Roots in Alpharetta

The scarecrow wants a brain, the tin man wants a heart and the lion wants courage. Johns Creek wants a zip code. They’ve enlisted the help of Congressman Tom Price to guide them down the political yellow brick road. Will the great Oz grant their wish?

I’m torn on this issue of zip codes for the new cities of the burbs. In some ways I think they are going for a vanity zip code, something that could become exclusive like 90210. It’ll be a unique Johns Creek number the country club ladies can get snobby about. Yet in other ways I think the zip code system is partially broken and a new zip code for the city makes stuff function better. First I’ll make the case against a new zip.

Zip codes belong to the post office. They were invented by the USPS and are maintained by them. They exist to make postal delivery more efficient. Zips do not follow political boundaries and never have. Asking the post office to create one or more zip codes exclusively within the boundaries of the city of Johns Creek is not realistic. The USPS has enough problems right now, I’m sure they don’t need political pressure brought down on them by Congressmen for the purposes of city identity.

On the flip side, zip codes are often misused and misunderstood. The post office recognizes a “default place name” for each zip code. Johns Creek is not a default name of any zip code, even though they exist partially in five zips. The USPS agreed to allow Johns Creek to be what they call an “acceptable place name” for four of the five zip codes. That’s not good enough for one big reason…

Poor software design. Yeah, I blame it on the software guys (like yours truly). Many software apps incorrectly assume a one-to-one relationship between zip code and city. So for example, when they see 30022, they assume “Alpharetta, GA” or vice versa. Acceptable place names are often not factored into many software applications. As a result, using a website to find a restaurant or get a weather forecast might not work if you type “Johns Creek” or “Milton” as the location.

So what’s the solution? I’d kinda like to see the USPS change the default place for 30022 and 30097 to Johns Creek. Those two zip codes are mostly in the city limits anyway. I’m sure this change would tick off folks in Alpharetta and Duluth. North Point Mall is in 30022 and I’m sure the businesses near there wouldn’t care for the change.

Or Johns Creek could hope for an outcome similar to what happened in Milton. In their case, 30004 was just about the only zip code in the new city. In 2008 the USPS carved out a new zip code from 30004. This new zip, 30009, is mostly downtown Alpharetta with just a few addresses in Milton. They said the change was for efficiency reasons, yet the line somewhat closely follows the city boundaries. I’m certain there was some political influence involved in this though. What is confusing to me is that 30004 still has a default place of “Alpharetta”. It really should be Milton.

Pulling off something like this in Johns Creek would be more difficult considering that five zip codes are involved. And those five zip codes have four distinct default place names. Is it all worth it? Is this a waste of political capital?

At my job we have lots of ticketing systems. This is pretty common in the IT world. We have applications for submitting tickets for network changes, maintenance requests, software defects, technical support, new employee hiring and firing, etc. We probably have a ticketing system for making changes to other ticketing systems. It sounds like a lot, and sometimes it is. But if you’ve got a good process around the system, it can help your organization in a big way.

How so? It allows for accountability and transparency. When stuff isn’t getting done, there is a record of who is assigned a task with dates, times and notes. And when the process behind the system works, it gives management the tools and metrics to track change. They can also make pretty graphs for their powerpoint presos.

Yesterday the AJC ran a story about the City of Alpharetta and their adoption of SeeClickFix. You can read the article here. The application is basically a ticketing system for citizens to submit minor problems within the city. Think potholes, broken sidewalks, storm drains, traffic lights, stuff like that. Users submit issues through a web 2.0 interface with google maps integration or over a smart phone (iPhone, Blackberry or Android). It is slick technology. <nerd mode off>

Like many, this was the first time I heard of this application, which Alpharetta has quietly been using for a few months. When I first read the AJC article I kinda thought the city developed this on their own. That’s not the case. They have adopted a process around SeeClickFix and have subscribed to its service. At only $100 a month, this was a real bargain for the city.

Yesterday I created an issue in the new system. I reported on a traffic light on Windward Parkway that I think needs to be re-timed. In just a few minutes someone with the city acknowledged the issue and assigned it to the traffic division for research. That in and of itself isn’t a huge deal. I suppose I could have picked up the phone and called the traffic division and accomplished the same thing.

So how is this better? Because I have a ticket. I am issue number 47733. I have a URL, a status, a date, “like” buttons and a section for comments and discussions. I have something I can come back to weeks or months later if nothing is done. In short, I have a visible way to hold the city accountable. If I had just called in my issue, who knows what would have happened. The employee on the other end of the phone could have done nothing. Or more likely than anything, the request might have just gotten lost in the bureaucracy of government.

The system is still pretty young. It will take time to see how well it is adopted and embraced by the city and citizens. As a local blogger you can bet I’ll be watching. In the meantime, I think the City of Alpharetta deserves a lot of praise. In this current political climate, citizens are demanding a lot out of government. Unfortunately that usually manifests itself in the form of ugly campaigns and fighting. What I think citizens truly want is open, transparent and responsive government, not politics. Big kudos to Alpharetta for being the first to leverage this technology.

Every Friday, Roots in Alpharetta features an article on food and dining in a series I like to call Foodie Friday.

I had good intentions of writing today about using social media to promote your restaurant. I was going to use a handful of Alpharetta restaurants as examples of what to do. So for the last two weeks or so I’ve researched this topic. I’ve become a Facebook fan of some of Alpharetta’s finest and most popular restaurants. What I’ve found is disappointing.

Let me say first that I’m not really an expert on social networking. I’m a fairly active user of Facebook but not nearly as active on Twitter. And I’m not to the point of promoting my blog on either site. But I know good use of the tools when I see it. At this point I’m not seeing anyone locally make real good use social networking to promote a restaurant. Take notice, restaurant owners!

I’ll go over some social networking best practices and try to highlight some local restaurants that I think are doing it right.

Updating Menu Offerings

If you’ve got a menu that changes frequently, social networking is for you. By far the best example of this is Dutch Monkey Doughnuts at Avenue Forsyth. They change their doughnut offerings daily and post a complete list to Facebook, Twitter and their website. They also will post pictures and an occasional tease of tomorrow’s menu. If you are not familiar with this place, check them out.

‘Cue in Milton will sometimes post updates to their seasonal vegetable on Facebook. Recently they were showcasing a baked sweet potato that sounded delicious.

Milton’s is providing updates on their vegetable garden on Facebook, which is kinda interesting to follow.

Specials and Discounts

I’ve yet to see many restaurants around here offer specials for social networking users. Ray’s Killer Creek currently is offering a free dessert for Facebook fans, but that is about it. If a restaurant wants to increase their online fan base, this is the way to do it!

Be Social

It is called social networking after all. Interact with your customers! Most people on Facebook will “become a fan” of a restaurant as a way to let their friends know they like it. As a restaurant owner, you can learn who your best customers are. These are your ambassadors, the key customers who are talking about your food to their friends. These are the customers who are worth their weight in gold! Engage these people online. Create dialogue and request feedback. I don’t see ANYONE doing this well in Alpharetta. If no one is talking about you on your Facebook page, then ask! Create a reason for people to post. Give away a free entree to the fan who suggests the best new side item. Or how about a picture contest? Free dinner to the fan who uploads the cutest picture of their kid eating at your restaurant. Be creative and get people talking.

Post Other Relevant Content

This kinda goes back to what I said about blogs a few weeks back. Don’t make everything on your Facebook page about you. Here’s an example… say you run a barbecue restaurant. You learn that there is a BBQ festival this weekend. Mention it to your fans. Don’t you think they’d be interested in something like this? Whatever you post, keep it on topic. They probably don’t want to see pics of your pet guinea pig for example (unless he’s on the menu, yum).

Creative Use of Media

Pictures and video. I know it can be hard to photograph food but do the best you can. If that doesn’t work, photograph your customers. Sage, Kozmo’s and Pure Taqueria are among the best spots in town for happy hour and night life. They each have some hot pictures on their Facebook sites.

Location-Aware Mobile Apps

This is so new that Facebook and Twitter arn’t even here yet. Check out Foursquare for example. Yelp isn’t far behind. The general idea is that with an iPhone (or similar smart phone), these apps will use your phone’s GPS to determine that you are currently at a business. From there you can register your visit (called ‘Checking In’). Foursquare keeps track of how many times you’ve been there and who’s been there the most.

This is a goldmine of information to a restaurant owner. You know exactly who is coming and who is there the most. It creates competition among your customers to see who can visit your place the most. Restaurants should be all over this like white on rice. How can you encourage it more? Offer specials with these services. Better yet, offer the user with the most visits (called the ‘mayor’ on Foursquare) with a SWEET deal. The idea here is that you want people competing for this offer, trying to oust the mayor by visiting your place more often.

This is huge and almost no one around here is taking advantage of it as far as I know. The only place that comes close is the convenience store chain Racetrac. They offer a special for each check-in at their stores.

Again, I think most restaurants in Alpharetta are failing when it comes to the free marketing available on the various social networking sites. I’d have to say Dutch Monkey Doughnuts is the only place doing things right. They seem to have a clear social networking game plan and it is working. They have over a thousand fans on Facebook alone. Kudos to you guys!

If you know of a restaurant with a cool social networking presence, let me know!

I realized something after reading my first few blog posts. It is easy to come across in a negative tone about living here. A lot of people curse the burbs. Folks despise the relos, traffic, strip malls, chain restaurants, soccer moms, etc. I don’t want to come across as one of those people. To put it simply… I like it here. Yes, seriously I do.

Alpharetta Chose Me

I don’t like to think of myself as a relo, but I suppose I am. I sorta ended up here by accident. About twelve years ago I was a young bachelor living in the upstate of South Carolina. I enjoyed the pace of life up there and the job I had. But after getting a few years of work experience under my belt, I began to realize something. There were only a handful of companies up there that would hire someone with software experience. If I switched jobs every several years, I would simply run out of places to work before long. So I interviewed with a company in Atlanta, got an offer and moved down here in 1999.

Since then I changed jobs just twice. My work location moved from Norcross to Duluth then finally to Alpharetta. Not wanting a long commute, I moved here. I eventually married my sweetheart from South Carolina, cranked out a few kids, and here I am!

There are a lot of things I love about this area. Here are a few…

Jobs

As I mentioned recently, there are (still) technology jobs here. There are more high-tech jobs on Windward Parkway alone than in all of the upstate of South Carolina. Add to that Johns Creek, Duluth, Norcross and the Perimeter area (all within an easy commute). Even in the recession, this is a great place to be.

Traffic

Yes, this is a positive on my list! Most people around here won’t admit to this, but… you choose where you live and you choose where you work. I choose to have both of these in Alpharetta, and both fairly close to each other. I have a five mile commute; very atypical for an Atlanta commuter. I can come home everyday for lunch but I usually choose to eat out with my family. It is nice, and something I don’t take for granted.

Strip Malls

I love ‘em. Seriously. They have stores, dry cleaners, restaurants, veterinarians, and barber shops to name a few things. I like these things. I like that I have literally one hundred restaurants within range for lunch. I like that there are new Targets and Walmarts nearby. I like having a Home Depot open until 10:00pm. I like Chinese takeout. I dig all of this. You might call it sprawl. That’s fine. I call it stuff I like. I call it a job for someone, a business or entrepreneurial endeavor. Yay capitalism!

Schools

The schools up here rock. I would gladly enroll my children in the worst public school in North Fulton or South Forsyth over the best public school in the city of Atlanta.

Crime

…or lack thereof. Let’s face it, the streets are relatively safe here. Sure, someone is going to occasionally get a purse snatched at the mall. But violent crime is almost nonexistent here.

In my blog I’m going to write about all the craziness and contradiction that exists out here in the affluent burbs. But don’t take this the wrong way. I love this place. I didn’t wake up one day and decide to move here. But now that I’ve been here for ten years, I’m diggin’ it. If you don’t like our pace of life, our standard of living, our “sprawl”, our five bedroom homes and large SUVs, that’s fine. I’m open to all the good-natured ridicule you can throw at me.

Remember the heady days of the dotcom boom, when anyone who could spell “JAVA” was getting multiple job offers? Ah that was the life. Today the job market is supposed to be all doom and gloom, right? Maybe not.

I’m not looking for a job right now, thankfully. So I don’t truly know how bad it is out there. But since I’m blogging, I thought I’d do a quick search, just for giggles. I went to the career websites of the biggest employers in Alpharetta. Next I counted how many job listings where posted in Alpharetta. I didn’t look any deeper than that. I know many are in technology but not all. And I have no clue as to if they are actually filling these positions. But here’s what I found…

So what to make of this? Maybe health care is where the action is these days! Otherwise I was surprised to see this many openings quite frankly. I did a quick glance on monster.com and didn’t see all of these jobs. If you’re in the market right now, I think you need to be knocking on doors, virtually speaking (or maybe literally).

I may come back to this idea in the months ahead. We’ll have to see if this is an accurate barometer of the job market in Alpharetta.