Starbucks and Panera Roll Out a Welcome Mat with an Asterisk

The advice, the tips that I give out – whether in my weekly blog, on episodes of “Now Hear This Entertainment,” and in my eBook series – are practical and can be implemented with little, if any, cost.  They are generally geared toward entertainers (singers, songwriters, artists, musicians) but I’ve been interviewed by show hosts who’ve said, “I read your eBooks and a lot of these tips are actually even applicable to people in business in general, not just the entertainment industry!”

It’s funny because what I went through last week in Los Angeles prompted me to write this week’s blog, thinking I’d be giving a heads-up to entertainers who live or are going to travel there, but this could, in fact, actually be a warning to anyone in any business.

Every time I leave my house, I do a mental checklist, “Keys, wallet, pills, phone, glasses.”  (Back in the day, the list had one more item, which was, “watch.”)  When I’m going to be somewhere other than home overnight, I have my laptop with me.  We all make sure we have our charging cords, of course.

In some cases, I even bring a portable phone charger.  For example, if you spend the day at Disney (sorry, it’s a logical example for me to use, living just an hour away from their four theme parks in Orlando), you’re going to get to a point where your phone battery shows it’s not going to hold out the rest of the day.  Rather than try to find a plug (good luck) or risk having a cast member tell you (in a Disney-trained way) that you can’t stand there with your phone plugged in (indefinitely), something like a portable phone charger is a great solution.  It also fits in your pocket so it’s not a hassle to have on your person.

Of course, our smartphones can double as a hotspot in the case of Wi-Fi being unavailable or uncooperative.

“Tell me something I don’t know, Bruce,” you’re saying at this point.

Well, this will have served as a helpful reminder to you when you are in Los Angeles and wander into a Starbucks and there’s Wi-Fi but no power outlets (for customers).  Or you go to a pizza place and there are power outlets, but no Wi-Fi.  Or you go to Panera Bread and they too have put solid plastic covers over what clearly used to be power outlets.  Well, except for the one I saw that looked like a working outlet, but inside the two top slots were blocked and only the third prong hole was open.  Yes, really.

At Starbucks when I asked the employee at the counter about power outlets, she said, “No, but you can go to Target to charge your phone.”  Yes, really.

When your laptop battery won’t hold out as long as it should and you have lots of programs open and rarely shut down your laptop – an accurate description of my situation everyday – this becomes disappointing and concerning.

I understand that places like Starbucks and Panera Bread are in business to make money and don’t want to turn their stores into lounges.  However, this isn’t an issue in the Tampa Bay area.  I know I’ve visited their locations in other cities too and can’t remember those hoops being presented for customers to jump through.

Innovation will soon offer solutions to combat this pushback by merchants – but shouldn’t have to.  There is goodwill at risk here.  In the meantime, as the Boy Scouts would tell you, be prepared.

What obstacles have you faced in your travels and what methods do you employ to ensure you can work regardless of your location?  Talk about this in our Facebook group.