Last night, around 60 people gathered at Dante in the Royal Sonesta hotel for the prelude to Eat, Drink, and Be Social, a symposium that’s connecting Boston’s foodie community to its thriving social media scene.
Eat, Drink, and Be Social is a symposium happening today that is bringing together thought leaders from all over the country interested in the intersection of the Internet and food. It’s being hosted at Technique @ Le Cordon Bleu right now.
Tyson Goodridge from Dialogue hosted and sponsored the entire event, and Awareness Inc. co-sponsored the Sunday Social TweetUp. The half-day event features panel discussions led by game changers in food and social media. Chef celebrity speakers include Barbara Lynch, who owns No. 9 Park among other restaurants, and Jody Adams, who owns Rialto and recently competed on Top Chef. Other noteworthy speakers include Dennis Crowley, co-founder of Foursquare, Christine Liu from Citysearch, and Aaron Cohen (@eatboston), who organized Boston Bacon and Beer Festival.
Several of today’s presenters were in attendance last night, including Mike Langford and Jeff Cutler of NomX3 fame. Langford said the main reason he was there was to “meet hot chicks.” All joking aside, the two are leading a discussion on how food service organizations can incorporate social media, especially video content, into their websites to create customer affinity. Cutler said he wants to convey “how to market an experience to restaurant goers.” One of the reasons he attended the kickoff was to meet Dennis Crowley, founder of FourSquare. (I wonder if there’s a “Meet the Founder” badge I can collect on the popular geo-tagging game?)
Chef Dante de Magistris, who was dressed in black, migrated between the kitchen and the restaurant, greeting guests and bringing out heaping platters of food. Unlike most social networking events in Boston, the food was actually edible. Many of the appetizers were creative spins on classics. Passed appetizers included rice balls oozing with cheese and smothered in a honey sauce. Pork burger sliders were also plentiful, along with tangy prosciutto-wrapped ricotta bites.
The crowd was filled with food bloggers, restaurant owners, and social media leaders. Several prominent Boston tweeters made appearances, including @JoselinMane and @BostonTweet. Alexa Andrzejewski from Foodspotting had flown in from San Francisco, Calif., for the event. Many of the local food bloggers, including Alicia Fidalgo (The Clean Plate Club) and Lara Zelman (Good Cook Doris), post regularly, although both have full-time jobs. Both women write about what they cook for dinner. They also both write for Local In Season, a website/blog dedicated to helping cooks plan their meals around what is in season. Jonathan Ross-Wiley, co-founder of Local In Season was there to represent as well.
Rajat Suri, Founder & CEO of E la Carte, spilled the beans about two of his favorite ethnic food restaurants – Punjabi Dhaba (Indian food) and Pepper Sky’s (Thai). He and I agreed that it is difficult to find good Chinese food in Boston. However, a freelance writer came to the rescue and told us about Peach Farm and East Ocean City.
The best part was meeting people who didn’t know anything about social media, but were ready to get their feet wet. I met an older freelance writer who was interested in starting a blog and not sure where to begin. I also met Kevin Greene, who provides information to tourists at South Station and wants to incorporate social media into his work.
I discovered that very few people are currently working to bring together food and technology through new products in restaurants or online. Now I’ll have to start planning when to visit all those great new restaurants I heard about.
Tags: Boston Tweet, Eat Drink and Be Social, Food, Jeff Cutler, Joselin Mane
