Authenticity

A number of things have been rumbling around the halls of my mind lately.  As many of you already know, we have been in the throngs of a serious offer on a new location in Edmonton.  While things have progressed, we still are in a period of uncertainty, as the landlord and his partners are reviewing our financial information to determine whether or not we are worthy of being tenants in their building.  Hopefully we should know one way or another within a day or two, so we can either begin to plan in earnest, or start looking for another location.  Recently I was introduced to the podcast, "The Age of Persuasion" which features Terry O'Reilly, by our marketing director James Schutz.  While the focus of this podcast is marketing, I have thoroughly enjoyed listening and have learned a lot about marketing including a lot of history.  It is a great podcast, which I would highly recommend.

As I was listening to Terry talk during his podcast the other day, he was talking a lot about the concept of authenticity.  Specifically, he was linking the notion of being authentic to marketing, and commenting on how effective marketing is, when it is perceived as authentic by its intended audience.  I was meeting with a designer on Friday (before listening to Terry) and he asked me an interesting question.  Brad asked me what one word I would use in describing what kind of feel that I wanted for Transcend's new location.  After thinking for a little bit, the word that I put out there was "authentic".  Perhaps that is why I am enjoying Terry's podcast so much (we are on the same page).  Sure I want the new cafe to be a trendy, cool, and inviting location.  I want it to be the hottest cafe in Edmonton, but more important to me than trendy colours, chrome, and fancy fixtures, I want the atmosphere and environment of the place to scream authenticity.  At the end of the day, the cafe needs to celebrate the coffee, the people involved in the coffee world, and the people who make coffee their craft.  People keep telling me that Transcend is more than great drinks and well roasted beans.  It is about our story, its story, and their story, all of which transcend a simple cup of coffee, or perfectly pulled shot of espresso.

The hard truth about Transcend and what we do every day, is far from perfection.  I would love it if I could say with certainty that every drink served over the bar was "perfect" or that every roast is flawless.  But of course, I can't, and the reality is that perfection in our industry is simply unattainable.  Firstly, the standard is a moving target, as different people have different ideas of what constitutes quality.  Secondly, coffee is an agricultural product, which is subject to the weather, the soil, the wind, the people who grow and process it.  Then it gets into our hands, where we do our level best to celebrate its unique characteristics.  In short, I am qualifying your expectations of what we do on a daily basis, and stating in unequivocal terms that we will not deliver perfection.  But, what we can deliver, and what you should expect on a daily basis from the folk at Transcend, is authenticity.  If you don't feel that we are delivering that, please let me know, as it is the most important thing we strive for.  OK, enough of me, click the link above and give a listen to Terry, or if marketing isn't your thing, take a wander over to Hoffman's blog and catch James' fun self challenge this month of a video every day for a month.