Kristin Avery

No Kids Allowed!

Answers Systems — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:12:07 GMT

By Kristin Avery

For some restaurants kids don’t eat free, matter of fact they don’t eat at all. There is a new trend of restaurants banning children from dining at their establishments. Some feel this is a flat-out act of discrimination while others feel it’s simply a smart business move.

Mike Vucik is among those who support the child ban from restaurants. He’s an owner of a Pittsburgh area eatery whose children ban went into effect two months ago. In an article titled “Restaurant Bans Kids Under 6. Discrimination or smart move?” Mike Vucik says the decision for the children ban comes, “after receiving noise complaints from customers about crying kids at neighboring tables.” The article also goes on to mention, “-Last year, North Carolina's Olde Salty restaurant made a similar decision. Owner Brenda Armes posted a sign that read 'Sceaming children will not be tolerated,’ making it clear to parents when their kids scream, they'll be asked to take it outside.”

Reasons for the ban according to FindLaw.com included, “Noisy kids may break a nice restaurant's ambiance. Rambunctious children who don't listen to their parents may also end up bumping into customers in stores, and can end up being both destructive and disruptive.”

Those opposed to the children ban are parents who claim the ban discriminates against children that may have special needs. According to an article “Mother Raising Her Own Voice Over Restaurant’s Ban on Screaming Kids,” “Forbidding an autistic child to scream can be like requiring a paraplegic person to dance the Charleston, so Kelly Chambliss, the mother of an autistic son, claims a restaurant's policy against screaming children is blatant discrimination and a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.”

Other drawbacks to the ban according to FindLaw.com titled “Legal to Ban Children from Your Business?” include, “kids' parents are usually the bread and butter customer of most stores and restaurants. And, by preventing children from entering into the business, you might be reducing your business' chance of making sales from moms and dads?”

So, so far we’ve been presented with two opposing sides that are for and against restaurants banning children, but is this child ban even legal? According to abcnews.com, “Federal forbids discrimination on racial or religious grounds, but there is no blanket protection for children. For business owners like Mike Vuick that means they can set the rules.”

In this economy can restaurants afford to lose customers? Is there any direct link between restaurants not welcoming child patrons to decline in sales or are restaurant owners just tired of dealing with the floods of customer complaints about screaming children? At this point there doesn’t seem be a direct link between crying/ screaming children and declining restaurant sales. It’s more a matter of what the restaurant desired target market is. If the restaurant is going for a classy and quiet atmosphere then certainly children throwing chicken fingers and running around the restaurant screaming won’t work. It’s a matter of personal preference for the restaurant owner. So, what do you think about restaurant banning children? Are you for or against the ban? Tell us why?

Facebook Freak-out!

Answers Systems — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:28:40 GMT

By Kristin Avery

If you’ve been on Facebook recently then you heard the rumor that Facebook was going to start charging its users. There was one posting in particular that I saw several times and it went like this:

"FACEBOOK JUST RELEASED THEIR PRICE GRID FOR MEMBERSHIP. $9.99 PER MONTH FOR GOLD MEMBER SERVICES, $6.99 PER MONTH FOR SILVER MEMBER SERVICES, $3.99 PER MONTH FOR BRONZE MEMBER SERVICES, FREE IF YOU COPY AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. WHEN YOU SIGN ON TOMORROW MORNING YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR PAYMENT INFO...IT IS OFFICIAL IT WAS EVEN ON THE NEWS Facebook WILL START CHARGING DUE TO THE NEW PROFILE CHANGES. IF YOU COPY THIS ON YOUR WALL YOUR ICON WILL TURN BLUE AND Facebook WILL BE FREE FOR YOU. PLEASE PASS THIS MESSAGE ON IF NOT YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DELETED IF YOU DO NOT PAY!!"

At first, I brushed it off but the more I saw it, the more I started to think that Facebook might actually start charging me to stay a member. Shortly after having a social networking panic attack, I came to realize this was clearly a hoax. This Facebook hoax got me to thinking. If I was convinced, I couldn’t be the only one that believed it was true. It only took a few people a couple of hours to get the rumor started before it spread like wildfire. This Facebook fabrication spread to the point where it was even covered by “The Christian Science Monitor”.

No matter where you go, rumors and misinformation are sure to follow. There may even be misconceptions and misinformation floating around your organization regarding the performance of your trade spending programs. I encourage you to get all the facts before making critical decisions that will greatly impact your organization. Answers Systems, a division of AFS Technologies, can help you squash any trade promotion management fallacies and provide the right answers to all your questions to ensure best-in-class trade promotion management for your organization. To request your online ContractPro® demonstration today, click here.

To follow Answers Systems, a division of AFS Technologies on Facebook for free, click here.

Technorati tags: contractpro, trade promotion management, facebook

Here's a Tip!

Answers Systems — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 19:42:34 GMT

By Kristin Avery

Did you know there are 1001 tips for cleaning with white distilled vinegar? Did you also know there’s an inexpensive tip for curing a sore throat? Just add one teaspoon to one cup of warm water and gargle. Well, no matter who you are everyone loves a good tip. You name it, there’s a tip for it. Everything from cooking tips to tips on how to save money on your next electricity bill. Tips are meant to provide us with useful information and make our life easier. Here at Answers Systems, we understand the appeal of tips. That’s why we have people like Natalie Rice, Senior Trainer, to provide tips on a monthly basis that make using ContractPro^® easier.

Natalie Rice, Senior Trainer

Here’s a recap of some helpful ContractPro^® tips that will make your trade promotion management life easier.

· Don’t forget, you can communicate via email about a pending claim through the Claim Detail, Claim Comments tab, and keep all of your communication in one place. Just remember to check the “do not send to Answers” if Answers does need to take action.
· When creating a contract to clear a pending claim, remember to enter a claim comment after the contract is approved. You will receive an alert of the approval in your User Messages.
· The Quick Search is an “exact search” so if you do not receive a result to your search, try the Advance Search and utilize “like”. You may just find what you are looking for.

Do you still need ContractPro^® help? Email Support

Not a current ContractPro^® client? Would you like to know more on how ContractPro^® can help your organization gain critical trade promotion management insights and increase ROI? Please Contact Us and learn more about how our service and software solutions can work for your organization. Connect and collaborate with the industry leaders today.

Tackling the Topic of "Trade Spend"

Answers Systems — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:39:45 GMT

By Kristin Avery

The topic of “Trade Spend” can be a difficult one to tackle. Where does one start? What key words should I type when doing an internet search? Who are experts on the topic? What information can I trust?

All right, don’t panic! Answers Systems is here to provide the answers to all your “Trade Spend” questions. You can start to tackle the topic of “Trade Spend” right here. Instead of conducting a general search on the internet that would cost you time browsing through article upon article, Answers Systems has compiled 5 of their most visited “Trade Spend” blog posts. You can trust the information provided because Answers Systems was founded by foodservice professionals and has met the unique trade spend and trade promotion management requirements of the foodservice industry for 25 years.

Now that your mind has been put at ease, here is a list of the top 5 most visited “Trade Spend” posts. If you still would like to know more about Answers Systems and our ContractPro trade promotion management solution, contact us.

1. "Trade Promotion Management: What is Trade Spend?"

Posted by Tom Tipps

There’s been a lot of dialogue around the topic of trade-spend management in the Foodservice industry; but, in all honesty I’m not sure the industry has ever really agreed on the definition of “Trade” Spending. From my perspective Foodservice trade spending involves incentives paid by manufacturers directly to their operator and distributor trading partners…to motivate those trading partners to purchase, sell or promote the manufacturers products/brands to the restaurant…. (Read More)

2. "Trade Spending Statistics: Answers Systems Clients vs. Industry Standard"

Posted by Tom Tipps

Through our decades of experience in managing trade promotion transactions for foodservice manufacturers, Answers Systems is able to validate many of these statistics with real-world examples. Technomic says, "On average 28% of trade claims are overstated." For Answers Systems' clients the numbers range from a high of 50% for new clients to a low of 22% of seasoned clients. The critical statistic is that the dollar value of invalid claims totals 15% of the total dollar… (Read More)

3. "Data Mapping Stats - Music to My Ears"

Posted by Stacy Jackson

Do you ever get songs stuck in your head? I do. Today’s song is “Surf City” by Jan & Dean. “Two girls for every boy” and “I’m going to Surf City where it’s two to one. Yeah, I’m going to Surf City. Gonna have some fun.” It’s kind of annoying, yet it got me to thinking about ratios. Surf City apparently had a 2:1 ratio of girls to boys. I started wondering what kind of ratios I might find in the quarterly report I received regarding our data mapping for our clients'…(Read More)

4. "Ultimate Questions in Business Intelligence"

Posted by Stacy Jackson

While at work this morning, I had one of those random memories pass through my mind. It was of a scene from Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. You may remember this part where Slartibartfast (crazy name, huh?) tells Arthur Dent about a race of super-intelligent, pan-dimensional beings who built Deep Thought, a supercomputer designed to calculate the answer to “the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.” Much to the beings’ dismay, Deep… (Read More)

5. "Trade Spend or Trade Investment?"

Posted by Bud Hilton

In a recent foodservice conference someone made a case that manufacturers’ expenditures toward the trade should be considered “investment” not “spend.” An executive with a very large food manufacturer made the statement . . . “Don’t try to kid yourselves, most of it is spend, not investment.”…(Read More)

Technorati tags: Trade Spend, Trade Spending, Trade Promotion Management, Trade Spend Formula

What Does It Mean To Volunteer?

Answers Systems — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 15:28:34 GMT

There’s a simple but complex answer to that question. The answer is simply different for each person. This was demonstrated when Kristin Avery asked Rhonda Harms, Susan Sanford, and Ernie Norling of Answers Systems 6 questions about volunteering.

Kristin Avery first sat down with Rhonda Harms to discuss 6 questions about volunteering. Listed below are the responses to those questions.

Q: Why do you like to volunteer?

A: It feels good to know that you’ve helped others and that your efforts matter.

Q: Are there any personal experiences that came out of volunteering that really resonated with you?

A: I participated in Habitat for Humanity and it was amazing to see how a large group of people could come together and accomplish so much. It was hard manual labor, in which I was quite sore from nailing so much, but it made me appreciate the efforts by so many to spend the time and effort to provide a home to those in need.

Q: Why do you feel it’s important to volunteer?

A: Helping others is being human. We all care, and by volunteering or participating, we find ways and opportunities to help others.

Q: Do you have a favorite organization you like to volunteer for and why?

A: I personally like to incorporate my recreational activities to benefit others. Besides volunteering, you can participate in running, walking, or other physical events by raising money or paying to benefit a cause.

Q: Do you have any advice to those who are volunteering for the first time?

A: Try volunteering with a friend or group. You’ll have fun and be able to share the memories, which will make you want to do it again!

Please click on the YouTube link to watch interviews with Susan Sanford and Ernie Norling.

Technorati tags: volunteer, community service

Trade Promotion Management - More Than Meets The Eye

Answers Systems — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 19:36:59 GMT

By Kristin Avery

Have you ever wondered how you receive your fast food so fast? Honestly, I’ve never given it a second thought. All I know is that I turn into a five-year-old who’s been denied a toy when my food takes longer than two minutes. The television show “How Do They Do It?” on the Discovery Channel recently helped me put this fast food efficiency into perspective and led me to do some additional research on the topic.

CNN Money provides a taste of how complex fast food drive-through technology really is. According to the article, “Candid Camera at the Fast-Food Drive thru” on the CNN Money website, “Here's how it works: when a customer places an order at the drive-thru speaker, the order is taken by someone at a remote ‘order center.’" The order is then sent right back to the restaurant where it was received.” The article then goes on to say, “The second component of the technology is even more interesting, and somewhat controversial. It involves a camera located at the drive-thru order window that takes a picture of the customer and the car. According to Gagnon, the pictures help staff accurately match the order to the customer, thus cutting down on botched orders.” To read more details about how the drive-through systems works, please click on the link. http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/06/news/companies/wendys_cameras/

“The Long-Distance of a Fast-Food Order” from the New York Times states that employees at that specific fast food location may not even take orders. When describing a typical fast food drive-thru transaction, the article point out how far – literally - some establishments go to provide customer service: “What made the $12.08 transaction remarkable was that the customer was not just outside Ms. Vargas's workplace here on California's central coast. She was at a McDonald's in Honolulu. And within a two-minute span Ms. Vargas had also taken orders from drive-through windows in Gulfport, Miss., and Gillette, Wyo. “

Wow! All that just to receive a number 4. Well, there’s also more than meets the eye here at Answers Systems. More that goes into providing the most accurate data and ensuring that claims are processed in a timely fashion. There is a level of complexity that goes into creating and maintaining trade promotion management solutions.

Answers Systems offers two contract management and trade spending solutions for the foodservice industry. For Foodservice Manufacturers, Answers Systems can increase contract profitability and measure trade promotion management effectiveness with the ContractPro® solution. ContractPro provides foodservice professionals with a high tech, online solution that allows users to input, approve, and track the performance of their distributor and bid/ chain operator agreements.

For Multi-Unit Operators, Answers Systems can maximize value of their existing supplier programs, identify opportunities for new rebate programs and perform price verification with the ValuTrak™ solution.

Answers Systems has a whole support team that works day in and day out to provide the most easy-to-use, easy- adopt trade spending management solutions. Just in the accounting department alone, 13,000 checks are printed and distributed a month. Settlement has the constant challenge of processing thousands of claims to meet required turnaround times.

The Answers Systems team also includes Six Sigma green belts with expertise in Lean process improvement methodologies. Our Project Management team, Business Analysts with Six Sigma certifications and Quality Assurance team are all part of the group that contributes to; requirements collection, project execution and quality product/process delivery. All these processes are monitored and implemented within a consistent and centralized Project Management Office team. We are SAS 70, Type II Certified and we are Sarbanes Oxley Compliant

Wow! All of that just to ensure your business receives the best trade promotion management. It just goes to show you that not everything is what it seems. If you dig a little further, you might find that there’s more than meets the eye.

Technorati tags: trade spending, trade promotion management, foodservice

A Home Run for Trade Promotion Management

Answers Systems — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:00:03 GMT

By Kristin Avery

It’s baseball season, my favorite season. My favorite team is the Tampa Bay Rays. When I’m not watching the Rays, I’ll even attend an occasional softball game. At a recent softball game, it finally occurred to me that the baseball diamond looks a lot like the Answers Systems logo. While a visual stretch for some, it was an instant connection for me. Well, once I made that initial analogy, it then opened the flood gates for a number of baseball/ Answers Systems trade promotion management analogies.

First analogy...

The first analogy between Answers Systems and baseball goes further than a simple shape comparison. The game of baseball and Answers Systems both have teams that are playing to win. While Answers Systems has a couple more teams on the diamond when it comes to trade promotion management, everyone is out there playing to win-whether it’s pitching the perfect game through crafting perfect contracts or catching the fly ball for an out on some invalid deductions.

Second analogy...

In baseball, it takes teamwork and good sportsmanship to play the game.

The same can be said for Answers Systems. Answers Systems depends on strong customer and stakeholder relationships in order to help clients optimize their trade promotions and trade spending. We build these relationships through our people and our link to page on website) ContractPro® or ValuTrakTM solutions. Relationship, teamwork, mutual respect, and a clear understanding of how the “game” is played are of utmost importance.

Third analogy...

Just like an umpire is there to enforce the rules of the game and ensure the game is played fairly, (Even though it doesn't always happen in baseball and softball- as I witnessed in the recent softball game. A player was safe at home plate before being tapped out by the opposing team’s glove. The umpire was no more than a foot away and called the player out. I digress. . .) Answers Systems monitors contracts that are “in play” and we call strikes (rejects), allow walks (tolerances), and call runners safe (allow clean claims through the systems).

Can you think of any other Answers Systems/ baseball analogies?

Technorati tags: contracts, trade promotion management, invalid deductions, trade spending

Answers Systems Goes the Extra Mile To Fight Cancer

Answers Systems — Mon, 16 May 2011 20:27:21 GMT

By Kristin Avery

I hope you can recall a blog post titled ” New Year’s Trade Promotion Resolution” that was posted this past January. I stated that one of my 2011 resolutions was to run a race where proceeds would go to a good cause. I also drew up similarities between making the commitment to train for a marathon and committing to a trade promotion management provider.

I’m happy to announce that this past Saturday, May 14th 2011, I followed through with the resolution to run for a good cause. I was joined by three “Answers” ites (including one family member of an “Answers” ite) in the Miles for Moffitt charity run/walk. Proceeds from this event went to the Moffitt Cancer Center. This Cancer center is the only Florida-based center with the National Cancer Institute designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center for its excellence in research and contributions to clinical trials, cancer prevention, and cancer control. Moffitt currently has fifteen affiliates in Florida, one in Georgia, and two in Puerto Rico.

Proof that we ran the race..bright red faces.
In photo above from left to right: Peggy Hupe, Francine Crawford, and Kristin Avery. Not in photo but participated: Karen Lang

I followed through with my New Year’s Resolution of running for a good cause, are you still trying to decide what to do about your trade spending needs?

Are you still deciding who is going to be your trade promotion management provider?

If so, please contact Contact Us if you would like to discuss your trade promotion management (ContractPro® solution for manufacturers) or contract compliance initiatives (ValuTrak® solution for operators).

Thanks again to everyone that came out to the event and/or donated to this deserving charity.

Separation of Food and State

Answers Systems — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 19:31:57 GMT

By Kristin Avery

A hot button topic that began a few months ago- and continues to be a topic of conversation- is the removal of toys from McDonalds Happy Meals in San Francisco, California and it looks like this issue will not be going away any time soon.

The placement of toys in Happy Meals was initially challenged by a Sacramento mothers’ class-action law suit. According to the Los Angeles Times the lawsuit alleges that,”McDonald’s exploits very young California children and harms their health by advertising unhealthy Happy Meals with toys directly to them.” There are many that stand behind this class-action lawsuit believing that toys are contributing to the increasing obesity rate among children. Based on this belief, those children wouldn’t want to eat the unhealthy hamburger and French fries if it didn’t come with a toy.

Those opposed to toy bans include San Francisco’s mayor. In an article titled “Mayor Vetoes Happy Meal Toy Ban in San Francisco,” San Francisco Mayor’s, Gavin Newsome is reported as having vetoed the bill that would enforce a ban on toys in Happy Meals. Newsome goes on further to say, “Parents, not politicians, should decide what their children eat, especially when it comes to spending their own money.” Shortly after vetoing the bill, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors approved legislation that would prevent toys from being placed in Happy Meals unless certain nutritional guidelines were met.

The California Restaurant Association is fighting the proposed ban on restaurant toys which has led to a powerful advertising campaign depicting a police officer taking away a child’s toy. According the San Francisco Chronicle, “Politicians in Arizona and Florida are pushing legislation prohibiting cities and counties in their states from casting cheap figurines out of their cardboard, grease-stained fast food boxes. Yes, that’s right. They’re banning toy bans. “

I feel particularly drawn to this story because as a child I recall the excitement of anticipating which toys I would find in my Happy Meal. One time that sticks out in my mind is when the movie Bambi was re-released in theatres. I wanted to collect all the characters featured in McDonald’s Happy Meals. Even though I had to get a couple skunks, I eventually collected them all. It is hard for me to imagine a day when children wouldn’t be able to experience that same excitement.

The threat of widespread removal of toys in McDonalds Happy Meal makes me wonder how far government and other organizations are willing to go in order to control or eating habits. I believe that we are entering into a unique age of food monitoring. The first lady, Michelle Obama, addressed the National Restaurant Association this past September. She discussed her “Let’s Move!” campaign, which is aimed at finding comprehensive solutions to combat childhood obesity. We know that there is a definite separation of church and state but what about the separation of food and state? What are your thoughts? Do you think it’s a good or bad thing to have organizations intervene and dictate what we eat and collect?

hr /> Technorati tags: toy ban, foodservice, trends

Answers Systems Magical Dedication

Answers Systems — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:45:03 GMT

Here at Answers Systems, employees not only demonstrate dedication to providing the best trade promotion management solutions but demonstrate dedication to other areas of their life as well. One example of such dedication was demonstrated this past weekend and we would like to take a moment to congratulate each individual.

This past Sunday, January 9th 2011 five "Answers'ites ran the Walt Disney World 26.2 mile marathon. The weather was prime as the five “Answers’ites participated in what was to be the final race of the weekend. Each one completed the most magical 26.2 miles on Earth as it took them on a course leading them through all four WALT DISNEY WORLD® Theme Parks. The first theme park took them around the world (some of you would just refer to as Epcot®), then continued on to the Magic Kingdom® Park, Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park and Disney's Hollywood Studios™ and then back to Epcot® for an exhilarating finish.

In Picture above from left to right: Rhonda Harms, Robert McQuilkin, Lisa Maloney, Sue Sanford, and Greg Hilton.

Among the five “Answers”ites to participate was our Chief Financial Officer, Rhonda Harms, ran an incredibly fast 4 hours and 24 minute pace (10.07 minutes per mile). Lisa Maloney, our Quality Control Analyst, ran an almost equally blazing pace of 4 hours and 28 minutes. Robert McQuilkin, warehouse manager ran a 4 hour and 35 minute marathon... while Greg Hilton, President finished at 5 hours and 11 minutes. Sue Sanford finished with 5 hours and 32 minutes.

Congratulations to all five that participated in this incredible 26.2 mile marathon. We acknowledge the amount of training needed and perseverance it takes in order to complete such an undertaking. Running the challenging distance displays dedication that is also evident to their daily commitment here at Answers Systems. br />