Multi-Sensory Communication of the Boston JerkFest Experience

Robotics teams shouldn’t overlook the culinary arts for innovation project ideas as we explore the 2023-2024 FIRST LEGO League’s MasterPiece theme:  imagine and innovate new ways to create and communicate art across the globe.

Art is “a process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to senses or emotions”.  Boston JerkFest 2023, where I served as emcee for the Chef Jerk Cookoff, strongly appealed to all 5 commonly known senses:  sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

By the way, Jerk is spicy Jamaican BBQ.  I’m a pioneer in growing the market for Jerk BBQ.   Thirty-two years ago, while a student at Harvard Business School, I wrote a business plan for a Caribbean restaurant and entertainment concept featuring Jerk BBQ in Cambridge, MA, and successfully started and operated it for a decade.

The 10th annual Boston JerkFest on July 8, 2023 was a great event!  It was held at Harvard University, adjacent to Harvard Business School and the new complex for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.    Many say this year’s JerkFest was better than last year, which was declared Boston’s best 2022 food festival by Boston Magazine.  How can we better communicate this wonderful multi-sensory event beyond a video clip?