitting at her bar…now you can 
On twitter @FoodVixenNYC
Have a great weekend and enjoy the World Cup!
GO USA!
Fashion Experiment: The scarf…
Posted on 14. Apr, 2010 by Editor in Community, Hotel
Mr. Knowles asked me to do a fashion experiment giving a “gift” to different RS employees and seeing their reactions. He set me out on an adventure to Seigo, a small Japanese tie store on the corner of 47th and 3rd, to buy a woman’s scarf. The boutique had a colorful collection of silk ties arranged beautifully on the walls, and only a few scarves for woman on the center table. With the help of a salesperson, I picked out a scarf with a small flower print.
Here are the reactions I got from the Roger Smith employees I interviewed. It’s interesting to see how different people have different ways of wearing a scarf!
Mai Yoo
Myserious gift for Phoebe
Mysterious gift for Daisy
Mysterious gift for Kelly
Abeer shows how to wrap the scarf the Arabic way
Meet Melissa, bartender @ Lily’s
Posted on 08. Apr, 2010 by Editor in Community, Hotel
This is Melissa Rodriguez, our very own bartender working at Lily’s Restaurant! She’s been serving guests, pouring and shaking up drinks behind the Bar for over 5 years with us and has become an integral part of the Lily’s team here at Roger Smith Hotel.
Her interests are wide and varied, and one of the main fields is food. This has shaped her everyday life quite significantly. Recently, Melissa started her own food blog, which was given the flashy name Food Vixen NYC and has grown fast ever since! Also, find her on twitter @foodvixennyc!
Here, she speaks out about herself, her interests, the food blog and what it’s like to work at Roger Smith! Stay tuned for more in the Lily’s Series!
Daniel Kalmar: RSH foreign legionnaire
Posted on 22. Mar, 2010 by Editor in Community, Hotel
My name is Daniel Kalmar, also known as DannyGoulash on Twitter, and I’m one of six foreign management trainees working at Roger Smith Hotel, currently within Social Media! Originally from Sweden, I’ve been around and experienced a lot in my days, but nothing has affected me quite as much as my current situation.
As things have progressed, I’ve made this exclusive interview together with Adam Wallace, blabbering about myself and also a narrated slideshow of my recent family visit, more specifically my brother and sister-in-law. In these videos, I was told to just let everything out, which I tried to do as quickly is possible not to make these videos too long
So here’s a little peek into my world!
I am also the newest addition to the Roger Smith Social Media team, and I’m loving it! Great department to work in, great things to do, a constant flow of tasks and most importantly, an unorthodox way of marketing! Brian Simpson gave me the coolest nickname I’ve had for long time, he branded me the “Social Media Project Killer”. Doing my best to live up to that…Well, that’s all for now, see you around, folks!
Daniel Kalmar
Zane’s Crib in Dallas, TX
Posted on 19. Mar, 2010 by Editor in Community, Hotel
In February, Adam Wallace and Cesar Avery of the Roger Smith Hotel had the opportunity to visit Twitter friend and Roger Smith supporter, Zane Aveton (@zaneology). They got the chance to take a tour of Zane’s “building”, a 6,000 sq/ft photo lab that they gutted and turned in to a beautiful loft. What they have done to the space is quite impressive!
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand ‘Check-Ins’
Posted on 20. Feb, 2010 by BrianSimpson in Community, Hotel, Lily's Restaurant
Last Thursday afternoon I received a call from my friend Julia Roy. Julia had been approached by Susan Dominus, of The New York Times, to participate in an article Susan was doing on the social network FourSquare. Julia asked if it would be O.K. to do the interview at Roger Smith Hotel. Her reasoning was to hopefully include other FourSquare users in the article. (on most nights there is someone here “Checking-In” on FourSquare) This gesture alone shows why people like Julia excel in social media. FourSquare is a way of sharing your dining, shopping, traveling, museum hoping, train riding and sight seeing experiences with other people.
FourSquare is about the strength of community. To quote Kenneth Hartley Blanchard “None of us is as smart as all of us.” Julia could have done the interview on her own and it would have been great. She would have shared it, the twitterverse would have re-tweeted it and the world would continue to spin about one thousand miles per hour. Instead, Julia recognizes the greater strength and potential energy of community. Everyone has an audience: Damien consults on building your companies brand. Clay has studied under Seth Godin and now assists a variety of businesses with their overall strategies. Jill has a loyal community on YouTube as a videographer that surpasses most of its users. I (Brian Simpson) work at Roger Smith, a hotel that has become a go-to business for all types of social media personalities.
Collectively the story became what platforms like FourSquare stand for… connecting friends and strangers with commonalities to create conversation.
Jill Hanner's NYSC Mayorship
It was a great night and we at The Roger Smith Hotel wanted to thank Julia for including us. I/we would also like to thank Jill, Clay and Damien for sharing their unique and individual insights as to why FourSquare is important to them.
“Beyond Twitter: An App That Truly Lets You See City”
JOIN FOURSQUARE NOW: Here
Susan Dominus
Special thanks to: Susan Dominus, writer for the NYT and Nicole Tung Photographer for the NYT
The Many Faces of Roger Smith : Ulrika
Posted on 20. Oct, 2009 by AdamWallace in Community, Hotel, Lily's Restaurant
The Many Faces of Roger Smith introduces the world to the personalities of the staff at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York.
Ulrika Bengtsson is the food and beverage director of the Roger Smith Hotel. Originally from Sweden, Ulrika has now lived in New York for 20 years. In this profile piece she explains her upbringing in Sweden and all of the great local foods that she grew up with, including a regular diet of moose!
Roger Smith Hotel Social Media Re-mix
Posted on 14. Oct, 2009 by AdamWallace in Community, Hotel
In a conversation with John Knowles @RShotel, president of the organization James Knowles asks, “So how do we reach out?”. John: “You let other people do it for you.” James: “How does that work?”
The concept crowd sourcing content becomes a great way to allow for others to share your virtues. The idea of others taking your brand into their own hands might seem scary but when the public personalities embrace your identity the reach of your message spreads farther than you can anticipate.
The understanding and embracing of others to tell the story of your identity creates new levels of branding opportunity. The most important thing to understand is that our satisfaction is in you. The exciting moment of social media and the social internet is when an online engagement translates into a face to face interaction.
It is important to thank our friends both old and new for making the Roger Smith Hotel the place for everything Social Media. Thanks for being part of the Roger Smith Culture.
Follow us.
http://rogersmithlife.com/
http://twitter.com/RShotel
Please Share, Comment, Respond and Engage!
Thanks
John Knowles
Cupcakes4Charity Profile Video and Photos from Kickoff Event!
Posted on 02. Oct, 2009 by AdamWallace in Community, Events, Hotel
Cupcakes4Charity Kicks Off With Mouth Watering Cupcake Extravaganza, Oct 1
Group utilizes the power of social media (and dessert) to make a difference in the community
September 24, 2009 (NEW YORK, NY) Just as a special dessert can help lift ones spirits on a bad day, it can also help raise money for a well deserving charity. On October 1, 2009, Cupcakes4Charity will debut its very first sweet tooth event at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York City from 7-10 pm. Including an array of extraordinary raffle prizes, a networking happy hour, and a wide assortment of delicious cupcakes for sale, the proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Society in its mission to raise awareness of the disease, diminish suffering and save lives.
Cupcakes4Charity aims to utilize social media outlets and engage every individuals affection for all things sweet to campaign for various causes via mouth watering social events. The three Cupcakes4Charity founders Anna OBrien, Joey Pasion and Sara Wingert first met by conversing on the social media network, Twitter, and have decided to band together to give back to the community using the draw of New York Citys trendy dessert (the cupcake) and the influence of their comprehensive 7,000+ Twitter followers and 1,500+ Facebook friends.
Cupcakes will be sold for $2 each and one hundred percent of the proceeds will be donated towards the efforts of one of the Cupcakes4Charitys founders, Sara Wingert, to raise more than $4,500 for the American Cancer Society. By training for and completing endurance races with the charity, including the Brooklyn Half Marathon and the New York City Half Marathon, the ING New York City Marathon will be the third endurance race that she has completed this year.
Attendees wearing yellow to the October 1 kickoff event will receive a discount on purchased cupcakes. All cupcakes and raffle prizes will be donated for the event.
To register and obtain additional details about the event, please visit the Eventbrite invitation at http://cupcakes4charity.eventbrite.com,check out the Facebook page at http://tinyurl.com/cupcakes4charity, or follow one of the Cupcakes4Charity founders on Twitter: @AnnaOBrien, @PassionMD and @limespark.
Photographs from the Event
Photographs from Roger Smith and Sprouter Meetup on the Terrace
Posted on 26. Sep, 2009 by AdamWallace in Community, Events, Henry's Roof Top, Hotel
We were so happy to host this small gathering on the roof terrace with friends of Sprouter and the Roger Smith Hotel. Thank you to Sarah Prevette and all who attended for a great evening.
