News Times Two (Like 'Que for Two!)

Maybe it's three pieces of news.

1. I asked innocently if there was a way to track signups for the Famous Dave's P.I.G. Club. The initial answer was "no." A few minutes later, John Roach Projects and the Fishbowl people proved that human ingenuity can still overcome computers, and the answer became "yes."

So now, I have to ask you: are you a member of the P.I.G. Club? (You may ask back, "What club is that?")

The Pretty Important Guest Club gets you occasional emails laden with special offers, grilling tips and--most importantly--a birthday gift of free food each year. Signup is free, there's no spam, and no sale of your address to third parties.

If you sign up through my personal P.I.G. Club link, I get credit. Now that all of the Famous Fans are using their links, I need your help in this area as well. So much for asking innocent questions. It's an exciting addition to the contest.

If you can't click on that link, here it is in a form you can copy:

http://www.fishbowl.com/clt/famdvs/lp/join/cp/FamousFans_1.asp

My link is unique, so please don't go clicking on random links of this sort. Thank you very much.

2. My Facebook group, Famous Dave's BarbeQuest, is exploding in popularity. I set it up on Memorial Day, because I learned that Facebook might not like my original BarbeQuest page (because it was not listed as a group). So, on Tuesday, I had 30 group members when I turned on the computer, and I was up to 45 by the end of the day. I thought that was pretty good.

Again with the innocence. Today, dawn brought the total members to 50. Right now, I am at 152. The group tripled in size today, and some members plan to spread the word to several hundred people each. I hoped originally that I would reach 100. Now I dare to dream of 1,000.

If you're not a Facebook BarbeQuest member, please know that joining my group helps me considerably in the competition. Thanks!

3. This is mostly for Minnesota people. Thursday evening, May 28 at 6pm, I am going to visit with some BarbeQuest group members at the St. Cloud Famous Dave's. Each person's first three wings are on me. I want the people who have signed up out of kindness (and through blind faith) to have the opportunity to meet the person they are helping. The wings are a bit of giving back for the loyalty and assistance.

If you can come, either let me know through the BarBequest group at Facebook or leave a comment here (for non-Facebook people).

4. I was talking to the St. Cloud general manager today, and she said that, during a lull in the morning, she and some of the crew watched my YouTube videos of the Stillwater photo shoot. Between seeing me on the Famous Dave's site and on YouTube, they were pretty happy for me.

The St. Cloud people are an amazing bunch. They have been very gracious to me over the past 18 months, and so I recommend to you that, if you pass through St. Cloud, you stop in there for a meal. No one deserves your food dollars more.

I'm off to plan some more promos. Talk to you soon!