i had to mention this story about the milkshakes because it proves the story about customer feedback and social media usage.

while wandering around the isle of dogs we decided on getting a coffee and headed into a local mall to see what food stores were at the top (i had been before when it had other brands there) after visiting reuters once.

we ended up going into byron for coffee (no snack/food as were still full from breakfast) so we were not model customers seeking awesome burgers.

we were shown to our table and we mentioned that we would only be staying for coffee. the place was not full but was buzzing and food was coming out at a fast rate.

we were seated near the food serving hatch and plates of awesome burgers and food kept coming to the side of us. we had a very attentive table server and he took our order of three vanilla milkshakes.

we were relaxed, chilled and nobody was concerned about the speed of anything - we had been walking so to be able to relax was nice, nobody was clock watching as we had not ordered any food.

what seemed like only a few minutes the server returned with some starters. some fantastic fresh salsa, chips and fresh guacamole (like perfect, as i like - tableside made styli) - dan looked at me wondering if it was ours.

as is normally the case when anyone puts food on a table i was straight into it. it was divine and not expected but a nice touch -- after all we were only there for the milkshakes.

shortly after the starter the milkshakes came and boy were they awesome. super cooled metal containers with a US style milkshake. it was quite special (i'll be back there for sure) and a total surprise.

at to this that i had tweeted a picture with my foursquare checkin and within less than 10 minutes i had a tweet back from @byronhamburgers asking me what choice of milkshake i went with and a follow up tweet about how much time he had spent 'getting it right' - the speed of engagement, the service and the quality of the product instantly made me invested in that company. right there.

people often ask about loyalty and return on investment with social media, for me it's right there - it's how i felt, it was about when i was engaged and it was about the heavy lifting the brand did to please me.

from seating, to friendly manner to order speed and the starters to offset any waiting time to the actual product we were served -- every part is now lodged in my emotional centre for further investment in more experience with that brand.

. .. and the burgers looked amazing too. well done @byronhamburgers i had a fantastic experience and your speed of social media interaction sealed the deal.

• "Waste" More Time on Social Media (lowhangingfruit.us)
• "Often, the actual plot isn't what engages users in the online discussion" (twingly.com)
• 8 Ways to Leverage Social Media Beyond Social Networks (hubspot.com)
• Is It Possible For A Business To Survive Without Using Social Media? (superdoodadsblog.wordpress.com)
• Jump into Social Media for Online Brand Presence (lookuppage.com)

as a part experiment (and shot in the dark) i bought some planters to show ella the process of putting seeds in soil to try and grow something so that we can plant these over to a bigger grow bag and get into the flow of actually doing this as a daily nurturing process.

i've been flat about talking about the ark for a while due in part that to get that dream project of the ground means that we are in the hands of the people with the money and financial years start at weird times -- this one being in january.

personally i think it's going to drag and drag so in my mind i've repositioned myself to try and earn, work towards more advocate work, more video and more studios in the hope that someone seems me as a digital asset to assist them and their business yet still keep me at arms length.

the problem for many is that i am the square peg that does not fit into the round hole of everyday corporate life. i'm not going to big something up if it's crap, i'm not going to tow the line, i'm always going to innovate and disrupt. it's in my nature.

feels good to be able to show ella how plants grow and fills me with excitement for the future about growing and cooking food at the ark thou.

i have visuals of me sitting in the ark overlooking the little lake with ella sitting at the wooden table drawing, all wrapped up with food that i made on the open fire/bbq we have, her smiling and happy with that moment in her life.

and contentment overflowing me as i sit proud of my achievement of doing something constructive and good, by bringing about a level of calm into our lives.

there are a lot of reasons to love a venue -- the ambience, the seating, food and drink and the general look and feel.

but injecting character and community is an ability of the clientele that a venue serves. as nottingham is a very provincial city you do find a lot of hipster and well to do people frequent this popular venue.

that's not a slight btw, that's just an observation and to be fair it adds to the charm. from the quirky evenings of pub quiz to the lunchtime soup of the day blogging trips we normally do i have a real spot in my 'city' life agenda for places like the malt cross.

you must check out the food, the sweet potato fries are killer and they normally do homemade soups that are to die for and are super warming and filling.

• How to Malt Buckwheat for Beer (tamlinsey.wordpress.com)
• Amrut - India's own world class single malt whisky (milroys.wordpress.com)

it's the simple things in life.

good chat, good coffee and freshly cooked different foods daily bonding people together from the locality around open conversations -- a decent cafe space in sneinton finally (now with wifi!)

i found out about the secret cafe through cj (@pcmcreative) about a month ago as we went along on friday evening to show our support, record some interviews and take a few photos.

fast forward a month and last week i just finally got around to installing the phs300 cradlepoint wireless router in (as part of my community project that i never started a year ago) -- see the blog post after this one for more on that.

with mifi up and running i spent a few days there last week for lunch and had some great soups, salad and tartlets but more so conversation. it was great to hear people being upbeat and realistic about the near future.

doing something to change their current course in life, inspiring through doing with a can do attitude towards running a space to serve people a meal for a reasonable cost -- we even had some dropped off to us on friday which was awesome after a few pints at antenna.

you can find the sneinton secret kitchen down trent road near the st christopher church (it's next door) you can't miss the sign really on the railings.

the space runs from wednesday to friday from 9:30am (i think) till 2:30pm (might be 10:30 i forget) and food is normally ready around 11:30 ish for those looking to just drop by to see what's on that day.

i'm really hoping that it goes from strength to strength there and that more non-profit ideas and services come together there for the whole of the community.

great work marsha for getting it going!

just wanted to give a quick shoutout and headsup to my stateside friends today who are enjoying a day of thanksgiving later on today with their family and friends.  if any of you are travelling to get to see family please take your time and keep safe.  i know the weather in some parts is looking pretty crazy.

as for me, today is another packed day here in waking up nottingham, england -- much to be done today, recording all the videos for my blog posts i was writing all yesterday for my advocacy!

happy thanksgiving!

• Happy Thanksgiving (xercised.wordpress.com)
• Happy Thanksgiving! (wisewomeninvestor.wordpress.com)
• Happy Thanksgiving ! (amativeconcrete.wordpress.com)
• Wishing us All a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving (dawnsworkathome.blogspot.com)