Co-Creators & Co-Editors Amanda & Marlon Say
First Taste TV ™ , let’s talk about it. Imagine if Food Network and QVC got married and had a baby. And that baby loved Child Nutrition and was passionate about serving in innovative ways and pushing boundaries. Yes, that’s what First Taste TV ™ is.
Since this issue of Served is dedicated to First Taste TV™, I see it fitting to talk about how FTTV came to be.
marketing genius we needed to get things going. In the world of Child Nutrition social media Brea was, and still is, the best. It’s interesting writing this editorial and taking the time to reflect on how we all came to be. People always assume I’m the “idea guy” and the “team builder” of the group. And let’s be real, I am, lol. But at the beginning Amanda saw the problem, had the idea, and built the team. One thing I can say about our partnership is we are always what the other isn’t at the right time. And I think that is important when collaborating and working with others. So we have this idea, and we want to make a TV show, bold right? Not to us. But it was definitely innovative and something that would confuse, excite, and even scare many people.
It’s not uncommon knowledge that Child Nutrition is a few years behind the times. And this simple fact baffles me, we serve children and children are the future. Shouldn’t we always strive to be more futuristic? One of the things we say is NxtGen Network lives in the future so others can thrive in the present. But I digress. Marketing, advertising, and relationship building have been done the same way for too long with little or no results. We experienced, watched, and heard the dissatisfaction of industry members who were losing the opportunity to engage with operators. They feared that they would have even less time to connect and share now that conferences were going to be canceled.
I’d like to give a huge shout out to Travis Just, our tour driver and RV provider; Eaton Marketing Group for providing their awesome new test kitchen to us for filming as well as for partnering with us on an
It was March of 2020 and Amanda called me with a “brilliant idea,” which wasn’t uncommon. This was also the time when our relationship began to flourish. We’d worked on a project together months
4
5
episode; and LINQ, the Mushroom Council, PepsiCo, and AmTab for their episode partnerships. I’d also like to give a special thanks to all of the Food Service Directors who traveled across the country to make Season 2 a success. Last but definitely not least I’d like to thank my team. This started with Amanda, Brea, and I, but none of this would have been possible if it were not for Melissa Mayer, Matt Mayer, Mike Mang, Sarah Kolcheck, Nathan Johnson, and Jennifer Savasta.
prior that gave us both confidence in ourselves and in each other. Amanda is the type of person that’s always looking for ways to serve and support others. Being the fresh entrepreneur I was, with the inability to see limits and a healthy/unhealthy appetite for doing the things people think aren’t possible, she called me with something crazy. What if a recorded production could be used to unite industry and operators in an uncertain time where face to face interaction wasn’t possible? Amanda’s crazy matches my crazy and she knew I was the only person capable of pulling off this seemingly impossible concept.
We saw an opportunity where others didn’t and created a solution, First Taste TV™.
Who were we to have the audacity to take the existing trade show concept (that had been repeated over and over again for decades) and say we can do it differently and maybe... even better?
I wasn’t the only one she called though.
It only took us four months to build the partnerships, market, plan, and produce our dream child that would yield over 850,000 engagements in our first year. Well, now it’s time for year two and things have changed. We are more focused on our customers. We’ve listened to the feedback of viewers and our partners. I am happy to welcome you to this issue of Served Digizine™ which will act as our platform of choice for Season 2 of First Taste TV™.
I mean we’re just three young professionals with a quarter of the experience of our predecessors. But what we lack in experience we made up with grit, the ability to listen to others, and the strength of our relationships.
Breanna made the list and was essential in making FTTV a success. Brea was the social media and
We are NxtGen Network, and You’ve Been “Served” First Taste TV™ Season 2!
- Marlon -
Don’t forget to subscribe! Just Click Here!
Powered by FlippingBook