We’d had so much buzz about the event that when I rang @CamposCoffeeQLD last night to tell them we were coming they knew who I was and had already put extra staff on to cope with the rush! In fact, the manager was a little taken aback that we’d managed to spread the word to hundreds and hundreds of people in such a short space of time. They promised to look after us and the gigantic pile of free coffee vouchers on the table proved they weren’t lying. I didn’t do a head count but I think somewhere between 20-30 people showed up at various stages throughout the morning and there were just as many apologies/’I'll come next time’s.

I’ve setup a Twitter account for @BSMCM if you’re keen to follow it. There’s also a website at www.brisbanesocialmediacoffeemornings.com (I don’t muck around do I) which shows a list of Tweets from @BSMCM and a list of tweets that are tagged with #BSMCM. If you’re keen to contribute just tag a tweet with #BSMCM and it’ll appear on the website. Yay for technology, and TAKE THAT Sydney and Melbourne and Newcastle. You don’t have a website for your coffee mornings, not even a domain name, let alone a technomological RSS feed; Brisbane does.

Qld: 3
Rest of Australia: 0

And to anyone who thinks that scoreline is familiar, it’s because it’s the same as this years Cannes Lions, the last three years of State of Origin, the 2003-2003 AFL season, the last three games the Brisbane Lions will play this year.

And just so this isn’t a pro-Qld whitewash, kudos to Campos for being brilliant at cafe marketing. Not only have they just won a prestigious award for being the best cafe in Brisbane, they are also playing by a ‘remarkable is standard’ ethos, examples include:

• They won’t serve a coffee unless it has a perfect rosetta. You can make a perfect coffee without a perfect rosetta, but you can’t make a rosetta without a perfect coffee. By ensuring each coffee has one, they are re-inforcing their brand’s values, reminding you why a rosetta is their logo, and standing a cut above any other cafe that doesn’t put in the effort to make things perfectly.
• They gave every single one of us as much free coffee as we wanted, for no other reason than the fact that we chose their cafe as a regular meeting place. They figured we’d be back and with that gesture, they made certain of it. That is remarkable.
• They change the menu every two weeks.
• Their coffee doesn’t come at a premium price.
• They roast their own coffee, out the back, and you can see them doing it while you drink. Magic.
• The managers and staff all know me by name already.
• Matthew, one of the waiters took the time to talk us through the rosetta story and asked, genuinely if we had any questions about Campos and what they do. When we were leaving, he asked who had an espresso machine at work and gave us a quick lesson in coffee pouring, which we then went back and practised (see below). Guess which brand of coffee beans I’ll be telling the admin staff to order next week?

Other cafes in Brisbane, you are on notice. You can’t be anything but remarkable again.

Campos Rosetta

Matt’s Rosetta

(I stuffed up the rosetta so I tried making some latte art instead)