The audience will be comprised of professionals in the veterinary industry who work tirelessly to help our animal friends. The event is located at the University of San Diego campus and is open to anyone who works in the industry or who may be interested in the topics presented to veterinarians.  I have presented and hosted events at USD before. The campus is beautiful so I’m happy to return. You can still register here. 

I look forward to speaking in front of this group because I know they are all passionate about what they do and because it makes me happy to see so many industries understanding and embracing social media. If you are interested in having me speak at your next event, please contact me via my speaking page for rates and availability. More recently I have been presenting to Fitness and Yoga professionals since I’ve combined my passions for marketing and yoga into my career but I am open to speaking to any group interested in learning about the benefits of social media and how using it strategically can businesses grow and connect with customers.

The two day tasting and educational chocolate showcase along San Diego Bay features food, wine and a variety of chocolate treats. This delicious event brings together the world-renowned Maritime Museum of San Diego with many other vendors including Mars Chocolate North America.

We love eating chocolate but sometimes it’s fun to learn about what we’re eating too. A team of Mars Chocolate History Ambassadors will tell the historical bean-to-beverage story of chocolate using authentic tools including cocoa pods, cocoa beans and nibs, a hot stone metate, winnowing baskets, chocolate drink pots and stirrers throughout the day. Attendees can touch, taste, smell, and experience chocolate as it was enjoyed by early Americans at every demonstration by sampling American Heritage Chocolate.

Theo Chocolate Cacao Pod from my Seattle Trip

This event is family friendly so there will be something for everyone! Kids can build their own chocolate pizza, make crafts, play games, and go on a scavenger hunt to win prizes. Adults can enjoy wine and chocolate pairings, view chocolate-focused demonstrations and learn kitchen tricks with chocolate. Everyone can experience chocolate at vendor booths.

Wine, Cheese and Chocolate: A Festival for your Palette is a 21-and-over event being held on Friday, May 3 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The main festival takes place on Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Chocolate Festival is included in the cost of Museum admission that weekend. Details and tickets can be found here.

I have a pair of tickets to give away to the festival. The tickets allow you to go to the festival either on Saturday or Sunday. I want to give these tickets away to the biggest chocolate lover in my community so here’s how to win:

1. Write a comment on this blog post and answer the following questions: 1. What is your favorite chocolate treat? 2. Which chocolate company do you feel has the best social media presence and why? Each answer gets you 1 entry. You are welcome to answer both questions for 2 entires. 

2. Each person will receive an additional entry if you follow me on Twitter @MyMelodie and Retweet this post!

I will announce the winner on Friday evening so hurry up and enter! Good luck and I can’t wait to hear about your favorite chocolate treats and learn about what chocolate companies are doing it right on social media.

JEFF SMITH! Winner of the Sony Walkman W and Social Media/Fitness Swag Bag

Now you’re probably wondering about the rest of this blog title, Adventures of Flying in San Diego?! Yes, last Friday I literally flew! Here’s how it all went down and how I ended up in the air. Klout perks have won me over in the past. I’ve received so many goodies from them and last summer they sent me on a weekend getaway at the world class resort, Terranea. This time Klout invited me to Sony’s Digital Imaging Workshop.

I enjoy capturing memories by taking photos but I’m certainly not a photographer in any way. So when Sony invited me to their Digital Imaging Workshop at the gorgeous Estancia Resort in La Jolla to learn how to take better photos and video while also offering me the new Sony Nex, plus the Sony Action Cam to practice on and take home, I was beyond grateful and all in! We started the afternoon by getting acquainted and enjoying a nice lunch at the Estancia. There were media folks, photographers and other online influencers.

After lunch, we were ready to learn. The best part of the workshop was getting all of our goodies though. It really felt like Christmas in April .

The best way to learn is by doing, so immediately after the workshop we took a walking tour of the resort to practice our photography skills. There were so many vibrant colors from nature, beautiful architecture and plenty of sunshine for us to practice our shots. The tour was nice and relaxing, but our day didn’t end here.

Sony and Klout were very smart to plan more adventures for us that would allow us to practice our newfound photography skills. I felt like I was on a very exciting school field trip as we a hoped on a bus to the Birch Aquarium. The Birch Aquarium offers one of my favorite viewpoints in San Diego so I spent a little time getting different shots of the view. I also practiced getting the perfect panoramic shot. Next I toured the aquarium and captured so many great photos  of sea life.  Our time here was limited though because we had to hop back on the bus and head to the Torrey Pines Glider Port.

This stop was an absolute thrill and once in a lifetime opportunity. I first signed a 20 page waiver….never a good feeling knowing there is a reason for such a long waiver. Then I was strapped into my equipment and seconds later I was lifting off! I felt my heart skip a beat an then quickly starting elevating higher and higher. I felt like I was in a dream while flying in San Diego and as soon as we got a little more stable up in the air, I began to calm down and was able to enjoy the beautiful view from an angle I’ve never seen before. It was an amazing experience and I captured it all on film with my Sony Action Cam! The videos came out so crystal clear and in such good quality despite my shaky hands. My only hang up with the Sony Action Cam is that I can’t actually see what I’m filming or review the footage on the actual video camera. I understand it’s intended to be small but I would like to have even a small screen to review the video on the spot. Regardless, it’s still awesome.  Check out the video, you’ll feel like you’re flying too!

Safety first! Getting strapped in before take off.

After flying in San Diego, things settled down a bit as we made our way back to the Estancia to wind down with happy hour and get ready to test our food photography skills with a gourmet five course dinner. I’ve admitted before that I’m absolutely addicted to cooking shows and food porn. I take tons of food photos  but I really never understood the best way to make it look professional. I learned about different lighting strategies, angles, plating techniques and how to make my food look even better. By the end of dinner, I was stuffed, exhausted and very happy with my new tech toys and an amazing story to tell about flying in San Diego!

 A huge thank you once again goes out to both Klout for inviting me and Sony for setting up our day to remember! If you’re interested in having me attend, promote or feature your event on Marketing Melodie, please feel free to contact me. I’m open to any opportunities and adventures that are a fit for my lifestyle and will often write a blog post about it to share and document my experiences.

Years ago, I wrote a post about things you can do on Craigslist and one of the things on my list was hiring. Craigslist is know for its wide variety of job postings. Apparently if you can copy & paste you’ll be ahead of the curve at Sotheby’s Inc. in New York and they are currently hiring  an “Administrative assistant”. Here’s the job link http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/ofc/3774684960.html. Keep in mind this link might be gone by the time you read this. Here’s the job description:

The job description seems pretty normal, until you read right below the description and find instant messages between a manager and another lady who I’m guessing  may be the current Administrative Assistant. Perhaps they are replacing her to find someone who can copy & paste.

 I thought this was the end of it, but wow this ad just kept going and going… I warn you to pace yourself because you’re going to be scrolling down quite a bit!

Dear Sotheby’s Managers, please train your staff on computer basics before letting them post things on the internet. To make it easier for your next employee, here is a quick copy & paste tutorial. I even show you two different ways to do it.

The Right Click Method

Use the mouse to highlight the text you want to copy. Then right click and scroll down to “Copy”.  Move the mouse over to where you want the text you just copied. Right click again and go down to “Paste”.  Please note that this may vary depending on your operating system but should work for most cases.

Keyboard Shortcuts Method

This is my favorite method when it comes to copy & paste. It’s the most efficient and will save you a lot of time.

Select the text you want to copy with your mouse.  Then follow the below guide:

Windows: Hold down the CTRL key then click

• C to copy
  and
• V to paste

Mac: Hold down the Command key (⌘). Then click

• C to copy
  and
• V to paste

That’s all there is to it. Do you think you can handle being the next Administrative Assistant at Sotheby’s after my quick copy & paste tutorial? Good luck and let me know if you get the job.

As I just mentioned, the featured item in here is a throw back to the Sony Walk Man, but we’re kicking it up a notch from the old school version. This is a 2GB W Series Walkman. It’s a water resistant MP3 player and you’re getting the Meb Keflezighi edition pictured below. It’s perfect for running and working out at the gym. I know that someone out there will appreciate this music device and be inspired to workout with it!

Among the other items in the giveaway is a plethora of swag I’ve accumulated and want to share. They are things that will help with your fitness ventures or are related to social media in some way. Yep, even in my giveaway I’m combining my passions for social media and fitness. Here are some other goodies you’ll get.

• YMCA/ FriarFit Pedometer- Track your steps and encourage yourself to take the stairs instead of the elevator and walk to the store across the street you normally drive to.
• Beyond Yoga Headband- Keep your hair out of your face and make sure you’ve got something to keep your forehead clean when you’re working up a sweat
• Yelp Sunglasses- Who doesn’t need an extra pair of sunnies with summer coming up?
• 2 Limited Edition Foursquare Water Bottles- Stay hydrated with these collapsible water bottles.
• Red Bull- To give you wings when you work out!
• All of the prizes listed and pictured (plus maybe even more) will come in a nice reusable bag that I encourage you use when you go shopping rather than wasting paper or plastic.

HOW TO ENTER- I’m hosting this giveaway to pay it forward and share the abundance in my life so to enter please comment on by answering this question: What are you doing to go green? This question is inspired by the Earth Day post I wrote this year on 5 ways to go green while marketing your business and the post I wrote last year on 12 ways to go green at work. Since I’m paying it forward with this contest, I want all of you to pay it forward to the earth we live on. If you read my posts and are already doing some of those things, then write that in the comments or perhaps you’re doing something else I didn’t list. Either way, share with me what you’re doing to help create a more sustainable earth!

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES- All entrants must leave a comment on this post to win. Each person can enter up to 2 more times by Tweeting this post and sharing it on any other social network. Please make sure to include my Twitter handle @MyMelodie when Tweeting so I can track your shares.

DEADLINE TO ENTER- I’ll announce the winner in a week on Monday April 29th at noon. I’m choosing a Monday because most people don’t like this day but you will if you win my prize! If the winner is local in San Diego, we can arrange a prize pickup. If the winner is outside of San Diego I will ship the items.

I do my best to provide value to all of my readers so if you’re interested in hosting a contest of your own, I wrote a post a while back with tips on hosting a successful contest on social media. I really want this contest to inspire people to make every day Earth Day and start creating healthier habits in the way to live our lives. I’m really grateful to have items to give away and am excited to learn some more ways on going green. Best of luck on winning to everyone.

There were tons of vendors and businesses showcasing their goods and services in hopes to attract new customers. Some vendors did a great job capturing the essence of creating a more sustainable environment on earth day and others were still producing a lot of waste with their marketing and promotional campaigns. My goal for this post is that everyone reading this will learn at least 1 go green tip they can implement into their marketing strategy which at the same time will help us keep our earth a wonderful place to live.

1. Go green promotional items- Many businesses have gotten really smart with their swag and rather than giving away useless tchotchke items they are giving out products that are actually useful. I recommend that if you are going to spend money on giveaways, spend a little extra on things that will be used over and over again so that your logo and business is constantly getting exposure. These items include reusable shopping bags and refillable water bottles. Not only are these things that will last, but they also encourage people to go green.

2.  Accept digital coupons- Rather than creating paper waste by requiring people to print out coupons for your business, accept digital coupons. You can do this by emailing coupons or having a link to them on your website, then encouraging people to redeem the discount you’re offering simply by showing it on their phone. More and more people are getting smart phones and at the same time, less people are buying printers. The easiest way to implement a digital coupon is to have a coupon code associated with the deal. This way when a customer comes in to redeem the digital coupon, all the employee has to do is type in the code. Having a code also helps cut down on any confusion as to what  ”Foursquare Check in deal” is or a “Yelp Deal” is when the customer is redeeming your offer.

3. Make print material small and have a call to action- I was sad to see how much print materials was being passed out at the Earth Fair this year at Balboa Park. Brochures and flyers often go straight to the trash. Sometimes printing marketing material is still necessary. You may be an event and want to give out coupons or a discount code for your website, flyers to an upcoming event or business cards so people can connect with you again. My recommendations for cutting down on paper waste with print marketing material is to make it small and give an incentive to someone receiving the print material to connect with you online. Make sure to include your website and your social networks on all print material. When connecting people to your social media, include the icon of the network and the actual URL of your sites so people don’t have to search for your page. You can also encourage people to connect with you to receive a discount or promotion. Think, call to action to get your customers online every time you create a piece of print material.

4. Create digital content- Every time you create digital content, you reduce the need for print material. Have downloadable material on your website such as brochures, white papers and e-books. Even blog posts! Most digital content will take time to create but cost little to no money to produce (versus expensive printing costs) so not only are you helping the environment, you’re also saving money!

5. Create a photo op- The old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words works for this tip. People love looking at photos. They’re a digital souvenir so if you’re able to create a photo op that also captures your logo or something that represents your business, then you’re not only creating a marketing opportunity for your business, but you’re also creating memories for your customers. This can be done by having a photo booth that will email the photos taken in the booth, having your logo on a back drop where people are taking photos (think red carpet photos) or having something at your event worth taking a photo of. Check out the photo I took of the Raptor Institute’s booth at Balboa Park’s Earth Fair. This was definitely the most popular booth I saw with everyone waiting to take photos. The little owl you see there (common barn owl) is real and perching right in front of the organization’s logo/sign so the mobs of people who took photos of that owl, also captured the organization’s name and logo.

If you found any of these tips valuable, please share this post so more businesses know how to green their marketing! Also let me know in the comments if you have any other tips for going green either at work or while marketing your business.

The night started out with Foursquare Education by my friends over at Matters of Grey, Chaunce Dolan and Andy Morales. Matters of Grey is the best resource on the web for finding out about how to unlock Foursquare Badges! They taught us everything we needed to know about Foursquare. I definitely learned new tips on how to use Foursquare on a personal level and for business. If you missed the Foursquare Education portion of the event, no worries. You can find all the slides here.

After learning, we worked up a big appetite just in time to start the Foursquare Day Crawl! The idea behind the Foursquare Crawl was to get people checking in throughout the night and rewarding them for doing so. We walked over to Po Pazzo, checked in and started the night started off with mouthwatering appetizers.

The next check in on the Foursquare Day Crawl was Zia’s Bistro. Everyone enjoyed a nice glass of wine and more delicious  appetizers.

Our last check in was Cafe Zucchero. They generously awarded us with any dessert from their dozens of choices for checking in. Their desserts are delectable. If I’m ever in the mood for dessert, I will definitely be coming back here! We also had a nice area reserved for us in the back to relax, mingle and enjoy the rest of the night.

Throughout the evening I got to catch up with my social media friends, met some awesome new connections, gave away limited Foursquare Day 2013 water bottles and made people winners by giving out gift cards to various restaurants in San Diego. It was an amazing night with the best company.

A special thank you goes out to the Bussalachi Family Restaurants for their extremely generous food, wine and dessert contribution to our event. They had superb customer service at every location and all of f their food was spectacular. Our partnership with them couldn’t have been made possible without our friends Stephanie, Gary and Beth from the i.d.e.a team.

Also, thank you to Dining Out San Diego and Islands Restaurants for donating raffle prizes. Last but not least, thank you to every single person who attended the event to celebrate Foursquare Day! This geek holiday is made possible by social media and all of the savvy people who use it so thank you San Diego for an amazing Foursquare Day celebration! See you next year on 4/16!

More Foursquare Day San Diego photos are posted on the Marketing Melodie Facebook page.

Digital Media Now for Yogis Students July 2012 at La Jolla Yoga Center

Workshop Topic:  Personal Branding on Social Media- With an abundance of digital technologies available to us, it’s easy to become overwhelmed when creating your own marketing strategy. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to navigate digital marketing and social media tools such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to attract more clients, grow your business and be a valuable resource in your industry.

• Date: Saturday May 4th, 2013
• Time: 12:30pm-2:30pm
• Cost: $39, $29 if you are a graduate of Bird Rock Yoga’s Teacher Training program
• Location: Bird Rock Yoga- 910 Grand Avenue Suite 206, San Diego, CA 92109
• Register: Click HERE to sign up and reserve your spot 

Takeaways:

• Actionable content and tips you can implement immediately to start marketing yourself as a yoga professional
• Knowledge on how to serve as a trusted subject matter expert and resource in yoga
• Understanding on how to use Social Media tools to create a compelling brand

About Melodie: Melodie Tao is a Marketing Consultant, Educator and an International Professional Speaker specializing in Digital Marketing and Social Media. She is also a Certified Yoga Instructor who has completed over 200 hours training. Combing her two passions for Marketing and Yoga, her mission is to empower others with knowledge on how to live their passion as a Yoga and Fitness professional. Her expertise will help you make money from your business through optimizing your brand and online presence while maintaining your true integrity as a Yogi.

Digital Media Now for Yogis Students November 2012 at Chula Vista Yoga Center

It is recommended that attendees bring a laptop. If a laptop isn’t available, please bring a notepad and pen. Also if you attended a previous Digital Media Now for Yogis event you are encouraged to return as the workshop has been updated to reflect the continuously changing landscape of social media. You will definitely learn something new!

I recently published a post sharing my actionable steps on manifesting wealth and abundance through my passions. This workshop is putting me one step closer. If you run a yoga teacher training program and are interested in having this valuable program as part of your training, please let me know and I’m happy to discuss more details with you. I look forward to seeing you at Bird Rock Yoga in a few weeks and remember to reserve your spot by registering in advance HERE.

~NAMASTE~

Yep, another opportunity that happened exclusively thanks to social media. MaryAnne and I have been Tweeting with each other for a few years. When she knew she was coming down to San Diego for this event, she immediately thought of me because she recalled my post about driving the Chevy Volt. Since HerHighway is about cars and bumper to bumper everything in between, MaryAnne knew I would enjoy this event. Even though we met for the first time IRL (in real life), a social media friend is always greeted with a hug instead of a handshake!

When I first arrived, we toured Hotel La Jolla. Located just steps away from the beach, this Kimpton Hotel recently underwent a $4 million renovation to make it a destination hotel for travelers in the area or just a hot spot to hang out for locals whether it’s to enjoy a nice staycation or dine at their gourmet Cusp Restaurant. Kimpton customizes each hotel to capture the essence of their location, so you can be sure to find unique decor and offerings at each hotel.  One of my favorite things about about Hotel La Jolla is their theme, the “Tree of life”. The theme perfectly matches up with the beach vibe of La Jolla that’s surrounded by luscious palm trees and vibrant colors of the ocean. Their decor and vibe make you feel right at home. Each room even has a yoga channel and they offer mats you can use to keep up with your practice while on vacation. As a yogi, this is something that I loved hearing.

View from a Hotel La Jolla room

After the hotel tour, we got to ride in the $300,000 2014 Aston Martin Vanquish. How often do you get to sit in a car that’s more expensive than some homes? I loved learning about all the details of the car. Everything in the car is completely hand crafted from the glass on the controls to the leather on the seats. I felt like I was in a James Bond movie riding in a car with such a powerful engine. The car has so much power, that when safely buckled in, I literally felt like I was flying on the road.

Aston Martin Vanquish
*Photo Credit- HerHighway

Aston Martin Vanquish Controls
*Photo Credit- MaryAnne Wendt

The adreneline from the car ride, made everyone hungry. Luckily, they scheduled a gourmet lunch for us at Cusp Restaurant located inside Hotel La Jolla. Chef Donald Lockhart was ready and waiting for us to arrive. He welcomed us to our seats with delicious appetizers while we waited for our meals. All of their pasta is handmade at the restaurant, except for the gluten free pasta which is what I decided to order with pork ragout  tomatoes and baby leeks. I’m happy to see that they even offer a gluten free option.  The servers were extremely friendly and accommodating to dietary restrictions.

A big thank you goes out to MaryAnne Wendt, HerHighway and Hotel La Jolla for a truly luxurious afternoon in my own backyard. I am a fan of Kimpton Hotels (I’ve stayed in them in both Los Angeles, San Francisco and have attended events at them in San Diego) so would definitely recommend this spot to anyone looking for a getaway in La Jolla. As for the Aston Martin, I glad I had a chance to experience such an amazing ride! While it may not be in my budget to invest in one quite yet, thanks to Social Media, I was still able to experience this dream car. Signing off until my next adventure!

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.

Foursquare Day San Diego 2012 Hosts @MyMelodie (Sporting the Mayor T-Shirt!) and @downtownrob

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!