Monday, July 11, 2011

Summer Fun

My first few polls have been based on food.  Now that I've gotten a burger Scaddy's, and dessert at Coney's, I am ready for some adventure.  Where is your favorite place to spend time during the summer?

@ProvoSevenPeaks http://www.sevenpeaks.com
@LagoonPark http://www.lagoonpark.com
@ThanksPoint http://thanksgivingpoint.org
@Hogle_Zoo http://www.hoglezoo.org
@SevenPeaksSLC http://www.ragingwatersutah.com

I couldn't find Boondocks on Twitter and Trafalga hasn't ever posted anything on their accounts.  So I have left it to these five.  It should be a competitive week, so make sure to vote on the poll.  If you tweet make sure it has @downrightdave in it, or I won't see it.  Thanks for helping us find out who is this weeks Best of Utah on Twitter!

Click here to vote in the poll: http://twtpoll.com/2w3am2

Don't see a place here you love, want to tell us why we should vote for your place?  Add a comment below and tell us why.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Pizza Results

Last week we had over 200 people take part in our poll.  This week I added two more participants, going from 5 to 7.  I figured we would have even more, but I was very disappointed.  The 4th place winner last week received more votes, in their poll, than the entire field this week.  Not a single one of these seven companies did a single thing, or sent out a single tweet. 

Here are the contestants, if we can call them that:


Since there were so few votes, I also added in any tweets, that I was able to see to their numbers.  Here are the results:

The Pie Pizzeria: 12
Brick Oven: 7
Pizzeria 712: 4
Pizza Pie Cafe: 3
Nico Pizza: 2
Slab Pizza: 1
5 Buck Pizza: 0

Not a single one of these places did anything to make me want to go out of my way to go there.  If you are hungry, you should check out Coneys or Scaddys.  If you really are craving pizza though, head to The Pie Pizzeria if you are in Salt Lake, Brick Oven if you are in Provo, and Pizzeria 712 in Orem.

Since I would like to have something positive to say about a company on Twitter, I would like to suggest Seven Peaks (@ProvoSevenPeaks).  They are new to Twitter and have done a great job of interacting with me and their followers.  If you follow anyone this week it should be them.  Send them a message and tell them @downrightdave sent you.   If you want to go this summer, send me a tweet and I would love to join you!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Best Local Pizza

Best of Utah on Twitter is continuing to grow!  Last week we had over 200 votes for the best dairy dessert.  This week we will be looking into the best pizza in Utah.  Since this is a local thing, I left off the major pizza companies.  I have personally been to almost all of these, and I hope that it will lead you to give one of them a try.  So which one will it be?  Here are the choices, and this Saturday I will announce the winner.


Here is a link to the poll:  http://twtpoll.com/oxh828

I had a question that came up last week from someone saying it wasn't counting their votes.  This is because it will only accept one vote per IP address.  This makes it so one person can't just go in and vote over and over.  It should make the data and results more valid, I hope that this is not an inconvenience.

I will be out of town this week exploring Utah with a biologist, geologist, high school science teachers, and a few other elementary school teachers.  Should be fun!  I am not sure if I will have internet access, so you guys are on your own to get the word out.

Remember, that if you want me to see any tweets you send, they needs to include @downrightdave.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Dairy Dessert Duel Results

Thank you for all of those that voted!  We got 232 votes, as well as many tweets throughout the week.  This blog has now been up for a week and has reached almost 400 hits.  I hope that it has helped you learn more about some businesses in Utah, and those that are proactive and able to find ways to engage their followers.  Please give this blog, as well as @downrightdave, a follow to keep updated weekly on the best of the best.

Of the five businesses, four made several efforts in gaining support in this poll.  When I was creating this weeks poll I was a little hesitant to include Maggie Moos, because they had over 6,000 followers, six times as many as Iceberg, which had the second most.  Maggie Moos was a major chain, as opposed to the others which were more local, or only in a few states.  I thought that if they put in any effort, they would easily be able to win.  Boy was I disappointed. They received 2 votes, which equals less than 0.0003% of their follower count.  Compare this to Coneys who had votes equal to 0.38% of their follower count.

Sub Zero lead most of the way.  They sent out 10 tweets throughout the week and really took this poll seriously, but in the end Coneys was the winner.  Coneys also sent out several tweets, posted it on their Facebook, and had several fans RT or post it as well.

Coneys finished very strong, I don't know if they passed out fliers or something to everyone on dates tonight, but whatever it was, it got them just enough votes.  These two companies both did a very very good job. So congratulations to Coneys for finishing first, Sub Zero second, Iceberg third, then Sammy's in fourth.  As mentioned above, Maggie Moos was a fail of epic proportions.  I will make sure I never set foot inside their business.

Final Poll Results
Coneys: 83
Sub Zero: 77
Iceberg: 48
Sammy's: 22
Maggie Moo's: 2

Total Votes: 228

So for those of you that voted Coney's, tell us why.  For those that may have never been there, what would you suggest they try first?  What makes Coney's such a great place?  Disagree, or want to tell us why you think people should have voted differently?  Please add an honest, but polite, comment below.  I hope you are enjoying this blog as much as I am, see you next week!  Oh, and if you have an idea or suggestion for a future poll, you can let me know that as well.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Dairy Dessert Duel

We had so much success last week that we are back for more.  In two days we had over 150 views on this blog and a lot of response on Twitter.  So for one more week we will be focused on food, well desserts.  To narrow it down even more, we are going for ice cream/shakes/custard.  I have narrowed it down to these five businesses.

@coneyscustard http://www.coneyscustard.com/
@subzerotweets http://www.subzeroicecream.com/
@IcebergDriveInn http://www.icebergdriveinn.com/
@Sammyscafe http://sammyspieshake.com/
@MaggieMoos http://www.maggiemoos.com/

To vote go here: http://twtpoll.com/viptcw

The poll only counts for part of the vote, I also want to see their engagement on twitter.  Which company is going to do the most to earn our business?  Who has the best fans that will RT or message me about why their pick is their favorite.  Remember that if you want me to see your tweet it needs to have @downrightdave it in somewhere.

Polling/tweeting will end Friday night and I will list the winner here on Saturday.

Please comment, come back weekly, and follow this blog to find out The Best of Utah on Twitter!

Friday, June 10, 2011

Burger Battle

Best of Utah on Twitter begins with a Burger Battle.  After asking around, and checking to see if some of my favorite burger places were on Twitter, I narrowed it down to five.

Sammy's: http://sammyspieshake.com/
Five Guys: http://www.fiveguys.com/home.aspx
Smashburger: http://www.smashburger.com/
Iceburg Drive Inn: http://www.iceburgdriveinn.com/
Scaddy's: http://www.scaddys.com/

Here is the tweet I sent out:

What's the best Utah burger on Twitter? @sammyscafe @SmashburgerUT @Five_Guys @Scaddys @IcebergDriveInn or other? RT & respond.

Several fans quickly responded, the first two were for Smashburger, then one for Scaddy's and Five Guys,  the first company to respond was Sammy's.  Sammy's has always been really good at responding to their followers, so this was not a surprise.  Then another vote for Smashburger, Five Guys, and Sammy's.  Scaddy's was the second business to respond, I was really happy that these companies were willing to respond and engage their followers, even some random guy like me.

I am not going to list every vote, but it continued really close the rest of the day.  The third company to respond was Coneys, who I hadn't even put in the competition.  For Coneys to find out that I was doing this poll, and to be proactive enough to respond was amazing to me.  Major props to them and their business, you can bet that I will find a way to include them in my future polls.

After one day it was really down to Smashburger, Scaddy's and Sammys, maybe it is an S thing?  I was kind of disappointed in Five Guys, they were the only business that did not respond.  They had several big supporters, but just not quite as many as the other three.  Five Guys lack of engagement really hurt them in my eyes as well.

Finally, on day two, one of the companies took my business, and this poll, serious and posted this to their followers, instead of just a reply to me:

Hey Scaddy's fans.  Tell @downrightdave why he needs to visit Scaddy's in his search for a great SLC burger.

Even more of their fans responded and I liked that they were proactive.  I also got a second response from Sammy's on day two as well as my first response from Smashburger.  But when all was said and done, it was Scaddy's who received the most votes.  They were willing to do the most to get me there.  Not only were they the most engaging, and received the most votes, but they also had the least followers of any of the companies.  They were able to do more with less.  So if you are not following them already, please do.  Even more importantly, see what everybody is talking about and check out one of their 3 locations and try them yourself!

Disagree?  Still think your favorite place is better?  Want to give even more support for Scaddy's and tell us why they are the best?  Please leave a comment below, and continue to check back each week to look for and support the Best of Utah on Twitter.

Where It Began

Best of Utah on Twitter did not begin with a dream, but a hunger.  A hunger, for... well food.  As a single guy, who does not enjoy cooking for one all the time, I have a few places around I like to eat.  Instead of just picking one I turned to one of my favorite things, besides food, Twitter.  I picked five local burger places that also were on Twitter.  If they weren't on Twitter, then they were out of luck.  Then I asked the Twitter world what they thought, but I was also looking to see which business was willing to engage with their followers, and actually compete and want my business.

I got a good response, several businesses and fans responded.  It was really easy for me to see which had a good public relations person, those that had very loyal customers, and those that had both.  I want to give my business to those that have both.

After my original twitter poll, I decided I wanted to do more.  I want to learn about businesses and people in Utah on Twitter, and let people know who is worth knowing, and who isn't.  Sports, entertainment, food, you name it, I want to find the best of Utah on Twitter.  I hope that you will help me in this quest and that we can find some great people, businesses, and help those people and businesses gain followers and customers.

If you know a great company that is on Twitter, or have a suggestion for a poll, let me know.  Each week will be a new topic.  I hope to see you here often, and that this will be beneficial for all of us.