My Red Snapper Was Caught by Kerry Hurst in the Gulf
On a family vacation, I ordered a red snapper sandwich which is one of my favorites. On the sandwich was posted a card with a QR code so I could track the fish I was eating. 
I always assumed the fish I was eating was from the waters nearby, but this card made me think and connect to the process and credibility of the fish I was eating.
So when I scanned the QR code, it took me to some information about my fish, including a description of the fisherman who caught it and where it was processed before ending up on my plate.
I didn’t know I needed this information, but now that I’ve seen it, I crave it for other foods.
I’ve always been a little bit leery of the farm-to-table concept, but this could answer my credibility questions for me as well. I’d like to know the farm where my meat came from and that I’m helping in their family farm success.
Pulling back the curtain of the process through technology really connects and engages you with the product. And besides being full after eating the fish, I also felt good that I knew my fish was local and that a local business was benefiting. It helped me buy the fish again, and it helped me buy into the restaurant’s purpose.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.