Check In at Foursquare Day San Diego on April 16th, 2013 #4sqdaysd

I am thrilled to be hosting Foursquare Day San Diego for my third year in a row (My fourth year hosting Foursquare Day  in general since the first year I was in Hong Kong and hosted the event overseas). I’m excited to see everyone and meet new Foursquare friends on my favorite geek holiday! Two years ago, I enjoyed delicious apps, wine tasting and check in special drinks with you all at Foursquare Day San Diego at R Gang Eatery. Last year we got the community involved at Foursquare Day San Diego at Osetra where we raffled off fun prizes for checking in and enjoyed delicious food and drinks from the restaurant. This year Foursquare Day San Diego is back and will be bigger and better than ever.

As always, Foursquare Day is on 4/16! (4th month; 4 squared=16). This year it falls on a Tuesday evening. Myself and @DowntownRob from Downtownrob.com have been hosting this event the past couple years and this year, we have joined forces with Stephanie Garcia of  i.d.e.a, Melonie Gallegos of Fandom Marketing and Social Media Club San Diego, with sponsorship from the Busalacchi family of restaurants.

This is a free event and this year we’re making the features of Foursquare come to life by adding a Check in Crawl so you can experience a few different venues and check in at each to earn rewards and win prizes. The night begins with a Foursquare Education workshop, then the Check In Crawl and mingle at the end. Meet new friends, check in with your online connections in real life and enjoy fine wine and delicious appetizers along the way. 

• Start the night off by learning more about Foursquare at the Social Media Club San Diego Educational Workshop, 5:30-6:30pm. This workshop is a paid event (the rest of the activities are free), for tickets and details visit: http://thesocialhour.eventbrite.com/

Then let’s have fun at the Foursquare San Diego Foursquare Check In Crawl:

• Po Pazzo – Check in here between 7:00 to 7:30pm and sample some delicious appetizers
• Zia’s Bistro – Check in here between 7:40 to 8:10pm and enjoy a complimentary glass of wine
• Trattoria Fantastica/Cafe Zucchero- Check in here between 8:20 to 10:00pm to end the night at our Foursquare mix and mingle and enjoy a sweet dessert
• Please note you can join us at the crawl any time! If you miss the crawl, no worries, we’re meeting at the end for the Foursquare mix and mingle. We’ll be raffling off fun prizes for checking in at each venue. (Must be present to win.)
  

  Foursquare Day San Diego 2012 Crowd at Osetra

We discourage drinking and driving therefore, all venues are within walking distance in beautiful Little Italy.  There are also a few other ways to get involved in this year’s event:

•  Last year I shared a list of San Diego’s best Foursquare Specials of 2012. The specials are constantly changing so I need your help coming up with a new list for 2013. What are you favorite Foursquare specials in San Diego? Please share them in the comments below and your suggestion may be added to the list.
  
• We need raffle prizes! If your company would like to donate a prize, please let me know. Our Foursquare Day San Diego team will make sure you get the recognition you deserve.

RSVP to the event on Facebook here. When tweeting about the event and checking in on Foursquare use the hashtag: #4sqdaySD – you can also add the international hashtag: #4sqday. Feel free to follow my Foursquare updates in the meantime here. I look forward to checking in with you all very soon!

Equestrianism, Acrobatics and Social Media, Oh My! Cavalia

Equestrianism, acrobatics and social media, oh my! Did you ever think you’d see all three of those words  in one sentence? I sure didn’t until a week ago when I had the honor of being a VIT (Very Important Tweep) and featured guest at Cavalia. The Cavalia Tour Publicist did an amazing job at successfully utilizing Social Media to create buzz for this event. My thoughts on the social media presence and overall success of this event felt like dejavu as I compare it to another epic tweetup I attended last year for Nordstrom Rack. At the end of my Nordstrom Rack tweetup recap, I listed 6 things they did right and lessons that other businesses can learn when promoting an event. I was impressed that Cavalia not only did all 6 of these things, but they went above and beyond in every area.

Let’s review the steps for successfully promoting an event through social media while I share my experience at Cavalia with examples of what they did right. If you have an event coming up, you’ll want to make sure to follow these steps:

1. Invite your target audience to the event- Cavalia is a show for all ages! It’s very family friendly, but it’s also mesmerizing for adults and kids alike. If you invite the right people to the event, they are more likely to have others in their circle who are the ideal audience for you.

2. Invite Social Media influencers to create buzz-  Cavalia did their due-diligence by researching the San Diego social media scene and then inviting the taste-makers and social media socialites to the very special tweet night. They even created a special page on their website about the Tweet Night.

3. Create an easy to follow event hashtag-  From the very first email I received promoting the event, the #CavaliaSD hashtag was mentioned and they continued to emphasize it to ensure everyone tweeting would be able to easily follow the event and create buzz. They even compiled a recap of popular tweets from the event.

 4. Make sure you have enough staff to handle the event- From the moment I stepped into the VIP tent, the staff made me feel like royalty. The check in area (where most events are understaffed leading to a long line) was efficient. The dining area and bar were staffed with servers and busers who made sure the area stayed clean and stocked. There were ushers everywhere directing everyone to the right location. Overall, the event staffing was done so well that there was never a moment I needed to ask for anything because everything was always taken care of.

5. Be generous with giveaways- If you’re inviting bloggers and press to an event because you want to promote your business, it’s important to be generous so attendees feel welcomed and appreciated. Cavalia definitely went above and beyond with their generosity. Not only did each VIT receive an invite, they were also allowed to bring a guest. They provided a hosted buffet dinner, hosted bar and hosted dessert buffet during intermission. If that’s not enough, the Cavalia staff  provided complimentary parking passes for everyone. For an extra special treat, we had an opportunity for a backstage tour after the performance. We got an up close and personal visit with the stars of the show and also learned interesting facts about the production.

6. Treat all customers/attendees with respect- This goes back to my earlier comment when I mentioned that Cavalia treated everyone like royalty from the moment we entered the event. A great product or service might earn you a customer. But it’s amazing customer service that will encourage people to spread the word and keep people coming back time after time.

Aside from the social media success that Cavalia created, the show itself was stunning, mysterious and captivating. I was in awe of the production elements including the visuals, sound and of course the sights of beautiful horses and stunning acrobats.

I really am truly fortunate for so many amazing events I get to experience. It makes me even happier to know that not only am I enjoying myself, but at the same time I get to teach others about effective marketing and social media while sharing my fun adventures. Thank you again so much to the entire Cavalia staff. It was a wonderful night and I look forward to my next social media adventure. You can be sure that not only will I share my adventures with you, but I’ll also provide you with marketing insight at the same time!

Tweeting while Wine Tasting is Fresh & Easy @FreshandEasy

Happy Halloween everyone! This post comes at an appropriate time because today I’m blogging about some of my favorite treats: wine and food!

Fresh & Easy is a newer name among all the grocery options in San Diego. It wasn’t until this year that I went to Fresh & Easy for the first time. I heard many commercials for the place, but there isn’t one in my neighborhood so I never went out of my way to go. I first tried some food and wine from Fresh & Easy earlier this year thanks to my social media buddy @JenBoydSD. Jen is very involved in the community and is a leader for Social Media Club San Diego. Fresh & Easy reached out to influencers and asked them to host a Taste and Tweet.  Twitter has already provided me with many opportunities to enjoy food and wine on the San Diego Bay and taste the Gaslamp while teaching you marketing lessons so when Jen asked if she could host the first Taste and Tweet at my place, of course couldn’t turn away more wine, food and a chance to connect with my social media friends.

I have since hosted 3 Fresh & Easy Taste and Tweets. Here’s how the wine tastings work: They send the host a gift card to cover the cost of the wine and a couple snacks. They also send information about a hashtag, tasting order and suggested appetizers. We are given a specific date and time to host the wine tasting. This way, everyone hosting can taste and tweet at the same time.

This is such a clever way for a grocery store to promote themselves for many reasons so I’m sharing some takeaways that other brands can learn from the Fresh & Easy Taste and Tweets.

1. Provide Value- We are all tired of companies asking us to retweet something for no good reason.  Fresh & Easy provided us with something of value to tweet about and they made it very easy by giving us a relevant hashtag, food, wine and great company to create buzz with. If you’re going to ask customers to use a hashtag or encourage them to tweet something related to your brand, make sure you’re providing value not only to your customer but to potential customers who may read all those tweets.

2. Be Generous- Give away your product and view it as a marketing investment. Many times I see business owners being very hesitant to let people try their product because they see it as wasting money. When it comes to consumable items, sometimes the best way to attract customers is to give them an actual taste of your product. Fresh & Easy was definitely generous by providing at least 3 or 4 bottles of wine for us to taste at each event. Make sure you’re smart about doing this though and you’re not devaluing your product. You don’t want people to think of your product as a free item that they wouldn’t have to pay for. The wine tastings are a little bit more upscale than just sampling something from a street promoter so I commend Fresh & Easy for doing a great job with this idea.

3.  Be Strategic About Your Target Market- My impression of Fresh & Easy is that they’re a grocery store which serves high quality food at the same they are very cost effective. This is a great place for people who are both health conscious but want to shop on a budget. Fresh & Easy made sure that the people they sent gift cards to fit this demographic. With any promotion that you’re doing, it’s important to target the right people. This goes back to one of the basic first steps of marketing and that is to be crystal clear on who your target demographic is.  I have come across many business owners who describe their target demographic as being “everyone”. This mentality isn’t necessarily bad. Of course you want everyone to like your product or business, but think of who is actually going to be your ideal customer to come back and do business with you over and over again.

Alright enough of my marketing lessons! Here are some fun photos from Fresh & Easy Taste and Tweets I have hosted. And yes one of the photos really is Fresh & Easy Wine gone Gangnam style (look closely at the computer screen).

If you are interested in attending a Taste and Tweet in the future, please let me know by leaving a comment below and I’ll include you on the invite list for upcoming events.

5 Reasons to Attend Social Media Day San Diego @SMdaySD #smdaysd

By now you’ve probably at least seen a tweet or Facebook post about Social Media Day San Diego. It’s right around the corner! The event will be hosted on June 30th, 2012 at the Marina Kitchen inside the San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina.  Social Media Day is an international day that celebrates the revolution of media and the digital space. We’re all connected now more than ever because of social media; so on June 30th, let’s show our appreciation by getting off our computer screens, meeting new people and hanging out with friends at Social Media Day San Diego! If this isn’t enough to convince you to go, here are 5 reasons to attend Social Media Day San Diego:

 1. Experience some of San Diego’s greatest products on Social Media- There will be tons of goodies and giveaways  from local companies on Social Media! We’re raffling off some amazing prizes and if you are one of the first 100 people to arrive at the event, you’ll receive a Social Media Day gift bag filled with surprises.

2. Enjoy the luxurious atmosphere and view- What better way to socialize with old friends and meet new ones than in the extravagant Marina Kitchen inside the Marriott?

3. Network with hundreds of Social Media savvy professionals attending this event- You won’t hear the questions “Why would I want to tweet what I ate that day?” or “Why would you check in somewhere” at this event. Come out to network and make new friends with smart and tech savvy like minded individuals.

4. Have fun with games, contests and social media inspired interactive activities- We put out a call for sponsors and have received an abundance of replies! It’s so great to see so many businesses embracing social media. Our sponsors will be conducting fun social media inspired games, contests and have additional promotional offers for you to take advantage of.

5. Put San Diego on the Map- Social Media Day events will be happening across the nation and world so this is a great opportunity for San Diego to really make a mark in the social space and show everyone just how great the San Diego Social Media community is. We’ll have the Minglestream tweet wall ready for action with the hashtag #smdaysd. The best way to celebrate Social Media Day is to actually  include social media in the mix!

 

Full event details are below:

When: Saturday, June 30th

Time: 5PM – 9PM

Where: Marina Kitchen – inside the San Diego Marriott Marquis- Get directions.

This is a free event, however, we do encourage you to RSVP 

Official Website: http://www.socialmediadaysandiego.com/ 

A special thanks to @stef_funny for compiling this post! Stephanie will be volunteering and representing Marketing Melodie at Social Media Day. Tweet her, look for her at the event and say hello! 

Foursquare Day San Diego 2012 Presented by @MyMelodie & @DowntownRob #4SqDaySD #4SqDay

I’m so excited to host Foursquare Day for the third year in a row with @DowntownRob. It’s coming up in less than a week on 4/16  (4th month; 4 squared=16). During the inaugural Foursquare Day in 2010 I was traveling in Hong Kong so connected with their awesome Social Media community and hosted Foursquare Day Hong Kong. Last year, I hosted Foursquare Day San Diego at R Gang Eatery and this year we’re celebrating at Osetra in the Gaslamp from 6-8pm. You can RSVP for the event here!

Everyone is invited to this free event to celebrate a Holiday created by Social Media. Meet new friends and check in with your online connections in real life! We’ll have Foursquare Day drinks specials and complimentary appetizers including tempura tuna rolls and bruschetta compliments of Osetra.

If anyone would like to help with the event, please let us know. We’re accepting raffle donations (anyone who checks in at the event is entered in the raffle) and we would love your help in spreading the word about the event on your social networks! I’m also compiling a list of San Diego venues that offer Foursquare specials. To celebrate Foursquare Day last year, I compiled a list but it needs to be updated. If you know of any venues that offer Foursquare specials, please tweet me or leave me a comment here.

When tweeting about the event and checking in on Foursquare use the hashtag #4sqdaySD. You can also add the general hashtag #4sqday -view the Minglestream tweetwall here. And find out where I’m checking in on Foursquare here. Looking forward to seeing everyone on 4/16!

Marketing Melodie in 2011: A Year in Review

Happy 2012 everyone! I can’t believe another year has gone by. The start of a new year is always a great time for me to reflect on the previous year and set goals for the upcoming year but also appreciate the present moment and everything that’s led me to where I am today.

At the end of 2010 I decided to write Marketing Melodie in 2010: A Year in Review. I have a habit of discrediting many of my accomplishments because I feel like I can always do more. Writing this really allows me to appreciate and be grateful for everything that I have done rather than focus on what I haven’t. Just like I did for 2010 here’s a year in review of 2011 highlighting noteworthy events, clients, blog posts, friends, accomplishments, adventures and amazing opportunities.

*JANUARY*

While marketing is my expertise and passion, I have another passion; YOGA! I’m very grateful for one of my clients this year, La Jolla Yoga Center. Creating marketing campaigns and strategies for a yoga studio I love definitely makes me happy.  I trained their team on using social media to grow their business and helped them get set up on Facebook and Twitter. They’re definitely doing a great job connecting with yogis on social media!

I’ve been practicing yoga for a few years and really wanted to strengthen my practice and take it to the next level. I contemplated getting my yoga teaching certification for a while. It’s a huge time commitment and I was really on the fence. Well I made the decision to go ahead with yoga teacher training and can now say, if you are ever on the fence, DO IT! I am so happy I completed my Yoga Teacher Training and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. I began my training in January and completed my 200 RYT Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training at the inspirational La Jolla Yoga Center, located right on the beach! I met so many amazing new friends, learned so much about myself and really took my yoga practice to the next level.

*FEBRUARY*

I hosted the 2^nd event in my Digital Media Dinners series. The topic: Social Media Branding. This was a great milestone because it officially turned Digital Media Dinners into a series rather than a one off event.  I taught strategies on how to strengthen people’s brand across various social networks including review sites such as Yelp, group buying sites such as Groupon and location based sites such as Foursquare. I incorporated a variety of sites because marketing and social media is growing beyond just Facebook and Twitter.

*MARCH*

Since I learn and receive so much from my online and social media community, I really want to give back. I did this by hosting Twestival San Diego. This event is hosted all over the nation using social media for social good by connecting communities offline on a single day to highlight a great cause and have a fun event. It’s entirely promoted via social media. Twestival San Diego was hosted at the Keating Hotel and all proceeds benefited the San Diego After School All Stars.

Me and a few other lovely Yogis were featured on KUSI demonstrating Bootcamp for Yogis run by my fellow yoga teacher trainee, Body By Mags. Check out the video below where I get my 5 minutes of fame while I’m smiling through holding a yoga tough pose and demonstrating yoga boot camp moves (Warrior has got nothing on me!).

VIDEO: Yoga Boot Camp Video

*APRIL*

I successfully pulled my second April Fool’s Joke on Social Media! Everyone decided to wish me a Happy Birthday on April Fool’s this year!

The first annual Foursquare Day celebration took place in 2010 and I hosted Foursquare Day Hong Kong. This year I was in my home town, San Diego and had the opportunity to host Foursquare Day San Diego for my community at R Gang Eatery. Check in specials, complimentary wine, cocktails, delicious comfort food with an upscale twist, friends, badges and a good time was had! Foursquare Day on 4/16 (Yep that’s 4 squared which equals 16) is officially, my favorite geek Holiday!

Oh not to mention, I met my first Celebrity Chef, Rich Sweeney @ChefRicSweeney from Season 5 of Top Chef who is also the head of R Gang Eatery. You can read all about my addiction to food porn and cooking shows here.

*MAY*

I was interviewed by the San Diego Reader on using LinkedIn for Job Seekers. I shared my insight, advice and was gratefulto have my article published both in their paper and online! You can read the full article here.

Another Geek Holiday takes place in May! Star Wars day on May 4^th! May the Fourth be with you! I celebrated with some fun posts on Social Media!

 

*JUNE*

I really want to help others with yoga passion so I hosted my first yoga event: Yoga For the Busy Body at Hera Hub! I really want to provide an opportunity for other busy professionals and entrepreneurs to have a chance to experience the benefits of yoga while teaching them poses they can do on their own despite their busy lives. That’s exactly what I accomplished at this event.

*JULY*

I was cast in a Microsoft Commercial!  It was such an amazing experience to work a full day on set as talent! You can read all about how I was casted in the Microsoft Commercial and then watch my commercial when it finally aired below!

VIDEO: Marketing Melodie’s Microsoft Commercial

 I hosted my third Digital Media Dinners in my series. This time I educated attendees on How to Build Your Social Media Community. I had generous sponsors, expert speakers, delicious food and of course a captive audience who made the event a success. Check out the event recap in the video below.

VIDEO: Digital Media Dinners- How To Build your Social Media Community 

*AUGUST*

I attended BlogHer for the first time as it was hosted right here in America’s Finest City. I connected with inspirational bloggers from all across the nation. It was great talking to so many people about their passions and seeing  them creatively share it with others through their writing. I had a good time at the conference itself, attending workshops, checking out the booths, the networking events, parties and left with more swag than I knew what to do with!

Oh and I met another Celebrity Chef, Brian Markaley in the Season Final of Top Chef Season 3. He was hosting a BlogHer party!

 *SEPTEMBER* 

Marketing Melodie is growing quickly! I sent out a call for interns and bring Allison Schummer @AllisonSchummer on board to help me!

Allison recently graduated from SDSU and I give her my highest recommendation to anyone who’s hiring as she’s currently on the market for a new job!

San Diegans experience a MAJOR BLACKOUT! But we united and got through it while making new friends! We proved that even during a black out social media still shines!

*OCTOBER*

Fall is in the air (even though it’s always sunny in San Diego) which means time for a new fall wardrobe! I attended one of my favorite tweetups ever, an Epic event at the Nordstrom Rack Plaza Bonita Grand Opening. I’m a very lucky person, I always win things and that night I won a pair of Designer Hudson Jeans.

In 2009 I said to the universe that I want  to meet my favorite author, Keith Ferrazzi. I finally met him 2 years later in San Diego at the Entrepreneur Challenge Fall Kickoff Event at UCSD. He autographed both my books and I learned some awesome networking tips from meeting Keith Ferrazzi.

The Nerds United! I tweeted and connected with amazing new friends  from the Talk Nerdy To Me Lover community by hosting @JenFriel and the #nerdsunite crew in San Diego. We had a fun night at the Tilted Kilt San Diego and a nerdy sleepover!

You can read all about the things that make me a nerd here.

*NOVEMBER*

After completing a successful Digital Media Dinners series, I hosted my first Digital Media Now Seminar- Personal Branding on Social Media at Pangea Bakery Cafe. Attendees learned how to make their personal brand cohesive with their business brand.

I was honored with an opportunity to speak to NATAS- National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences at their Social Media Workshop. Teaching television professionals how to use Social Media in their industry.

Thanks to the luxury car company, Infiniti and Social Media I enjoyed an amazing afternoon at the San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival. I also met my 3rd celebrity chef this year, Sam The Cooking Guy!

*DECEMBER* 

I hosted my first Digital Media Now Webinar on How To Integrat Social Media Into Your Marketing. It gave me a chance to share my knowledge with people who can’t always be available and in San Diego to attend an in person seminar. While there were challenges to work out with my first webinar, I received great feedback and plan to host additional Digital Media Now Webinars in 2012!

I celebrated my Birthday on my lucky day, December 13^th (It’s clearly not on April 1^st). In the photo below I’m dressed as a Monster, holding a class with an M and Minty Wonderland and Mozart cupcakes. Yep M THEME PARTY!

I began my new venture at National University. I was hired as a Course Developer and Adjunt Professor at National University. My first class starts in January where I’m teaching a marketing class on Interactive Strategies.

Wow a lot has happened in 2012! If you read this entire post or even part of it, THANK YOU!  As I reflect on 2011 I just can’t help but smile and be grateful for everyone and everything in my life right now. I am truly blessed and so excited to ring in 2012!

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