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Author Archives: Juliana Stock

Why Gourmet Live Wasn’t So “Live” on Saturday

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Juliana Stock

We said back is September that we would be transparent about our process, and so we want to update you about a technical issue we experienced yesterday. Some of you may have experienced crashing late friday and early Saturday due to work we were doing on the app, which resulted in a brief inability to access Gourmet Live. We apologize for this, especially during this special time of year. And as a result, we would like to offer the Egg-Stravaganza recipe collection for free through Tuesday, April 19. To take advantage of this offer, open the 04.06.11 Easter & Passover Double Issue, tap the “Holiday Double Issue” tile, and scroll to the end to earn your free Reward.

We identified the issue in a matter of hours and resolved it quickly, but if you experienced any crashing issues either Friday or Saturday, please delete the app and reinstall it on your iPad. We truly appreciate your loyalty and understanding as we work to make Gourmet Live the best it can be. As always, please continue to share with us your feedback, either through the comments field below, through Facebook and Twitter, or through email at gourmetlive@condenast.com.


Posted in News & Events | Tagged | 3 Comments

Gourmet Live 1.3 Released Today

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Juliana Stock

We’ve released an update to Gourmet Live that is all about addressing stability issues you’ve been talking about—to us directly and to each other on Twitter and Facebook. And so you know, it’s been the focus of our team for awhile after hearing from you that our last release made issues like crashing better for some, but not for all.

We are confident that Gourmet Live 1.3 will be profoundly better, and we invite those of you who may not have recently been active on Gourmet Live because of technical frustration to try again. This build’s for you…

The other bit of news is that with this build out the door, we are now focusing our resources on readying Gourmet Live for another device. We can’t say which one or exactly when, but it will be soon—likely before the beginning of the summer—and many of you have requested every week that you want it available on that device.

So stay tuned, and keep talking and sharing, because as you can see, we continue to listen to your feedback. More to come.


Posted in News & Events | Tagged | 1 Comment

Gourmet Live a Beard Award Finalist!

Posted on March 22, 2011 by Juliana Stock

We’re honored and thrilled to be in such tremendous company. And understandably we are very proud of Rick Bragg and The Guiltless Pleasure, which is a finalist in the JBF Awards category of Personal Essays, especially when you consider we were about seven weeks old when the piece ran.

If you haven’t yet read the entire 11.03.10 Mayo, Mustard and More issue, you can find it in the Gourmet Live in-app store now, complete with a collection of archival Gourmet recipes featuring (what else) mayonnaise, original and classic stories, recipes and so much more! Click here to read Rick Bragg’s piece as posted on our blog at original publication. Props are in order to Elizabeth Spiers and ICM, and congratulations once again to all the other JBF Award nominees, especially our colleagues at Epicurious. See you at Lincoln Center!


Posted in News & Events | Tagged , , |

Gourmet Live & BlogHer Partner for “Road Trip” Series

Posted on March 17, 2011 by Juliana Stock

Wanderlust anyone? Us too! We are excited to announce that Gourmet Live has partnered with BlogHer, the premiere network of women bloggers, to launch a brand new series that will be taking you on a culinary road trip from coast to coast. Each month we’ll be making a stop at a different city to bring you expertise and insider tips from local bloggers about the can’t-miss restaurants and the local food scene. Together, you’ll be exploring the culinary destinations that define each city like the best eats, the hottest bars and so much more.

The latest issue of Gourmet Live includes our first stop with Road Trip: Austin, which is just in time for all of you who are heading to or already in Texas for SXSW. Get exclusive tips for the best eats in Austin by downloading the free Gourmet Live app, and head over to BlogHer for additional insider guides to restaurants, bars, bakeries and more. But even if Austin isn’t in your itinerary, the Gourmet Live & BlogHer Road Trip rewards you with flavors inspired by each destination, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy! Check the list below for our upcoming stops and stay tuned because we may be road tripping to a city near you!

The Gourmet Live & BlogHer Road Trip:

  • March: Austin
  • April: Atlanta
  • May: San Francisco
  • June: Washington, DC
  • July: San Diego
  • August: Chicago
  • September: New York City

Have a road trip story of your own? We’d love to hear it in the comments section below. Our favorites may be inspiration for a future stop. Happy travels!


Posted in New on the Gourmet Live App, News & Events | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Gourmet Live 1.2: An Enhancement

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Juliana Stock

You may notice something new about Gourmet Live this week … and it’s not just that we have an amazing issue celebrating Hollywood Gourmet Live-style just in time for the Oscars®. You’ll hear more on that later today from Kelly, but with today’s regular issue update, Gourmet Live will also be releasing an update to the application.

First, this update will address the crashing issues some of you reported, so thank you for keeping us informed and for your patience.

Second, from the very beginning you’ve helped guide our development. In December, we began to introduce paid features—first, a la carte collections and issues, and then right before the New Year, we launched a feature called SuperFavorites, which is our, paid, annual, premium feature that allows you to favor unlimited items with enhanced features like searching and sorting.

Today’s update ENHANCES SuperFavorites, making it more valuable than before. So whether you’re already a SuperFavorites subscriber, or you’ve yet to try it, there’s now even more reason to download Gourmet Live version 1.2 to start exploring and favoring content again and again and again. Here’s a breakdown of what’s new:

  • Same as before, as you explore Gourmet Live you’ll earn Rewards that are curated around topics and themes, like this week’s Hollywood-inspired collection of Star-Studded Snacks. Some of these Rewards are in your Library forever and some are in your Library for a period of time to try, and will expire (like milk) if you don’t preserve them (like jam). You’re told, when a Reward is earned, if you should be aware of any timing and you’ll be reminded at the end of that period that you can keep them if you like. With the upgraded SuperFavorites, a reader who wants to preserve a Reward has more options that will ultimately SAVE MONEY and ADD TO YOUR GOURMET LIVE EXPERIENCE. Here are your options …
  • Option 1: You can purchase the expiring Reward as an a la carte collection directly from your Library. Or …
  • Option 2:  You can become a SuperFavorites user for a one-time annual price, and favor virtually any article, recipe, video (or even any content that is about to expire), and it will remain in your Favorites as long as you are an active SuperFavorites subscriber—yes, even after a Reward would normally expire.

Depending on how often and how much content you favor, SuperFavorites can pay for itself in no time! If you’re already a SuperFavorites user, simply accept the free update to the app and this benefit will be available to you when it has completed downloading.

Of course, Gourmet Live still continues to be free to download, and you can continue to access and interact with ongoing weekly content updates for free. By reading the issue in the current week, it will still appear in your Library, the same as before. Additionally, The Gourmet Live in-app Store offers you the ability to purchase back issues of Gourmet Live that you may have missed, as well as special collections with new and classic content arranged by hot topics, occasions, holidays or themes like “Cheese Craze,” “A Gourmet Game Day,” or “A Valentine’s Dinner for Two.” And we have lots more planned for 2011 with new recipes and menus that you’re sure to love.

Have questions now or after you’ve become a SuperFavorites user? Visit Frequently Asked Questions & Troubleshooting about SuperFavorites.

And one last very important note … if you have not registered your email address with Gourmet Live, you will need to do so immediately after purchasing SuperFavorites. But don’t fret, it’s quick and easy—simply favor your first item and you’ll be prompted.

Posted in News & Events | Tagged , | 3 Comments

A Fix and Your Feedback

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Juliana Stock

In response to the frustration we’ve heard from you directly and indirectly regarding a Gourmet Live ad in the Epicurious app, we wanted to acknowledge a few things:

  1. We understand that the experience was frustrating and we apologize for any confusion about tap out ads in the iPhone version of Epi that did not allow users to download Gourmet Live. These ads were pulled, and again, we are sorry for the disturbance you may have had while experiencing Epicurious.
  2. We know you’re interested – passionate even – about getting Gourmet Live for the iPhone and we are thrilled that you feel this way. Please trust us when we say that the roadmap for 2011 has this development as a top priority.
  3. You will need to close and reopen the Epicurious app to ensure that the issue is completely resolved.

As always, your feedback influences where we focus our efforts, so we want to continue to hear from you. You set the bar pretty high in 2010 telling us via Facebook, Twitter, email and the App Store what you thought (good and bad), you gave us ideas and direction, and you shared your stories and Rewards.

The result (thanks in no small part to your contribution) was a Gourmet Live we were very proud of, and one that folks really took note of as demonstrated in some end of the year-end round-ups on GigaOm, Poynter and The Good Men Project, to name a few. So stay tuned in 2011, and again, we thank you for your commitment in 2010.

Posted in News & Events | Tagged , |

INTRODUCING GOURMET LIVE IN-APP PURCHASING AND MORE UPDATES IN VERSION 1.1

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Juliana Stock

Gourmet Live 1.1 is now available in the App Store, so download the latest version and find new features that we are so excited for you to explore and share!

First, we are very pleased to announce our in-app store is now open for business! Marking yet another milestone in our evolution, you will now be able to buy (using in-app purchasing) specially curated collections and issues from previous weeks that until now you couldn’t access if you missed that week’s update. The Store is located as a tab in your Library, and will be an area of continuing iteration with new collections, new ways of purchasing content and more, so come back often and continue to give us your feedback as you always do on Twitter (@gourmetlive), on the blog or on Facebook.

Next, you’ll notice in anticipation for all you new iPad owners this holiday season, we’ve added another option when registering for Gourmet Live that does not require having a Facebook or Twitter account. This update does not effect having the ability to change your sharing preferences at any time if you do connect with Facebook or Twitter – as our readers already know, if you sign in with a social network, you opt in to sharing and can revisit the ON/OFF sharing switch easily. That means those of you who prefer not to register with social sign-in can create an account without Twitter or Facebook credentials. For more on this, read this previous post.

Also in 1.1 is landscape, the addition of a HOME button and some fixes to the sign-in flow. So in addition to an even more pleasing layout, you’ll hopefully find the app easier to use whether you’re new to Gourmet Live or you’re coming back and reinstalling (and we hope you do both!).

This is a great time of year to reflect on all the things to be thankful for, and at Gourmet Live we have many! In addition to having a product we are incredibly proud of, we have amazingly talented people who work incredibly hard and long hours and have dedicated a tremendous amount of time and effort to making Gourmet Live the best it can be—Megan, Angela, Jen, Chris, Rob, Janet, Gaia, Paul, Melanie to name a few—supportive and bold leadership, fantastic sponsors and committed readers who accept our updates, comment on our Facebook page, re-tweet us and share their rewards. We really couldn’t have asked for more.

But there was more. First, Black Friday came and guess who was featured on what’s sure to be one of the hottest gifts this holiday season. Then, Advertising Age honored our team with a Media Vanguard Award for Best Brand Revival. And just as we were pinching ourselves, The New York Observer included Gourmet Live in their list of the 2010 Biggest Media Launches. Our cup, bowl, mixer, blender … all runneth over.

Happy holidays from all of us at Gourmet Live.

Posted in News & Events | Tagged | 2 Comments

Thanks for your Patience – Gourmet Live 1.05 is Served

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Juliana Stock

Once again, we are so appreciative of the incredibly diligent, attentive and committed audience we have. We know you have stayed with us—on the blog, on the app and in spirit—through some technical challenges that have made it difficult for you to fully experience Gourmet Live the way it is meant to be, and you must know that this has kept us up nights. Literally. But today we are thrilled to say we have an update ready for you to download (or accept) in the App Store that addresses this and a few other comments we heard from you.

First and foremost, we addressed and fixed the crashing issue when earning Rewards, so get earning and fill up your Library! Next, for those who need to re-log in, we addressed Lost Rewards in the Library and made Updates to history and reward tracking more accurate for this purpose. We also took your feedback into consideration on Social sign-in, and decoupled it from viewing Rewards. There are a few other little things we did with formatting and such, and as you read, our development team is working on the next update to Gourmet Live, which we hope to release shortly.

As we hope you continue to see, your thoughts and feedback influence Gourmet Lives’ evolution. Download or update Gourmet Live now in the App Store, and again thank you for being part of our community and our evolution. Stay tuned for more updates and keep the comments coming.

Posted in News & Events | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Gourmet Live Weekly Giveaway

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Juliana Stock

At Gourmet Live, you (the user) are the most important influence on our development. You’ve inspired us to really think about how we can best acknowledge and thank you for your continued dialogue and feedback — even those of you who don’t yet have iPads.

First, you will notice that Kelly has started posting full pieces from the app on our blog. Yep, full articles as they appear in Gourmet Live. And they’re usually juicy ones that are drumming up tremendous interest and excitement, like the piece on tipping, the article on Marcus Samuelsson, the behind the scenes video on board the MS Queen Elizabeth and the Q&A with Eric Ripert.

But here’s one more thing you’ve inspired, and we hope you’re excited about it, too …

Starting today we are GIVING AWAY the chance for YOU to own an iPad, and we’re doing it every week. We want to give more of you the chance to experience Gourmet Live on the device it’s currently available on, so each week from now through the end of the year, someone new is going to win an Apple Gift Card for a new iPad, and it could be you. The best part is that each week is a new chance for you to be entered to win, so you can enter again and again. You can check out the rules and enter here. We’ve got some cool tools if you want reminders, like a Facebook widget with food tips that you can add to your profile.

As with any launch, there are bumps in the road, and we’ve been so lucky that we have a passionate group of enthusiasts who give it to us straight all the time. Much of this feedback has been about devices and that many of you are looking forward to Gourmet Live on the iPhone and iPod Touch, and some of you love your Droids. Some of you even said you’d play Gourmet Live on the Wii and we are PSYCHED to hear that. We developed in HTML5, which makes all of this possible, and we anticipate being available on new platforms soon. It won’t happen just yet, which is why we hope you enter today. GOOD LUCK!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A purchase will not increase your chances of winning. Entry period begins October 19, 2010 and ends December 31, 2010. For Official Rules please click here.

Posted in News & Events | Tagged , |

An Update Influenced by You – Gourmet Live 1.02

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Juliana Stock

Check your App Store icons, Gourmet Live 1.02 is here and ready for download! Version 1.02 is an update to the app, with changes driven directly by feedback we got from you through comments on Facebook, Twitter, Gourmet Live emails and iTunes. We said this was a collaboration with our readers, that Gourmet Live would be an evolving experience and that you would be part of that evolution and this update is the beginning with an initial focus on your Shelf and Sign In. Don’t have Gourmet Live yet? Download the App in the App Store.

YOUR SHELF (pictured above):

One thing you’ll notice is we streamlined your “Rewards” so that “History” and “Favorites” all appear in one single Library — Favorites actually appear as another collection on your shelf.  When in the Shelf, you’ll notice another nifty change in the Library highlighting the content you’re currently viewing.

SIGN-IN:

We’ve made navigation easier for those of you who have yet to create a social account (if you have questions about what happens when you create a social account, like do you have to share your activity on Facebook to register and access Rewards — no, you don’t btw — check out this earlier blog post). We also redesigned the account sign-up to make signing in to Facebook and Twitter easier.

We would be remiss not to acknowledge the requests for more devices. We’re proud and pleased you’re so enthusiastic about Gourmet Live and that you want it now. Last week we started putting full articles from the Gourmet Live app up on the Gourmet Live blog. Check out Foster Kamer’s piece about tipping and get an inside look at Marcus Samuelsson’s new restaurant in the heart of Harlem. When we have news about Gourmet Live, you’ll be sure to hear it HERE.

We’re not done!  Keep those comments coming because making Gourmet Live better can’t happen without your input and your influence. And if you like seeing your ideas reflected in Gourmet Live, feel free to review or rate the app in iTunes to let others know!

Posted in News & Events | Tagged , |

A Brief Correction

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Juliana Stock

We wanted to offer a quick note to acknowledge the discussions and media posts regarding a collection that was in our last release featuring cocktails. To be clear, nothing in Gourmet Live’s first release or as of this posting has included sponsorship.

We will be absolutely explicit in making sure any sponsorships in Gourmet Live are clearly marked and that there’s no confusion regarding their presence in the app. We will definitely be introducing sponsorships soon, and we feel very strongly that they’ll be valuable and rewarding, in keeping with the whole spirit of Gourmet Live. So rest assured that we intend to be 100% transparent any time sponsorships appear in Gourmet Live, because that’s what is best for the community and for sponsors.

We also believe when we do make mistakes – and this was an honest mistake – to fix them promptly. We have added an update to the blog and in the app article pertaining to this collection and we apologize for the error.

On a lighter note, we released our second update to the app, which is filled with brand new content to explore and rewards to earn and share. As always, we look forward to your comments and feedback.

UPDATE 10/8/2010: As of this post update, Gourmet Live has begun to introduce Sponsorship. Readers will gradually notice this start over the weekend and into next week. As stated in our original post, Sponsor participation is in keeping with the spirit of Gourmet Live and clearly indicates the brand we are very happy to be working with in this new way.

Posted in News & Events |

Deepest Thanks

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Juliana Stock

This has been a very exciting weekend for us. After having launched a little more than 72 hours ago, Gourmet Live has now become the #1 Top Free iPad App in the Lifestyle category on the App Store, a ranking we have held since Friday morning. Of course we are incredibly proud about this impressive stat, and if you read the posts from Gourmet Live collaborators Anil Dash and Michael Wolf, you have a sense of the passion and talent behind this launch.

We are all fully aware that this could never have been possible without all of YOU. Every download, Tweet, Like, comment, post, share, @reply, hashtag, rating and email has added to making our launch week so spectacularly memorable and meaningful. We are so thrilled to have you all be a part of the Gourmet Live experience.

We also made Gizmodo’s list of Best Apps of the Week, an honor of significant magnitude for our entire team. You can see Gizmodo’s initial posting about our launch from Thursday.

These are just the first of many milestones we hope to share with you, and we will continue to review and respond to your feedback both directly and here on the blog. Thank you for being such an integral part of our journey as we continue to bring you Good Living Rewarded through Gourmet Live.

Posted in News & Events | Tagged , |

Responding to Your Comments and Feedback about Gourmet Live 1.01

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Juliana Stock
We’ve been going through your feedback to The App Store, Facebook, Twitter and emails to GourmetLive@condenast.com. Thank you all for being amongst the first to download Gourmet Live! Gourmet Live is a new concept and it’s only with your input that we can create the best experience for you. We wanted to immediately address a few specific questions that were surfacing right now, but stay tuned for more exciting product updates coming soon.
  • Sharing and Signing in with Facebook or Twitter: You are in control. Before anything is posted to your newsfeed or Twitter, you will have to opt-in to the message shown in the home screen (picture above, left).  Nothing that happens prior to registering, even if you do opt-in eventually, is shared. Also, sharing is limited to Rewards you earn and registering to Gourmet Live is not an activity that is disseminated to your network.
  • Controlling Notifications on Facebook or Twitter: You are in control. It is an ON/OFF switch (pictured above, right) accessed from the upper right-hand “User” icon. Swipe to control how you want to post or not post and revisit that control at any time from the app.
  • Accessing Rewards and Your “Home Screen”: Once you have logged in, the Rewards Shelf allows you access to what you have earned. You can also go back to any collections you’ve already seen, including the Home Screen. If you are not logged in, you can read anything on the Home Screen without logging in prior to viewing Rewards.
  • One Last Thing: If you had issues signing in with Facebook yesterday, please do try again, as there were some issues unrelated to Gourmet Live that may have impacted the experience.
We are pleased that so many of you are exploring and enjoying Gourmet Live and hope this clarifies any immediate questions you have about Gourmet Live version 1.01. Thank you for your feedback and we look forward to your continued collaboration.
Posted in News & Events | Tagged , |
 
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