Longtail Barbeque

Anderson addresses “pre” and “post” filters at the end of his seventh chapter (pages 122-124). “Pre-filters” predict or determine what will make it to market before it is released to consumers. “Post-filters”, on the other hand, find the best of what’s already out there in an area of interest, elevating the good and downplaying, even ignoring, the bad.

I had a chance to see a “post-filter” in action. I am in Houston this week for the Microsoft World Partner Conference. 15,000 Microsoft employees and their business partners have descended upon this hot and very humid town. I have never been to Texas before. I have heard that Texas barbeque is something to be tried. The problem was how to find the best Texas barbecue in the fourth largest city in the United States. My choice was yelp (http://www.yelp.com). What I found was Thelma’s. There were plenty of reviews and most of them rated Thelma at 5 stars, the highest rating.

Three of us jumped in a cab and headed for Thelma’s. The cab driver had never heard of the place. We pulled up in front of what I can only describe as a shack. It was not really clear where the front door was. We waited long enough to see someone else go in and we followed. I had some fantastic barbeque. I have to say it is probably some of the best I have ever had and I was introduced to dirty rice….mmmmmmmmm.

But I digress, to the point. This was not a buying decision that was based upon high dollar marketing. There was no fancy signage and it certainly was not a matter of location. It was the economics of the longtail and “post-filtering” that brought us to the best barbeque in Houston. Thelma sold three dinners last night as a result.