Social Media Day 2012 in Buffalo #smdayBUF

This past Saturday marked the third Mashable-sponsored Social Media Day here in Buffalo. While the last two years have been unofficial (much like the day itself), this year the City of Buffalo declared June 30, 2012 as Social Media Day (the year on the proclamation makes me think this is a one-off). At my last count, 17 other cities and three other states also declared June 30 as Social Media Day (as reported by Mashable).

The event in Buffalo this year was heavily sponsored and included free giveaways, contests, real-time video streaming, and plenty of food and drink specials. The description from the event announcement:

• Take the Social Challenge and win the grand prize!!!
• Get your photo taken on the AT&T Red Carpet
• Network and find out who is really behind those Twitter handles
• Find out what companies are hiring and who really GETS social media in Buffalo
• Learn about the basics or wax poetic with the experts–everyone is welcome
• Have a great time with drink specials provided by Lobby Bar at Statler City: $2.50 domestic beers and well drinks as well as appetizers on hand
• See who’s tweeting about you on the Twitter wall–#smdaybuf
• Feel good by knowing your ticket donation is going to Computers For Children

This year’s event was organized by the Buffalo chapter of Social Media Club. The Buffalo chapter is less than two years old and has many of the members that helped organize the event the last two years, plus many newcomers.

While the venue was full all day long, the nice weather on a pre-4^th of July Saturday afternoon probably hampered attendance a bit, as noted by the Social Media Club Buffalo Chapter president:

most buffalonians who work in and present on social media were not at #smdaybuf. just a thought. Now im done.

— Nicole Shoe (@Buffalogal) July 1, 2012

If you were not there then you can catch up with some of the activity by viewing the Twitter stream, tagged with #smdayBUF. There were many photos throughout the evening, and as some of the albums start to show up I will link them here. If you have one you want linked, please pass it along. This includes any video or news coverage.

Photos, Videos, Press

• A Facebook photo gallery: Social Media Day Buffalo 2012 AT&T Red Carpet.
• Social media frenzy at Statler City at Buffalo.com. (Link removed because the Buffalo News site does not save old articles whenever it redesigns its site.)
• Social Media Day shares Buffalo’s buzz at The Buffalo News.
• A Social Media Mixer at Buffalo Rising.
• Techies take “byte” out of social media from YNN.
• Videos of folks talking about what social media means to them: Rachel Gottlieb, Jeremy Juhasz, Jennifer Macey, Kevin Evanski, Liz Chatterton, Erin Reedy, and Christina Singh.
• Tiffany Tcheng recounts Social Media Day Buffalo 2012 at the Cypress North blog.
• There is also a Social Media Day 2012: Recap at the KC You There blog.

Previous Events

• Social Media Day 2011 in Buffalo #smdayBUF, July 1, 2011.
• Social Media Club Buffalo: #TacoVino, December 10, 2010.
• Buffalo Launches Social Media Club Chapter, September 23, 2010.
• Event Profile: #smdayBUF & #smdayBUF 2.0, August 12, 2010 (posted at City Love Cloting).
• Social Media Day in Buffalo #smdayBUF, July 1, 2010.

Choice Tweets

Holy shit I just won the grand prize at #smdaybuf!! Overnight stay at the Mansion on Delaware!

— Tiffany Tcheng (@tiffanytcheng) June 30, 2012

@djlopro clearly you didn’t see me shaking it to ALL of the prince songs! #SMDayBUF

— Rachel (@BuffaloRach) June 30, 2012

It’s Social Media Day! We’ll be sharing real life beers at #SMDayBuf later, but in the meantime – remember… twitter.com/KegWorks/statu…

— KegWorks (@KegWorks) June 30, 2012

If it’s #SMDay and there’s no proof on @Instagram, did it really happen? #SMDayBuf #InstagramOutageProblems

— Angela Stefano (@amstefano988) June 30, 2012

The amount of pickles I’ve eaten today will surely wreak some sort of havoc on #SMDayBuf later…

— Trey Wydysh (@Songs4Tomorrow) June 30, 2012

Going to a party where I only know people (minus @bflojester) by Twitter handles. Looking forward to putting faces to handles! #smdaybuf

— Krystal Sondel (@LovinOnBuffalo) June 30, 2012

None of you look like your avatars!! #smdaybuf

— Buffalucci (@Buffalucci) June 30, 2012

BIG THANKS to @BevCoasters @LolaPearlBakes @ATT @BlissDesigns @BN360 @adclubofbuffalo @BuffaloNiagara @StatlerCity @EBL_WNY #smdaybuf

— SocialMediaClub (@SMCBuffalo) June 30, 2012

Thanks to @SchulzeWines @West Herr @bfloharborkayak @BFLFashionWeek @DarienLake @BuffaloScience @CypressNorth #smdaybuf

— SocialMediaClub (@SMCBuffalo) June 30, 2012