Société Culinaire Philanthropique

Digital Strategist February-September 2024

Contract Objectives:

  1. Increase digital engagement (Social Media and Website)
  2. Attract new members
  3. Develop a membership engagement experience

Increase Digital Engagement

The first step for me was to define a voice for the Société Culinaire Philanthropique (SCP). Through thorough research of this organization and multiple interviews conducted with its members, I found three main qualities that I wanted to shine through in all of SCP’s external facing communication.

  • Historical context and stories of the SCP’s involvement in New York City’s culinary landscape
  • The community that formed of French immigrant chefs in NYC
  • French language and culinary vocabulary

Here’s some sample posts that align with these qualities!

SCP History
Caption:
Following a large wave of French immigration to the US, the Société Culinaire Philanthropique was formed in 1865 to serve a new community of French migrant chefs in New York. The original mission of this organization was to care for their colleagues, to support worthy causes, and to promote the culinary arts. Over 158 years later, the Société’s mission still resonates and is ever-evolving.

French Community
Caption:
Join our community! Here at the Société, we support our culinary community and colleagues, whether you are a baker, butcher, chef, or pastry artist! If you are based in NY and interested in learning more about joining, please reach out and stay tuned for future events open to the public.

French Vocabulary
Caption:

Table d’hôte translates as “table of the host.” It is a menu that offers a multi-course meal at a fixed total price. The host (the chef or restaurant) offers diners a specific meal. This was the common standard when dining at a restaurant until Charles Ranhofer (one of SCP’s founding members) and his team at Delmonico’s (regarded as America’s first restaurant) started offering an alternative dining style where diners sat at individual tables with tablecloths and ordered à la carte from a printed menu and separate wine list.

Below, the aesthetic of the SCP is on display with its logo prominently displayed as “pinned posts” on top of SCP’s instagram, and posts embodying the qualities above posted below.

While I also created and managed the LinkedIn and Facebook pages, I spent most of my time building up the Instagram presence and adapting posts concurrently to the other platforms.

Website Page

While at the SCP, I also built their new website presence. Through multiple meetings with stakeholders, I determined a final mock-up of the website, visible below.

Developing Brand Presence

As part of a widespread brand awareness campaign, I pitched idea for merchandise sales at the SCP’s annual picnic to the Board of Trustees. I found a merchandise partner, Gear By Fuzion, and we launched the SCP Merchandise Online store. I curated products targeted for the SCP audience (chef’s aprons, towels, baseball caps). I led the in-person merchandise sales at the annual picnic with over 1000 attendees.

Events Organization

In addition, I pioneered digital ticketing initiatives using Eventbrite to promote our monthly member events as well as our bi-annual events (Annual Dinner Dance in April, and the Annual Picnic in August). Prior to my involvement, event attendance and payment was manually accounted for in spreadsheets.