Social Media Spotlight: Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza

For this week’s Social Media Spotlight, we are pleased to introduce Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza. New York native Anthony Bruno moved to South Florida more than 25 years ago with his father to start Anthony’s Runway 84, now a Fort Lauderdale icon. Unable to find the great pizza he remembered, Anthony decided to introduce South Floridians to the old-world art of coal-fired cooking and opened the first Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza in 2002. The concept caught on like wildfire.

Known for its high energy atmosphere and simple menu, Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza uses 800-degree coal burning ovens to create a “well done” taste. Signature menu items include specialty pizza made with the freshest, top-quality ingredients, coal-oven-roasted chicken wings topped with grilled onions and Italian-style salad. Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza’s food and service have continually been ranked “very good to excellent” by Zagat Survey, the distinguished dining and entertainment guide.

Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza has 20 locations throughout Florida, as well as 9 locations throughout the Northeast (DE, PA, NJ, NY), including White Plains. Expansion plans include additional locations in the Northeast and South Tampa, FL. We had the pleasure of speaking with Toby Srebnik, the Director of Social Media for O’Connell & Goldberg, the PR firm that represents Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, and here’s what he had to say about their social media marketing strategy.

Social Media Spotlight: Temptations Cafe

For this week’s Social Media Spotlight, we are proud to introduce Temptations Cafe! Temptations Cafe is a family run business with 3 locations in Boston and Brookline, MA. They specialize in gourmet sandwiches, salads, and soups, as well as locally roasted artisan coffees and tea. Their mission is to always provide their guests with the freshest food and excellent service in a timely manner.  As a Northeastern student, I was always in and out of their cafe, whether it was for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Temptations Cafe has a great atmosphere and awesome food! Let’s see what Lou Lutfi has to say about using social media to promote their locations…

How Social Media Celebrates Osama bin Laden’s Death

Ever since the announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death late Sunday night, people worldwide have been celebrating. After Navy SEALS raided Osama’s compound in Pakistan and shot him, news stories and coverage have been spreading quickly. Traditional methods of media coverage were put into motion automatically, but the social media scene exploded too. It’s very typical that big news stories, such as the Royal Wedding, get a lot of attention throughout social media networks, but let’s see how much buzz Osama’s death created.

Once the death of bin Laden was broadcasted to the public, Twitter erupted. It is still up for debate whether this social network actually “broke” the story of the terrorist’s death. Regardless, Twitter’s instant accessibility spread the news globally in very short notice. Twitter users were already well-aware of what had happened in Pakistan, and were discussing the situation well before Obama made his speech at 11:30 PM Eastern Time. During Obama’s speech, 4000 tweets were being produced per second, which made this microblogging site a vital source in staying updated throughout the night.

The Webby Awards: Social Media Nominees

Do you love watching award shows such as the Oscars, the Grammys or even the VMAs? It’s time to tune into a different kind of award show this year – the Webby Awards. Started in 1996, this award ceremony celebrates the excellence of web experts, businesses, creative celebrities and visionaries across the Internet. This year, you can find nominee categories for interactive advertising, online videos, mobile apps, and viral marketing, to name a few. But among all of these intriguing categories, let’s take a deeper look into the 2011 social media contenders and give you a better idea of how innovative the industry is. From video and creative design sites to a social network for the deceased, we’ll cover it all.

And the social media nominees are…

Foursquare Day: The Follow Up

Last week, we were excited to inform our readers about the 2^nd annual Foursquare Day. There was a lot of hype leading up to this social media holiday, with venues and events promoting special offers for their customers, but how did it all turn out? By the amount of checkins, we can assume it was a huge success…

Dennis Crowley, the co-founder of Foursquare, sent out a tweet that informed his followers of the record-breaking amount of checkins on Saturday. 3,073,635 checkins were made worldwide, which was the first time the social media site broke three million in one day. In addition to this whopping 3 mill, Google searches brought in more than half a million hits for the site. Thanks to the social media community, Foursqaure Day received much attention from its users.

Foursquare Day: A Social Media Holiday

By now, we have all seen the power social media has in regards to businesses, advertising, building personal connections, and even how it affects governments worldwide.

But on April 16th, social media has something else in store for us… a global social media holiday. Foursquare Day was started by Nate Bonilla-Warford, who figured it would be a cool concept for everyone to check into Foursquare on the 4th 16th of the year… better known as four squared. His idea spread quickly over Facebook and Twitter, and on April 16th of last year, the first Foursquare Day was celebrated. As we prepare to celebrate this new-era holiday on Saturday, it is important to understand what this day is all about.

Social Media Enables Social Isolation

Before you read this, ask yourself this, “Do you find yourself using social media an hour or more per day to interact with peers?”

You may suffer from social isolation.

Today’s society has been bombarded with social media platforms and apps to further isolate the individuality of a person. The days of grabbing coffee and having simple conversations are ancient history. Why waste time traveling to have a conversation that we can easily have sitting in the comfort of our homes, wearing PJs and snacking on junk food?