Meet Shannan B. (on the left). Not only is she an amazing asset to her company (brags her own co-worker) but also a mother and wife, a blogger, co-founder of Cincinnati Women Bloggers and Family Friendly Cincinnati. So, who better than to ask to plan a FourSquare event. Well, I am not sure if someone asked or if she just took it upon herself and went with it. Doesn’t matter because the event was a huge success and everyone had a great time.

We all met at Pachinko’s in Covington, KY. Of course, for some reason I thought that the place was a restaurant/bar by the name. What’s a name got to do with it I suppose. I thought however, that we could have some dinner before the event but no, it’s not. Turned out not to be a bad thing though because while actually looking for something else, my husband noticed an Asian restaurant right there in The Madison shopping area that turned out to be quite good. Very unassuming outside and in, with furniture from IKEA and a couple of fish tanks right in the front window. The food was really good though and well priced so that turned out nice. I do believe that it was called AmeriAsian.

My husband and son took me back to Pachinko’s for the event and dropped me off. I was going in completely blind, not sure if I would recognize anyone right away, at a bar in a city I am not used to but hey, I can do this. I spend a lot of time in “foreign to me” places with my job as a flight attendant. I still wish that I had gone with someone. I ordered a water (yeah,yeah) and mentioned to the bar tender that I was hoping to find someone I knew. She asked, “Do you know Shannan”? Yes! Of course the host would be there already. More and more people showed up, which was really good. If you are not aware of Four Square and it’s premise, although I am not sure exactly who started it or why,  it’s  kind of like a game. You use it to check in to different places that let’s your  friends and contacts know where you are. You can also use it as a To Do List or let others know of things to do in your city. Why would one want to advertise that? I wondered the same thing myself at first. I kept seeing on Twitter “I am here at “blank”. The fun is that if you are the one who visits a particular place the most, then you get a badge showing that you are the “Mayor” of that place. There are other things that you can get badges for including checking in too many times and having too many badges. LOL

Although I think it began as a game, businesses are quickly discovering that they can use it to attract more customers. Some bars and restaurants are even offering “Mayor” specials according the the FourSquare website. What a clever way to even keep current customers coming back more.

So, on 4/16, 2010, get it, four squared (4×4=16) people around the country celebrated FourSquared Day. Anything for a party and a badge, right? The only problem with the whole thing is that I never got my badge! I did have fun though. I had the opportunity to meet people that I talk to all of the time on Twitter as well as some that I had never spoken to in person or on-line. It was also a great way to physically spend time with the people you only have on-line communication with. Some people are worried that the computer and applications like Twitter diminish social skills by isolating people to just that, their computers. What happen to good ole’ one on one contact? That’s why events like this and Tweet-Ups are not only fun but so important.

What do you suppose everyone was doing on their phones?

Hello  Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz! I was finally in town for an event and got to meet you in person!

The lovely bartender was definitely kept busy all night. I can’t believe that she was the only one working that night! Thanks for having us.

“Kate the Great” from Kate’s Random Musings and Debba Haupert with Girlfriendology took time out to pose for a picture. Usually Shannan takes the pictures but she came sans camera that night. Thanks to all of the people that came out and let me capture the event on film.