Greg Swan

Archive for the ‘Chaska’ Category

Tommy’s Malt Shop introduces the Tommy’s Juicy Lucy

In Chaska on March 7, 2012 at 1:34 pm

Until Matt’s Bar and their AMAZING “Jucy Lucy’s” (only Matt’s Bar spells it w/o the “i”) move across the street from my house, I will gladly settle for Tommy’s Malt Shop in historic downtown Chaska serving up their new menu item — the Tommy’s Juicy Lucy.

I saw a post about new Spring menu items on their Facebook Group (they’re still struggling with a Facebook Page strategy) yesterday, and we immediately made plans to go sample them.

Tommy’s has two Lucy’s — the Tommy’s Lucy stuffed with American Cheese, fried onions and pickles, and the Smoky Lucy stuffed with jalapenos and pepper jack cheese, topped with fried onions and chipotle mayo. Both are served in baskets with frieds, and the Tommy’s Lucy is only $2 more than a normal burger.

All of Tommy’s burger buns are buttered and grilled, just like an old fashion diner. Their fries are always crisp (just be sure to ask for the sweet potato fries not to be too crisp – they sometimes overcook them a bit), and we’ve never had a bad meal there.

After being warned by both the kitchen manager and our waitress to be careful with our molten cheese-filled burgers, my wife and I dove into the oral orgasm that is the experience of eating two beef patties crimped around a puddle of piping hot cheese.

They were amazing. I’m not a food critic so lack the adjectives to share with you. Let’s just say, they were amazing.

Matt’s Jucy Lucy will always be the best. But I don’t live across the street from Matt’s, so this is more than sufficient!

(note to Brett and Emily, I would love to sit with you for an hour and volunteer some help in setting up your Facebook strategy and profiles. You’re missing out on great word of mouth and organic social media opportunities by not having your channels properly set up. Let me know! We love Tommy’s and are big advocates!)

AngelFest 2011 in pictures

In Chaska, Family on September 29, 2011 at 9:56 am

Grant was more than a little excited about Guardian Angels’ annual AngelFest fall celebration…

Games for the kids…

Crafts for the adults…

Food…

A polka band playing, “In heaven there is no beer, that’s why we drink it here…”

Someone please explain this game to me…

Water balloon fight in the street…

And a tour of the historic Guardian Angels church, including an exclusive look at the 1902 pipe organ…

And some videos:
Playing the 1903 pipe organ at Guardian Angels Cathedral
The one where the AngelFest music is shaking all the windows in our house, and Grant is concerned
Backyard fire + James Brown = awesome

Last week in pictures

In Chaska, Last Week in Pictures, MIMA on August 24, 2011 at 11:29 am

My team at work took a boat cruise…

I attended the MIMA event on mobile trends (yes, apparently mobile has not yet “arrived” as a trend)…

Arrived too early so enjoyed some coffee on the riverfront…

Grant’s soccer team has more fun off the field than on…

The kids picked out some enthralling bedtime stories…

I performed my weekly duty of gluing back together cheaply-made Transformers…

We took the kids to Chaska’s annual Touch a Truck…

National Night Out, 2011

In Chaska, In the News on August 5, 2011 at 10:27 am

Full article.

National Night Out 2011: Downtown Chaska, Minnesota

In Chaska on July 29, 2011 at 8:24 am

National Night Out is “an annual event designed to strengthen our communities by encouraging neighborhoods to engage in stronger relationships with each other and with their local law enforcement partners.”

What a great opportunity to get to know your neighbors even better!

I’m helping to organize NNO for our neighborhood in downtown Chaska again this year (west of 41).

Hope to see you there!

You’re invited to National Night Out
Date: Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Time: 6-7:30 p.m.
Location: Hickory Park, downtown Chaska
Event Specifics:
Come to Hickory Park, meet your neighbors, let the kids play, and meet Chaska Police, Firefighters and McGruff the Crime Dog.

Want to help with the event? Contact: Greg Swan, gregoryswan@gmail.com, 304-449-GREG

Photos from our 2010 NNO event:
.Greg and McGruff

Marketing!

McGruff on the Seesaw

NNO Neighbors

NNO Neighbors

Ringing the bell

Last week in pictures

In Chaska, Family, From the Road, Last Week in Pictures on July 25, 2011 at 12:24 pm

I presented at the Social Phonics Summer Camp…

I took Grant to swimming class…

It was 101 degrees…

More after the jump!

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Greg on Social Media in Civic Government

In Chaska, digital reputation management, In the News, Marketing Tips, Social Media on July 22, 2011 at 1:52 pm

I was quoted in a two-page Chaska Herald feature on civic government communications discussing the opportunity of utilizing social media:

The highs and lows of social media

Social media is a powerful way for civic government to connect with its social-savvy citizenry,” wrote Greg Swan, a Chaska resident and vice president of digital strategy for Weber Shandwick. “The city of Minneapolis uses Facebook and Twitter to announce snow plowing. Stillwater residents promote community garage sales via Facebook. Shakopee posts video from their music in the park series on a city YouTube channel. The Chaska Police Department uses Nixle to send SMS text alerts about breaking news in town.

Jumping on the Bandwidthwagon

Greg Swan, a Chaska resident and vice president of Digital Strategy for Weber Shandwick, would agree for the most part, but he still has some constructive criticism for the city.

“Like many organizations and businesses, the city of Chaska jumped on the Facebook page bandwagon, but hasn’t had a strategic communication and community management strategy to ensure updates are timely, questions are answered and that the page adds value to its fans,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Podhradsky gets that, acknowledging, “We gotta be better at this.”

While critical, Swan also understands the challenges cities like Chaska face.

“To be sure, Chaska government officials have plenty on their plates, and in an era of limited resources, we taxpayers want them to prioritize their efforts,” he wrote. “Yet, in many cases, a dormant social media profile is worse than a non-existent one … It’s of-ten difficult to justify return on investment in moving resources into social media, but the opportunity cost of not participating in conversations about your community can be high.

I also put together a “5 Social Media Trends to Embrace/5 Social Media Trends to Ignore” sidebar that ran within the feature.

Five social media trends to embrace

* Online monitoring of what people are saying about your community

* Social community building and engagement with two-way conversations

* Real-time event coverage (photos/video/news) on social channels

* Social focus-grouping, letting your online advocates get involved

* Live streams of public meetings with real-time chats

Five social media trends to ignore

* Establishing social media channels without a content and community management policy

* Outsourcing social media management to vendors

* Editing Wikipedia, which is against site policy for affiliated organizations

* Focusing so much on ROI that you miss out on the conversation happening today

* Google+, which hasn’t yet set guidelines for non-humans

It was a fantastic round-up by the Chaska Herald with stories on the faces behind city social channels, the role of public safety in social and interviews with social channels from Eden Prairie, Chanhassen, Chaska, School District 112, Carver and Carver County. They should enter it for an award. I’m serious.

Last week in pictures

In Chaska, Family, From the Road, Last Week in Pictures on July 5, 2011 at 12:44 pm

A quick overnight trip to Washington, DC turned into a 48 hour adventure amidst cancelled flights and some drama at the hotel I won’t get into…

More after the jump!

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Last week in pictures

In Chaska, Family, In the Garden, Last Week in Pictures on June 27, 2011 at 2:03 pm

My coworkers creating a website…

A date night trip to the iSold it on eBay store! Yes, a physical store where you can’t actually buy anything…

A date night trip to the very first shopping mall – sadly more than 1/3 empty. Surreal…

More after the jump!

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An epic Memorial Day weekend

In Chaska, Family on May 31, 2011 at 3:10 pm

Friday was Grant’s preschool graduation and end of year program at Schimelpfenig Park. He’s the one holding the “G.”

Here he is with his best friend, Michael.

Me and my boys.

Saturday was the Elm Street Block Party in my historic downtown Chaska neighborhood. Yet another special thing about Chaska is they have a Block Party trailer complete with tables, chairs and games your neighborhood can borrow for these events. So great.

Sunday my church, Oasis Church, met in Schimelpfenig Park for a service and family activities.

Fireman’s Lake was gorgeous.

Oh, and at least one stop at Tommy’s Malt Shop.

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