KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County, including Independence. Share your story idea with Tod.
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Woodyard Bar-B-Que wants to make sure FIFA World Cup 26 visitors know that it’s the place to come for an authentic taste of Kansas City — and a group of Piper High School students will help get the word out.
“We have really grown a lot and we’ve started doing a lot of social media,” Woodyard Co-Owner Frank Schloegel III told a group of Piper students Tuesday morning during a meeting at the school.
With the World Cup arriving in less than three months, Schloegel wants Woodyard to be ready to welcome the world, but “it's just so hard to know what marketing strategies or what ideas are going to resonate with people when they come from out of town.”
Every senior at Piper enrolls in a real-world learning class.
“We have what we call the #FutureReadyInitiative, and a huge part of that is our senior capstone experience,” Polly Vader, Piper’s coordinator of real-world learning/career and technical education, said. “Every single one of our seniors is placed in a capstone experience that's connected to industry.”
The Wyandotte Economic Development Council reached out to Piper about the project, which connects the students with real small businesses hoping to take advantage of the World Cup crowds expected to descend on the region.
“They came to us with this idea of contacting small businesses and having our students and our Business Entrepreneurship and Innovation Academy support them in marketing for the World Cup,” Vader said.
It’s a dream come true for Piper senior Julian Machuca, an aspiring digital media specialist and web developer.
“I love soccer; I love the World Cup, so being able to be a small part of a small business trying to — there's a lot of foot traffic coming in — so being able to help in that, it gets me excited,” Machuca said.
He was among the five students brainstorming ideas for a World Cup-inspired social media campaign Woodyard could roll out in the coming months.
“I want to do a good job with this,” fellow Piper senior Jonathan Gregory said. “But I'm also excited to get hands-on experience.”
Gregory envisions a career in the sports industry working on the finance side.
“It's a great opportunity for me to start building connections for my future, so that part I'm really excited about,” Gregory said. “... I also hope to make it a long-lasting effect. Marketing, you don't want to just market for this specific event. It helps a lot to build a big customer base, so pushing that past the World Cup is a big goal.”
As certainly as visitors will want a taste of Kansas City's world-renowned barbecue, the students are hungry to learn what their future career might entail.
“Just getting a taste of what a real-world career and marketing might look like,” Machuca said.
Among his suggestions for Woodyard — get on TikTok.
“I think a TikTok (account) is the most important thing to do,” Machuca said. “It's the easiest way to get short-form content.”
Schloegel is open to the idea.
“Oh, man, I am nervous about dancing for TikTok,” he said. “I'm old.”
The students also said leaning into Woodyard’s unique family story — the restaurant was secondary to a business selling wood for barbecue smoking — is key, too.
“I think the authenticity of the place is really cool, and I'm excited to work with them,” Gregory said. “... His family history, the smoker, the wood — visitors wouldn't be as interested in the wood, because they can't travel with it, but I think just highlighting the history as a whole would be a great idea.”
So is making the most of the chance to show off Kansas City to the world.
“People want to be involved in the World Cup,” Schloegel said. “Even people here from Kansas City that aren't traveling all over the world, they want to be a part of what's happening.”
That includes five business students at Piper.
“They are very excited about the World Cup being in their backyard,” Vader said. “They're very excited about the idea of being involved in some way, shape or form.”
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