San Carlos Celebrates Social Media Day 2011 with a Treasure Hunt

On Thursday, June 30, San Carlans participated in the City’s first ever celebration of Social Media Day. The event included a Meetup and Treasure Hunt that led participants through downtown during the City’s weekly Farmers’ Market, Hot Harvest Nights.

Social Media Day was originally proclaimed by Mashable in 2010 and was celebrated with more than 600 meetups around the world. This year, the event included more than 1400 meetups with 8500 attendees on 6 continents, including San Carlos’ meetup on this newly proclaimed Day.

The official Social Media Day was proclaimed by the City of San Carlos during a City Council meeting on June 13. Present to receive the proclamation were San Carlos Chamber of Commerce CEO, David Bouchard, and board members, Ron Collins (Collins Insurance) and our company’s president, Melanie Yunk. Andy Klein presented the proclamation as one of his first duties after being sworn in as the City’s Mayor that same evening.

The Treasure Hunt was produced by the San Carlos Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Bullfrog Media and Roaring Pajamas. The turnout was a big success as people from San Carlos and nearby towns used their smart phones to receive clues via Twitter. The clues led participants to various businesses where a checkin via Gowalla was required. In one instance, a video chat via Fring enhanced the experience as participants called in to prove they had arrived at The Olive Crush, a local store that sells many flavors of olive oils and handmade pasta.

Participants who solved at least 4 of 8 clues and checked into those same businesses were automatically entered to win some really great prizes. The prizes, their sponsors and winners are listed below:

• 32” flat screen television from Best Buy San Carlos – Nikki Bazzani
• Black pearl necklace from Geoffrey’s Diamonds – Pete Benevides
• Giants tickets from Collins Insurance – Maura McNulty
• One month of free VoIP calls from Fring – Kacie Nicole Jarvis
• $25 gift certificate from Bianchini’s Market – Jeff Walikonis

As one of the sponsors of this groundbreaking event, we’d like to thank the Chamber of Commerce, our co-sponsor, Bullfrog Media, all our prize donors and the City of San Carlos. We’re very proud that our City and its businesses are embracing social media.

Read more about this event on these sites:

• Laurel Street Spy
• San Carlos Patch
• Zest Bakery & Deli Blog