Many thanks to all of you who took the time to stop by our booth at The NAFEM Show last month in Orlando, Fla., to have your picture taken and put on the cover of restaurant development + design magazine as a souvenir. We had a blast with our photo booth, taking over 600 shots during the three days of the show.
You can check out the results here. As you can see, we've recently redesigned this site to make it easier than ever for you to enjoy rd+d on your phone or tablet. This improvement is consistent with our philosophy of being media agnostic. We see our purpose as providing you with original, fresh, relevant content and allowing you to consume it however you choose. No forms, no paywalls and no limits on digital access.
Of course, we love the printed magazine. We think that it remains the best way to highlight the beautiful restaurants that you are creating. Thankfully, most readers agree and continue to request the print edition in overwhelming numbers. But, in this increasingly mobile world, we also recognize that flexibility and ease of digital access is imperative. So, we hope you enjoy rd+d and share it with your peers in whatever form you choose.
One funny story from The NAFEM Show speaks to the enduring power of a magazine’s cover in the digital age. A reader rushed up to me in the aisle of the show and asked me if he was going to be in trouble. He and his business partner had taken the souvenir picture of themselves on the cover of rd+d and, on a lark, posted it to Facebook with the announcement that they had been awarded a major prize at the show. In a few hours, they had received over 400 congratulatory responses, including one from a very excited spouse anxious for details. The two pranksters dutifully returned to the photo booth for a second cover shot, this one with heads hung in an admission of guilt for accidentally pranking their newly discovered social media audience.
It still makes me chuckle every time I think of it.