The place is in a good location, close to a couple of major streets, the only downside is that the parking lot can get a little crowded during busy times, but you’ll usually find a spot in a minute or two.

You can find this location at 13041 Newport Ave, Tustin, CA 92780. Bronx Sandwich Co. has a few other locations throughout Orange County as well.

My favorites here are The Bronx Club, King of Queens, The Mobster, and the B.B.Q. Brisket (pictured above).

I’ve had other sandwiches and they’re all good, but these are my favorites. I have tried the salads as well, and they’re fine. But their strong offerings are the sandwiches for sure.

The fries are also delicious, I always get them well-done and they come out super crunchy. Definitely, a place to come back regularly.

This is my latest review in Google Maps, follow me there if you'd like.

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I was invited as part of the influencer and social media group to cover the event and we had a blast. I was so happy to be out with people, to be able to see them and talk to them, hug them, laugh with them. I'm so glad we're back to normal.

With everything going on lately, I was also thrilled to see the theme for the Pageant of the Masters is "Made in America" to celebrate our country's history and how art and artists have helped shaped this great nation.

“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure ‘Made in America’ will be full of thrills, amazing and inspirational stories, beautiful music, and extraordinary living pictures under the stars.”

Here's what the official website says about it:

In the 2021 Pageant of the Masters, audiences will meet the artists – revolutionaries, innovators, dreamers – who not only made this country their home, but let their creativity be inspired by the freedoms upon which this nation was founded. Through their lives, artworks and voices, a compelling portrait of our artists will come to life with all the theatrical magic that makes the Pageant a one-of-a-kind, must-see summer tradition.

Asked to reveal some of the artists whose stories and works will be included in “Made in America,” Pageant Director Diane Challis Davy shared several, many of them acknowledged masters of American art: Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt, Norman Rockwell, Daniel Chester French, Luis Jimenez and John Nieto. She continued, “We’re going to ‘flesh out’ and ‘paint’ more detailed portraits of the individual artists. I want to make these artists, regardless of their time periods, REAL and identifiable for the audience.”

Festival of Arts, Laguna Beach 2021
https://www.foapom.com/pageant-of-the-masters/pageant-theme/

So what is the Pageant of the Masters anyway?

Pageant of the masters is a full feature show with music, narration, and living pictures.

What's a living picture you ask? Well, it's a bigger-than-life-sized representation of a famous painting, or photograph, or scene, put together with 3-dimensional props and live actors.

The "frames" of the paintings are 10-20 feet wide and 10-16 feet tall (just my guess) and the actors portraying the painting hold completely still for the duration of the display.

The painting is in display anywhere from 20 to 60 seconds and it's hard to find something as amazing as this. I've had a chance to explore the backstage preparations of the pageant and it's amazing.

Here's a demonstration of how it works, and believe me, even this video doesn't do it justice. But you'll get the idea.

The Festival of Arts has dozens and dozens of artists showcasing their work, there are live music performances, food tasting events, and a plethora of activities scheduled throughout the summer.

Follow the news and happenings on Instagram at #festivalpageant on Instagram, and you can get the full schedule and tickets on their website.

Trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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I was contacted through Stringr to go and capture the conference on video, so I did. Now, as I was cleaning up my storage space I found the footage and decided to publish it and do a quick update on the story.

I could not find the press conference in its entirety anywhere so I think this is helpful.

It is puzzling to me that such a high profile case in a city with virtually no violent crime has not been resolved. This morning, I received confirmation from the Irvine Police department that the case remains unsolved and the $10,000 reward is still up for grabs.

During the press conference, led by Kim Mohr form the IPD, several city administration, religious and business leaders came together to speak about this and other related incidents.

I believe this incident was enhanced from simple vandalism to a hate-crime due to the nature of the incident.

In no particular order, these are some of the people that were in attendance: Kim Mohr - Irvine PD, John Wagner - Mayor of Irvine, Christina Sea - Councilmember, Melissa Fox - Councilwoman, Lynn Schott - Councilwoman, Rabbi Yisroel Ciner - Beth Jacob Synagogue Irvine, Tim Jamal - President board South County Community School District, Chief Hamel - Irvine Police Department, Alison Edwards - OC Human Relations, Sheikh Atef Mahgoub - Islamic Center of Irvine, Reverend Mark Whitlock - Christ Our Redeemer Church, Peter Lee Levy - Anti Defamation League, Orange County.

I don't know everyone else that is standing there, so if you'd like to point them out and tell me who they are, I'll be happy to add them here. Just leave a comment below.

Remember, there is a reward of $10,000 if you have information that leads to the arrest (and I assume conviction) of the perpetrator.

And if you want to take the opportunity to capture footage for re-distribution, check out Stringr. I've talked about it before on another video.

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I took the kids after school one day to see what was up with them since I hadn't been there in a year, maybe two.

This is what happened during this new #foodieadventure.

There's a reason I haven't been to Bruxie in a while. Or rather, several reasons, only one of those reasons has changed now.

A few years ago Bruxie started to change. I'm not sure if they went through some growing pains, but the quality of the food went down, prices went up and the part that made Bruxie awesome kinda lost its appeal.

I can't quite pinpoint what appeal I'm referring to, but it was gone.

This time around, the food was amazing. I ordered the B.A.M.F. and got the kids some chicken tenders with Bruxie's waffle fries. Check out how everything turned out in the video.

The thing that changed was the quality of the food. I only have tried the B.A.M.F. and what they were serving at Taste of Huntington Beach the other day.

But I can say that the taste and quality are back, that's undisputable. The price, still a problem. Maybe it's just part of growing up, but $30 for 1 "grown-up" meal and one "side order" seems steep.

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In Southern California, if you want Vietnamese food, you go to Garden Grove, or maybe Fountain Valley. You don't go to Newport Beach, right?Well, Saigon Beach is breaking that mold. This relatively new eatery is introducing Vietnamese flavors and dishes to the area and it's getting terrific reviews.

Not that reviews are everything; I've had great food at restaurants rated less than 3 stars and conversely, I've had appalling food in restaurants rated close to 5 stars.

Saigon Beach is just a short walk, about minute or two from the Newport Beach pier on Balboa Blvd, tucked in between Rita's Italian ice (now closed) and a Kabob place, in a small spot that sits maybe 20 people.

hey have captured the essence and traditional flavors into a menu that blends fresh and edgy recipes making a nice fusion of Vietnamese cuisine and modern flavors.

You'll find dishes you expect at a Vietnamese restaurant, but they've been modernized a bit, even embracing a significant number of vegetarian options for thwant that.

The Banh Mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwiches) are amazing, as are the pork buns or bao, but the main attraction, the dish that people come here to get is their green rice with jackfruit.

It sounds weird I know but give it a try. It's amazing and for those of you that are vegans, this is for you. There are other plant based dishes as well.

Enough with me talking about this, check out the video and enjoy.

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It was awesome. If you get a chance to attend, I recommend you take the opportunity to go. Watch the video above for a glimpse of what to expect. They had multiple dance areas, live music, food and various other acts and performers.

The Queen Mary is an icon in Southern California's landscape and skyline. The three smokestacks are easily recognizable and internationally known. And even though it's not technically in Orange County, it's just a short drive away in Long Beach.

The Queen Mary hasn't sailed in decades and it's far removed from its original purpose. It is now a hotel and events venue but they have stuff going on year round.

You can visit it to take a "haunted tour," sign up for one of their 5K runs or take mom for a mother's day brunch. In the fall, they have their Dark Harbor event for Halloween and usually they put together a winter wonderland type of event, it used to be called Chill, but last year they changed it so I don't know what they'll do this year.

But back to the New Year's event. One of the acts that performed for the New Year's Eve, was The Hells Belles burlesque company.

The video from their performance is here. It sucks that Youtube demonetized it because of copyrighted songs, but oh well.

Enjoy the show and have a great rest of your day.

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This is a short video I made of Surf City Flags, when I went to the last Taste of Huntington Beach event. Surf City Flags make custom flags out of wood and some have a secret compartment to store valuables.

The flags with the secret compartments are called "concealment" flags. You can see them all on their website.

Surf City Flags - Beautiful handcrafted wooden flags made in Surf City Huntington Beach, California.

Quick reminder, Taste of Huntington Beach is coming up soon, there are only a few days left to get your early-bird tickets. Go to TasteHB.com for tickets and more info.

And in case you ever thought "hmmm, I wonder how I can get my hands on a 7 ft wooden flag..." Well, here's how:

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This place was a total surprise for me. Marcie, one of my #ocfoodies friend said it was good, but I didn't expect it to be this good, I got caught up in the food so much I forgot to take pictures and b-roll.

I still managed to make a video so that's what is here today, check it out below the review.

My review of Mai Thai.

I was in a bit of a rush so I didn't get to take it all in. With that said, I thought this was the best Thai food I've had in a long time.

In my own personal best of the best restaurant battles, Mai Thai is a contender for the number one spot for Thai food in Orange County.

Someone asked me where the best Thai food is around here, and I had a tough time picking between Mai Thai and Vientiane Lao Thai in Westminster. I haven't reviewed Vientiane on the blog or video yet, but it's really good.

So it's a tough call, but we can also say that they are both #1 in their own style.

Mai Thai is traditionally Thai as far as I can tell, while Vientiane Lao Thai has a lot of Laos influence and may even be considered more Laos than Thai.

But if we start getting into that level of detail, we have to bring in the Malaysian influence and then the Chinese influence in Thai food, so for now, we'll leave it at that.

Plus you'll easily see and find out I have no idea what I'm talking about.  So there, both are number 1.

If you had asked me the same question, where is the best Thai food in Orange County? just a day before I tried Mai Thai, I would have known the answer right away.

Now I would have to really think about it, Mai Thai is up there, waiting for me to try a few more dishes before I declare it a winner.

Now back to Mai Thai's food.

Oh yeah, you'll find Mai Thai in Fountain Valley, two minutes from the Brookhurst exit off the 405 freeway.  (map link).

I ordered beef Panang curry and the Tom Kha Gai soup (coconut soup with chicken). I think that these are considered some of the most popular Thai dishes besides Pad Thai. Photos by @MarcieTaylor.

The curry was just pungent enough and not oversalted. It's easy to oversalt it but they nailed the flavor perfectly. I ordered it medium spicy, or "level 4-5" and it was hot but edible. Left just a tingle of spiciness on my lips.

The soup was outstanding and I'd go back for more in a heartbeat. Tangy and lemony, --I thought I was making up the word lemony, but apparently not. Grammarly says it's a word.-- with enough sweetness from the coconut milk and enough spiciness to keep you in check.

Another item that won my heart over was the little egg rolls. They came in the appetizer sampler dish, and they were just amazing.

I can't believe I'm raving about eggrolls, but they were delicious. The filling wasn't just mushy overcooked "stuff" and it had a perfectly seasoned garlic-infused medley of veggies and bean sprouts. I wanted more!

I will definitely be back for more soon. While I think that Thai Avenue has the best pad thai I've had, Mai Thai has the best overall Thai food I think so I recommend you definitely check it out.

Mai Thai in Fountain Valley

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So for our recent Dot Com Lunch and another foodie adventure, we headed to Happy Dining in Irvine.

Happy Dining serves Sichuan or Szechuan dry hot pot dishes. Dry hot pot is different than anything else.

It's not like the hot pot many people may be used to. It's prepared and served ready to eat instead of cooking it at the table and it doesn't have both. Hence the "dry" part of the name.

Check it out! As I made this video, I learned a few things about this dish and how it's made and all that. Happy Dining is next to Layer Bakery and Pho Ba Co, some of the other places where we go for our meetup.

The Sichuan dry hot pot food comes from an area in China called Sichuan, but some people say it or write it as Szechuan.

This is a very specific type of flavor and one of the key ingredients is Sichuan peppercorns or Sichuan pepper oil.

The peppercorns aren't peppercorns or peppers at all, but instead, Sichuan peppercorns consist of the pinkish-red dried outer husks of the prickly ash shrub.

The essence of the peppercorns will make your mouth tingle, or sometimes people describe the feeling as a pleasant numbness. It's really interesting, you should definitely try it if you haven't.

Chinese Hot Dry Pot at Happy Dining in Irvine

You can find Happy Dining on Facebook here, and on Yelp here.

My Review about Happy Dining.

This one is hard to review because it's so different than other styles of Asian food. And even harder when you take into account the Sichuan peppercorn oil.

The whole dish really hinges on that spiciness and the sensation that the Sichuan pepper brings to the table, no pun intended.

Overall, most of the dishes have the same seasoning so the main difference is the protein that you pick to go into your dish. You can select from options like beef tendon, pork ribs, chicken wings, lamb, catfish, and a few others.

At some point they even served bullfrog. I'm not sure why they took that off the menu, but it's no longer available.

During our visit, the service was terrific. We asked to be seated outside and that's rare, but they accommodated us without any problems.

There were only two downsides I found. One was that they don't have their lunch specials available on Saturdays when I went, the second was that the dishes have a lot of vegetables, but could use a little more meat in proportion.

On a 1-5 scale, this place deserves a high 3 or a 4. I would definitely recommend it if you like Sichuan dry hot pot or if you want to try something new.

The food comes out quickly and the chafing dish lighted gives the pot a bit of a sizzling for a few minutes. The food can definitely be spicy. I ordered "medium" and it was borderline too hot for me. I probably would have liked it a little bit milder but it was still delicious.

Try the mung bean soup also. It's really good and helps with cooling your mouth if it the food gets too spicy.

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Every time I go to it, it blows my expectations out of the water. Here's a quick announcement from one of the organizers of the event, Marcie Taylor from Surfcityfamily.com

Taste of HB attracts some of the best foods from Huntington Beach and surrounding areas. You'll find tons of restaurants, craft beer & liquor, as well as some other businesses.

My favorite non-food vendor from last year was Surf City Flags. I have a video about them coming up soon, by the way so watch for that.

The festival is going on its 19th consecutive year. It is put together for the benefit of the Children's library. The event is held from noon to 4 pm, with an exclusive VIP reception from 11am-12 noon.

You can get tickets on their website, or at the library and they're worth every penny. In full disclosure, I get to cover the event as media so I'm usually invited but the value you get from that single ticket is outstanding.

At the time of this writing, early bird pricing is available and should be until March 1st.

My previous coverage of the event is here, have a look. But I warn you, some of this will make you hungry.

Taste of Huntington Beach 2018

Taste of Huntington Beach 2016

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We had a chance to visit Taste of Huntington Beach 2016. We had a blast and it is the subject of today's vlog, we are now at vlog #12, so don't forget to subscribe for updates!

This is the second time for me, first time for Helen. I highly recommend you go to it next time if you can. Links and more information below.

Also, before you get into the video I wanted to give a shout-out to my friend Marcie for sponsoring this vlog. Marcie runs Surf City family, and if you're in Huntington Beach or want to learn more about this great city then you need to be following her blog for all things local.

Taste of Huntington Beach

The annual Taste of Huntington Beach showcases the best of HB’s culinary talents and the region’s top wineries and breweries. For one all-inclusive price, attendees enjoy unlimited samples and sips from some of the area’s finest establishments. All proceeds go to the Children’s Department of the HB Public Library.

The Taste features 50 restaurants, caterers and food exhibitors as well as a total of 50 wineries and breweries.
Water and nonalcoholic beverages are available at the Taste. We also have a variety of vendors promoting their products, a fantastic raffle and silent auction – plus live music for your listening and dancing pleasure.

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She offered to buy me lunch so I thought, why not? I help a friend and I get a free lunch.

This is not why I help people, but it is a nice perk, especially when people want to pick my brain but don't want to or can't hire me.

I thought about where to go and finally decided on a place that had been on my list for some time. It is called Taco Maria and if you had not guessed by now, it is Mexican food.

But this is not your typical Mexican food. Some people say it's the best food in Orange County, Mexican or otherwise.

This is high-end Mexican cuisine. I can only think of one other place that I've tried that would be in the same class, Red O in Newport Beach.

The flavors were authentic but new at the same time, it's hard to explain but the use of seasoning reminded me of my grandma and the amazing food I had growing up in Mexico.

At the same time, everything was new and exciting.

The Agua Chile, their version of ceviche had the tangy limey flavor and salty crunch that ceviche should have but also introduced unique ingredients like squid ink to give it an unforgettable twist. It was just spicy enough to make you say oooooh, that's nice!

When we finished it, I asked the server to leave the remaining sauce and I enjoyed it by the spoonful throughout the rest of the meal. It was that good.

To drink, I had the agua de jamaica, which is a traditional agua fresca, made with the hibiscus flower. That was too little, but I enjoyed it up to the last sip.

We went on a Tuesday so naturally, the menu was based on Tacos. The old #TacoTuesday thing was made new again.

We ended up trying the steak tacos with tocino (bacon), chile con mole, fish, and vegetarian. Every single bite was as flavorful and satisfying as the first one and I was left wanting more.

Keep in mind, these are not your mama's tacos.

Many people will scoff at the idea of paying $18 for a pair of tacos, but once you try these you will likely forget that this might be ounce per ounce one of the most expensive Mexican meals you can find in Orange County.

The only downsides to Taco Maria are the location and the limited seating. I personally loathe the OC Mix, it reeks of smugness and pretentiousness, with some places offering undeservingly expensive items like a $5.00 cookie, a $24,000 sofa, or a $6.00 8 ounce cup of coffee that takes 20 minutes to make.

But just for Taco Maria, I'll go back there, I'll put up with the crowded parking and even wait 30 to 45 minutes for a taco.

If you decide to visit I recommend you make reservations (dinner & brunch only), or go for lunch before 11:40 or after 1:30 if you don't want to wait.

Leave the little ones and the big crowds at home too, this place is best enjoyed when you can fully take in the experience and share it with a small group of 3 to 4 people, but make sure everyone is there or else you will not be seated.

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This is a bit of a review and some comments about the whole thing. I've been in the US since 1995 and this is the first time I have a chance to go to Knott's Scary Farm. I've been to the park many times, just never during their Halloween event.

In the past something always came up and I couldn't go.

So, First The Bad.

I guess this isn't bad, but as you have seen in previous reviews I rather get the negative out of the way and focus on the great stuff later.

The staff/monsters can't touch you. So the scares are limited to jump scares, that means that you have to really be caught off-guard to get scared as you walk around the park. If you can suspend disbelief for the duration of your adventure then it's awesome.

Not that I didn't get my fair share of scares, but if there wast more physical contact allowed, things would be a whole lot more interesting. But I know that this policy is for the best.

The main attraction during Knott's Scary Farm are the mazes. If you don't get the VIP pass to get to the short line, some of the lines are really long.

Some of the really popular mazes, like Special Ops: Infected - Patient Zero can be over an hour long or more and they may not have a fright lane pass.

Ok Now the Awesome!

First, thanks to Knotts for providing the full experience so I could tell you about it.

If you go, I highly recommend you get the fright lane pass and get the skeleton key.

The Fast lane pass lets you jump  to the front of the line in many of the attractions. Believe me, it's worth it. Some of the lines were 25 - 30 minutes but with fast lane they are a few minutes.

The skeleton key in the other hand gives you an additional layer of customized entertainment. When you enter a skeleton key enabled attraction, you will get a personalized introduction to the ride just for your group.

Totally worth it and get it as soon as you can because there are only a limited number of these available. I believe you can reserve them online too!

I would recommend you visit the Tooth Fairy and Paranormal, those two were my favorite mazes. For some reason, the train ride didn't do anything for me and I would not go on it again.

Hurry and get to Knott's Scary Farm, the scares end Oct 31.

The post Knott’s Scary Farm Visit Report appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

If you're a Southern California native or resident, then you know what Knott's Scary farm is. For those of you that aren't familiar with it, let me tell you what this is all about.

Knott's Scary Farm is an event put together by the Knott's Berry Farm folks. Now you understand the name right?

I'm heading to their opening night on the 24th and you should too. This is what's going on.

What to Expect This Year at Knott's Scary Farm

From what I understand, the "scare staff" will do what they can to scare you and there are special events and attractions. I am going to check one specific one. It's one of their newest attractions and it only runs a limited times each night so you have to get reservations.

It's called Special Ops: Infected - Patient Zero, check out this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTPyXLeWICg

But first let me come clean and confess! I have never been to Knott's Scary Farm. In 20 years that I've lived here, I've never been to it. That's about to change this year. This just looks like too much fun!

It seems like the main reason to check out Knott's Scary Farm is the mazes. Special Ops: Infected is a maze, so your purpose is to get "out of it alive" I guess. Besides Special Ops, they have 10 more mazes and in addition to that, the rest of the park still runs as normal.

Well, not really normal because everything gets converted to Knott's scary Farm and this lasts for just over a month, from September 24 to October 31. Instead of normal, I should just say that the rest of the park remains open and you can enter at your own risk!

I already have my tickets, but you can get your own at Knott's Scary Farm. Apparently the Special Ops fills out and sells out quickly so get them early!

Want to really get into it?

Check this out, Knott's Berry Farm recently had an official announcement about what's to come during Knott's Scary Farm 2015. It's a good video to get you excited:

Around time 19:40,  you get insights into the Special Ops: Infected Patient Zero. What's new about it, what has changed and the fact that we get double the zombie and  you have to "re-spawn" if you die at a designated zone.

All the new improvements should make it that much more fun.

Following the little introductory story about Special Ops, we find out they have a western-themed maze called Gunslinger's Grave which should also be fun!

I don't think you could do all 11 mazes in one visit but we'll try our best. Hope to see you there and don't forget to get tickets before they sell out. Get tickets and find out more here.

Have you been there before? Have any advice? Any tips?

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Helen liked it a lot more than I did. For me, the place left a little bit to be desired.

The food was good, but their happy hour prices were not very impressive. The prices for the items we ordered are closer to regular prices than what you'd expect for "happy hour."

"It was good, I'd go back. I enjoyed it. The oysters were a little small, but maybe that was the type of oyster." Said Helen.

We tried a few things:

The fish tacos, the ceviche, and the jambalaya, and the calamari along with the happy hour oysters.

The oysters were too small for my taste, and another item where the price wasn't right. 4 pieces for $8 at happy hour? Not so much. I've come to expect $1 to $1.5 oysters for happy hour and much better than these ones.

The beer, we tried Citrus California and Belgian White and both were really good.

I felt the service needs a kick in the but too, a few things took a really long time to come out when they should have been 3-minute items. Like a refill on our beers.

The one thing that was irritating the most was the so-called "ceviche." They serve this in a small bowl and it has shrimp and scallop but someone needs to let the chef know that ceviche isn't the same as a seafood cocktail which is what this was.

I'm not a chef but I've had ceviche from South America all the way up to Mexico.

The basics for ceviche are... fish or seafood cooked & seasoned with lime/lemon and it's seasoned with fresh veggies but it's clear and juicy. Tangy, a little acidic, a little salty perhaps, but never sweet and saucy like this was.

Total disappointment on that one. Call it shrimp & scallop cocktail and we are golden but ceviche... nah.

And don't give me that interpretation stuff. I can't give you a taco and call it a burger because I interpret it differently.

The food is pretty decent minus the things I mentioned but they do have about 8 big-screen TVs with all kinds of sports going on.

There is a bar area and a formal dining area as well. It reminds me of a mix between BJ's Pizza and King's Fishhouse but much more open, lively and I would say even classier than either one of them.

Overall I would rate this place at a three and a half stars with a very solid chance to go up to 4.5 once they get into the groove of things at this new location.

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Recently they held their launch party at ROC and I was invited along with about 100 other people. The food was great and drinks were themed to match the three colors they are launching with.

Motormood plans on making the roads a happier place by giving all vehicles a way to say thanks to other drivers.

How do they plan on doing this? With a little device that flashes a smiley face after you cut someone off. You can now drive like a maniac and keep people from giving you the finger or going on full road rage mode by just flashing them a smiley face.

Kinda like when you chat with someone and you say something that they're not going to like... All you need to do is add an emoticon right?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

But seriously, I think it's a fun project and the product is good. Motormood's launch party focused on their Kickstarter campaign which is live and so far has attracted over $50,000 in funds. That's just over one third of their total $130,500 goal.

I rarely back Kickstarter projects but I pledged some cash for this one because I know the team and I think the cause is noble. The jury is still out on whether they'll achieve their goal, but with 27 days to go they have a pretty good chance. Will you help?

Check out their pitch video and see what you think

Motormood on Kickstarter

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About to get started at #festivalpageant amazing showcase of local artists and upcoming events for the summer.

View on Instagram

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If you've never been then you owe it to yourself to visit and try their new menu. The experience of dining at Charlie Palmer is one of the best in the area. The service is personal and attentive; the staff really make you feel welcome without being pretentious. Special thanks to the manager, Sten who made our experience outstanding.

And the food! The food is delicious. As you can see in the video, the chef came out to greet us and even prepared a special bacon kimchi risotto dish, just for my wife; should I be concerned? j/k it was awesome. Everything was to die for and the experience is one we'll remember for years to come.

In the video you see the a NY strip with Lobster, a Rib-eye with bone marrow and a few more things. The mushrooms were perfectly seasoned, and cooked to perfectly, so succulent.

One of the things that distinguishes a top tier restaurant like Charlie Palmer from the rest is their flexibility. I usually go to there for cocktails instead of dinner and until their menu changed, they had a terrific cocktail with jalapeño infused tequila (infused in house). They no longer serve this but because I asked, they were able to make it and that just buttoned up the whole experience.

Whether you're feeling like having one of the best steaks in Orange County or want to celebrate a special event with someone, Charlie Palmer at South Coast Plaza can take care of you.

cocktails-charlie-palmer the-pepper-cocktail ravioli charlie-palmer broccolli bacon-kimchi-risotto nystrip-and-lobster bone-inribeye-bonemarrow bone-in-ribeye charlie-palmer-dinner capuccino fruits-and-cream

The post Charlie Palmer at Bloomingdale’s for Birthday Dinner appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Eureka Building is home to Eureka Hub and Eureka Events. They are a co-working and event space in Irvine and they (Eureka Events) host events like this all the time. This was my first time attending one of the Eureka events and I had a blast. The food was great, the companies there were pretty awesome. Some were very innovative and inspiring. I also made some great connections.

I met Alex Sewell and Kina De Santis from Motormood along with other great entrepreneurs. In fact Alex Sewell will be a speaker at our next event.

The post Eurekafest 2015 appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

I'm talking about Free Lunch Friday. I've told you about it on my blog before and if you're in Orange County I have probably invited to come too.

This friday we are rebooting Free Lunch Friday Orange County and I think you should make your way over to the RSVP and join me. It's going to be fun. We have a great speaker coming to share an amazing story.

I hope you can make it. Here's a quick video about it. But more importantly, go RSVP right now, we cap at 100 people and we are filling up quickly.

The post Free Lunch Friday Reboot appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

He's a pretty cool guy and a true artist. He has a vision and I'm always impressed with his work. I also appreciate his leadership in the art scene in Orange County.  So I'm excited to share with you Micah's new venture and one you will NOT want to miss.

On the Kersh Modern website, Kersh talks about his experience and the roots of all this, he says:

Kersh Modern is a combination of farmhouse soul, industrial loft grit and clean minimal style of mid-century modern design. We up cycle cast off wood steel and found objects from the old world to create furniture elements and art that will inspire your modern world.

Why don't you check out what Micah has said about his upcoming Kersh Modern Furniture grand opening event happening on February 26.

Kersh Modern is an environmentally and socially conscious business that focuses on creating furniture and art from reclaimed wood, found objects and recycled materials. Our designs are generally rustic industrial modern with mid-century modern influences. We also provide custom builds for business and home furnishing that will fit individual style and budget.

Come and lay your eyes on the latest furniture projects we have been working on and enjoy a complementary drink with us.

This project has been a labor of love that has slowly developed over the years and now we are excited to share our hard work with friends, family and anyone who loves art, design and craftsmanship. Even though you may not be local to this area please join us here (click for Facebook event) on this invite and help us spread the good news.

We are also offering a unique opportunity for you to be one of the first Kersh Modern clients to order custom piece of furniture that will be built and displayed at the Kersh Modern grand opening.

For those of you that do not live local to the Southern California area, we can flat pack *select furniture designs anywhere in the US from our facility.

Micah Kersh
Owner - Chief Designer
714-493-9430

Amy Lambertson
Co-Owner - Sales and Marketing
714-477-3911

661 Poinsettia St
Santa Ana, Ca 92701
www.kershmodern.com

The post Kersh Modern Furniture Grand Opening in Santa Ana appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

The Irvine farmer's market has been around for a long time now and if you want to meet some of the region's best food producers, farmers then you should visit this.

avocado-oil-seller avocado-oil grapes terranium lemmon-irvine

The vendors as much as I know...

• Spring Hill - delicious cheese. I tried them all! - http://www.springhillcheese.com/
• Awesome Terrariums $15 to $50 - No website found, but they are pretty cool!
• Arnett Farms - http://www.arnettfarms.com/
• Papidaddy. (me) http://papidaddy.com/
• Anita Lau (Mad Hungry Woman) http://madhungrywoman.com/. I ran into my friend Anita, foodie extraordinaire.
• Avocado Oil. Amazing! starts at $15.00 for 1/2 liter. You can use Avocado oil like olive oil or any other cooking oil. It's healthy and stands really hot temperatures before it burns.
• Baba Food. Awesome we bought three things. Khalid will take you on an amazing hummus tasting tour.

You can find the new location here:

The post Irvine Farmer’s Market moved from UCI to Mariner’s Church appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

It's about 20 minutes from my house and it has things to do for the whole family and at any time during the year. Here is a glimpse at their Santa's Village Craft Shop. This is setup during the holidays to compliment the whole Santa's Village experience.

The Craft Shop is next to the photo opportunity with Santa Claus, and the carrousel.

You can sit to work on  your wooden craft where they have tables and markers. There is no paint or anything that could get messy.

You're inside a high end mall remember?

Pricing is typical for something like this and I think it's pretty decent. But you definitely would get a better deal if you take it home and work on the figures with more time and your own quality paints.

All the crafts felt like they were built well. We didn't get any because Claire is a bit young for these but maybe next year.

The post Santa’s Village Craft Shop at South Coast Plaza appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

The event was for Powercrunch. Powercrunch is based in beautiful Orange County. I visited their offices in Lake Forest where they hosted about 30 to 40 of us.

* Disclosure: I was invited to the event and received all the products for free so I could tell you about them, they also gave me a kick-ass back-pack and some other goodies. 

Powercrunch is actually the main brand behind BioNutritional Research Group, BNRG. And during this event I had a chance to try out all their products and really get to know what they're about. Site link.

You could be familiar with Powercrunch if you are into fitness or if you take care of your body and try to really get all your vitamins and supplements everyday.

Powercrunch makes protein enriched foods. Things like protein bars, protein shakes and protein powders to name a few. These are the kind of products you don’t usually buy, but you should. Why? Because if you’re like most Americans, you are probably not consuming enough protein, or enough protein that can be processed by your body.

You should listen to Kevin, explain this a little better. I understand how proteins work and why they’re so important. This understanding is why I’ve been able to lose about 40 pounds in the past few months, but I’m not the right person to explain it to you.

Quick Summary of the video

I'll sum up what Kevin says in the video. We need protein more than almost any other nutrient, we're made of protein and we need it to maintain our bodies in good shape. But it appears that some proteins are harder to digest than others.

This is where Powercrunch comes in. They process natural, animal based protein and literally break it down into more digestible chunks so your body can absorb it faster and more efficiently.

There is a whole science to this and it seems that they have figured out a way to process protein so that we can consume it better, and they made it taste good.

I am not into supplements and all that stuff. I rather eat all raw, organic and non-gmo or home cooked foods but I have been trying out the products they gave us as samples. If you like sweet stuff try the original flavor, and if you like things a little less sweet you may want to give the chocolate flavor or as Powercrunch calls it "Choklat"

I did try one of their shake powders combined with fresh fruit and blended into a smoothie (see video below) and that was delicious. I could drink that all day long.

They're coming out with three new flavors and one of them has caramel, I actually liked that but not as much as my buddy Reggie. Check out this video from the highlights of the event.

Now you know that it's all about the caramel flavor right?

You'll be able to find the new flavors somewhere near you since some of the biggest retailers already carry Powercrunch nation wide. You can find them at Trader Joes, Krogers, or even Amazon.

The post Powercrunch is on a Misson to Bring you Protein appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

We talked about Blogging but we went into cover some stuff about Youtube as well. How can you make not a few bucks, and not a few hundred dollars, but a few thousand dollars with videos on Youtube.

I think you'll want to attend the next session as well.

One of the things that we went over during this meetup was the three main ways you can make money with your blog.

We talked about Aweber and how to connect it so that you can constantly get new people that join your list and stick around to see what's next.

We also talked about the right way to use Youtube and more stuff like that. If you wanted to attend and didn't because the RSVP time was closed, make sure you RSVP early next time.

To join the meetup group and get alerts, visit the Dot Com Lifestyle Meetup group here. It's free.

The post How to Monetize your Blog – Dot Com Coffee appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

When I think about it, I'm lucky to be around all these companies. Small and big and everything in between, you'll find it in Irvine. But Powercrunch is more than just a company.

Powercrunch makes protein enriched foods. Things like protein bars, protein shakes and protein powders to name a few. These are the kind of products you don't usually buy, but you should. Why? Because if you're like most Americans, you are probably not consuming enough protein or enough protein that can be processed by your body.

You should listen (in the video below) to Kevin, the founder of Powercrunch explain this a little better. I understand how proteins work and why they're so important. This understanding is why I've been able to lose about 40 pounds in the past few months, but I'm not the right person to explain it to you.

I had a chance to listen to Kevin, the founder of Powercrunch talk about BNRG, proteins and the history behind Powercrunch. The story is fascinating and I can relate to it as a parent.

I must admit, It wasn't Kevin's night, he seemed a little bit tense having all these bloggers and social media folks around, he even forgot his balls. #Truestory, but his talk is excellent.

Kevin told us the story of how he had to have a better protein than the one that was out there at the time. This happened back when I was two years old, in 1982. Now, 32 years later, Kevin is still working on bringing the best possible protein available.

Why did he have to develop this protein? Well, I'll let you watch the video for that, but if you're a parent I know you'll relate.

So that's Powercrunch. That's what they do and why they're here. I know protein is very important and many people completely misunderstand it, so take some time today and learn about it.

As for me, I'm hitting the sack. Part of doing all we can to #stopdiabetes is getting a good amount of sleep, staying active and having a healthy diet. I've done two out of those today, so it's time to get some sleep now.

The post Powercrunch is on a Mission to Bring you Protein appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

We decided to visit Marché Moderne for lunch. I've heard about it before and I was excited to try it out. Marché Moderne is tucked away in The Penthouse of South Coast Plaza.

It's on the 3rd floor near Canali and Norstrom. If you take the elevator you'll exit and the bistro will be on your left. If you come up the escalator then it's on the right.

Let me get the little things out of the way.

The service is good, but a little lacking in details. I had to ask for water no-ice maybe six different times after I got iced-water with each refill. That got really annoying after, say the 2nd time. Other spots can get away with little details like that. Places like Marché Moderne can't.

There's also something peculiar about this place. Some of the tables are split into a bench seat and chair seating. It turns out that the chairs are about 2 inches shorter than the bench AND the cushions sink all the way to the bottom of the chair. This makes it very awkward to sit. I felt like I was about to kick up my feet with a soda and watch a movie.

I'm not super tall, but I'm not short either. 5"9 and I had to bend my elbows and shoulders in a very awkward position to be comfortable. I commented about this to the waiter and he said, "oh yes, we have cushions for that."

WTF

I look around and I could tell other people were not very comfortable, one couple near us commented about this as well. Here's the thing, if you know that people tend to be uncomfortable so much so that you have a stock pile of cushions in the back to tend to this problem. you're doing something wrong. Time to replace the chairs or re-upholster them or whatever you need to do.

Not only did I feel embarrassed asking for the cushion, but c'mon when you're serving lunch dishes for $44 a pop, in one of the world class malls, you can't let little details like this sneak by you.

With that out of the way, I must tell you that the food was absolutely yummy.

Yes, I just did use that word. You can see why here. In all seriousness, the food was delicious and prepared perfectly.

The server was very nice and described us the menu additions and specials. Everything sounded amazing but all three of us opted for the Prix Fixe, dubbed the Spontané menu.

With the fixed price menu, you get one of two starters, one of two main dishes and the dessert. I got the chicken and so did John, but Marc went with the Trout that wants to be a salmon; it's halloween after all so why not.

The chicken was nothing short of amazing. It was perfectly cooked completely but still remained as moist as it should be. The wine reduction was in point and you could get a hint of the garlic. The mushrooms were cooked perfectly as well, if you do cremini incorrectly you end up with rubbery mushrooms or a mush, but not here.

Despite being a fancy restaurant, the onions and fresh greens kept some of the rustic roots of the dish. To top it off, the chicken was served with an delicious hand-rolled spaghetti. I know people make noodles by hand. I've made udon, regular flat pasta and even regular spaghetti at home with a rolling pin and a machine. But to roll it by hand and have it come out this perfect, well that's why you pay the prices you pay here.

Marc got the trout and by all comments it was also delicious. I didn't try it but it looked really good, here it is.

Doesn't that look appetizing? To finish off the meal we got the dessert. I wondered why a french bistro would be serving an italian dessert, but I went with it. Turns out it was very unique. It tasted like pana cotta nd it had the classic sweet but subtle flavor with the creamy consistency but it didn't feel like pana cotta. Call it what you will, but it a perfect way of closing down the meal.

Ended up pairing that with a cappuccino so I could finish off friday with a bang. Another perfect item, the cappuccino was done right with the right amount of foam, perfect temperature and served with rustic sugar cubes. Classy.

Overall, this place deserves a five star rating. Service was attentive, friendly and professional. The food was, beautifully prepared, seasoned and cooked to perfection and at $25.00 for the fixed price this was a bargain. I can't speak for the $30+ lunch dishes but everyone around me seemed to be enjoying their food and ambiance so it must be good.

The post Marché Moderne Prix Fixe Review appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

The video clip is about the Pageant of The Masters, one of the focal events during the Festival of the Arts.

This year's Festival of the Arts will not disappoint. make sure you get tickets for the events you want, it gets crowded.

This is from last years and I may have more of these coming. I'm also going to show you some of this year's event as it gets closer.

The post Festival of the Arts Laguna Beach appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

Startups, entrepreneurs and every other member of this thriving ecosystem is welcome. Just RSVP (it's free), soon. Spots are limited and we usually fill up. RSVP here.

You would have heard of Vanesa Rey by now, I've mentioned her on my blog before, and she's one of my most successful clients. She's said before that I inspire and mentor her, but in reality, I'm inspired by her every day.

This particular event is bound to be a huge success because it features Vanesa, our first ever female speaker. Her topic will be: LESSONS FOR ENTREPRENEURS FROM HOLLYWOOD's RED CARPET.

She will share what she learned in her previous life as a Hollywood motion picture publicist and how she applied these lessons to the successful launch of her tech fashion brand, Vanesa Rey.

You can RSVP for Free Lunch Friday here. And you can find out more about Vanesa at vanesarey.com

The post Vanesa Rey comes to Free Lunch Friday appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

A little background.

I believe that John actually coined the term several years back, and it refers to the concept of having the financial freedom, to do anything you want with your time and do it from anywhere in the world. Entire books have been written about this idea. One example, the 4 hour workweek by Tim Ferris. This is Location, Time and Money freedom! So when I started running meetups, I started with Smart and Social, but Smart and Social was too broad. I was going to teach you all about technology and blogging, websites, email and social media. But I found that we didn't really have a clear focus. The answer to WHY? wasn't clear.

Our focus is clear.

So we're redefining it. The Dot Com Lifestyle will teach you technology, that is the main topic. But the focus is to learn all this stuff with the goal of quitting the 9 - 5 grind and making more than enough money from anywhere in the world. We will teach you how to run this lifestyle from your laptop, or ipad or even just an internet browser. You'll learn how to blog, how to do email, social media, google analytics, and all the other stuff you keep hearing about so you can actually make passive income and take control of your life. We invite you to join. Now, just watch this video and join us. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSynRqYyrF4

The post Announcing the Dot Com Lifestyle Meetup with John Chow appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

On top of that they've made a great video from our April event. Check it out:

http://vimeo.com/65677364

Hope to see you at the next event. RSVP at Free Lunch Friday.

The post Real Office Centers aka ROC is our host for Free Lunch Friday appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

We're starting off with small groups, and so far we've had two small meetups. I would like to extend an invitation for you to join. You can find the group called Smart and Social on meetup.com.

I've done one small webinar already as part of this new group. I used Google Hangouts, and last week I had my first Blogging group meeting. That was an introductory meeting and we've set the schedule for a six week program for the group. We start next thursday and this is an early group. 8:30 am.

I spend a lot of time training people on how to use websites, social media and technology in general. Most of the time I spend time one-on-one with people and although it is very valuable and I enjoy doing it, I think we could use a bit of a collective approach sometimes.

In about two weeks I'll be starting out another group that will meet at later times. If you are not into blogging, maybe you want to learn about social media? or just find some really cool tech meetups? Come join me for free at Smart and Social. And remember, live meetups are in the Orange County area, but you can join the group even if you're not in the area because we'll have virtual meetups using google hangouts, or Ustream or other methods so that anyone in the world can participate.

The plans are to have live and virtual events covering the following:

• Meetups to showcase or teach you about websites
• Meetups with WordPress hands-on workshops
• Guided 6 - 16 week business and technology program
• Accountability groups

The post Smart and Social, a new Meetup.com group in Orange County. appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

William Blumberg - @WilliamBlumberg
So we are what we tweet @notagrouch... #SMMOC - I'll be curating tweets into a post so tweet away and make sure use the tag.

Nice William. So what's the next project?

LindaAbbit - @LindaAbbit
Per @theRECoach: post a 1min video answering a biz Q via YouTube daily #smmoc

Great tip on an easy way to use Youtube for your business. This applies to ALL businesses that deal with consumers or other businesses. You can find questions everywhere.

Sometimes your clients emails contain questions you can clean up and pose in a section on your site as a "Dear Abby" type of place. You could go on Quora and find questions you can answer.

An alternative to this is also just doing 1 minute features in your community's interests. For example realtors might want to talk about the new development happening down the street. Or a new favorite store opening a location nearby. Etc.

The video starts a bit into his conversation midway, but you didn't miss much and in fact he's going to recap about 20 seconds into it. The part that you miss is that Eric says that as a business owner in average you answer about 9 questions per day (I think he said per day). And these questions usually are similar or the same ones that many other people have.

By being in the radio, both he and I know that most people will not ask the question themselves but will really pay attention when someone else asks and an expert answers. Be the expert that answers questions about your industry or niche. This will help. Guaranteed. Do it in Quora, Youtube, your blog, (always try to bring it back to the blog somehow).

(video without notes and unedited: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCSp2dg-mtU )

Become a resource!

video

Here's Eric's tip, as you answer questions for your clients, on email and in person, or over the phone, why not turn that into a "FAQ" or simply a question you answer in a post on your blog. You're answering up to 9 or more questions anyway per day. You might as well capitalize on that and turn them into videos, blogposts, podcasts or whatever you can that makes you have new fresh and relevant content.

So Eric Brought up "The Answer man from the 80s" more like the 70s. Check it out, this was the only one I could find on Youtube:

Cindy Ronzoni - @cindyronzoni
Great day to be at #smmoc if you are a newbie. Going over strategy basics.

I have to agree Cindy! It was a good discussion. A bit of the same things we've talked about but it's good to revisit and hear new perspectives.

TheRECoach - @TheRECoach
RT @melaclaro: .#SMMOC's acronym of the day CAPTCHA = "Computer Assisted Public Touring to Tell Computers and Humans Apart"

That's a mouthful. Try saying that 3 times quickly! Better yet, try to remember that next week.

Kevin Sablan - @ksablan
RT @melaclaro: #SMMOC "Dunbar Number" = http://t.co/GsJ6T72u

The Dunbar number relates to the number of people that you can have as friends or in your network according to certain research and theories.

Cindy Ronzoni - @cindyronzoni
One of the most unrealized aspects of social media is remembering it takes time to build relationships #smmoc

Absolutely. I have to agree. This takes time and work and genuine care!

Mel Aclaro - @melaclaro
By the way, to all the dads in the #SMMOC group - I wish you a great day. :))

happy Father's Day to everyone from Mel and everyone at #SMMOC

Pictures

Elsa-Bugarini-SMMOC-IMG_9143 ElsaBugarini-LindaAbbit-kevinsablan-smmoc-9146 meganenloe-tweeting-smmoc

Elsa Bugarini - @urdigitalmedia from  http://brilliantmobile.com/

Linda Abbit - @LindaAbbit from http://tenderlovingeldercare.com/

Kevin Sablan - @kSablan from: http://almightylink.ksablan.com/

A few more tweets...

Bob (Robert) Watson - @TopBrokerOC
"Be the Answer Man for your industry" @TheRECoach #SMMOC

Quote of the day!

William Blumberg - @WilliamBlumberg
No photo means no social to me @cindyronzoni: Never accept a new twitter or Facebook user if they don't have a photo.... #smmoc

I agree! This is one of those basic checks and balances. If you don't know the person and they don't have an avatar defined they're likely spammers.

Mel Aclaro - @melaclaro
BREAKING #SMMOC NEWS: SMDAYOC on June 29 - are you registered? http://t.co/GsJ6T72u Plz RT

Be there.

Kevin Sablan - @ksablan
By the way, #smmoc , another great thing about @bufferapp is that the creators listen on Twitter.

@bufferapp is really cool. I just wish it didn't break reply threads when you use it for replies.

Strategy & Donuts at SMMOC

Lots of great discussions again. Some covering strategy, other conversations covered content production and sourcing as well as distribution. If you want to join, meetups happen almost every Saturday. For up-to-date information on schedules visit the official site at SMMOC.com

The post #SMMOC june 16 Strategy for social content appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

SMMOC returns after a couple weeks hiatus! CRM & Foursquare topics.

Kevin Sablan - @ksablan
Since #smmoc IRL is pitch-free, maybe it's good that I can't attend today. Sign up for #smdayoc now!

Don't miss out. Here's your early alert to attend this great event!

Stephen P. Kane - @StephenPKane
@williamblumberg @stawwitch @edwardmcoffin @johnchow @rallenr Good morning fellow #smmoc ers

And good morning to you! And everyone else in here @michellelecours @kathyklingaman @melaclaro @woodysmithx1

Woody Smith - @woodysmith1x
Talking at #CRM here at #SMMOC.

Great discussion on both CMS and CRMs at #SMMOC - We talked about the following apps in this regard:

Streak for Chrome / Google.
Nimble - Social CRM
Salesforce (not my favorite)
MS Dynamics CRM (not my favorite)
Zoho - Free and online (mixed opinions on this)

@Zengy Pointed out something that is critical to the decision making for CMS and CRMs. Your workflow makes all the difference in how you should choose the software.

Steve Zehngut - @Zengy
Mentioned this morning. Great blog about security issues. http://t.co/NokdmgfR #smmoc @sucuri_security

Great blog pointed out by @zengy. This is the Sucuri blog, awesome security company that takes care of your hacked site and prevents your site from getting hacked in the first place.

Stephen P. Kane - @StephenPKane
Takeaway quote from todays #SMMOC meetup, "Headlines sell blog posts". C topics photo. http://t.co/fye1xrUR

And how this is true! Headlines make or break posts sometimes, It's your 3 second pitch, your hook, your bait to get people to read the rest.

Woody Smith - @woodysmith1x
#Hootsuite has link expanders showing where shortened links go, allowing spam avoidance. Look for "+" sign next to links. #SMMOC

This is pretty useful, especially as more and more url shorteners come onto the scene. This is a good way to verify a link before you go to it. It doesn't always work, like @JohnChow showed during the meeting. And sometimes they take a little while to reveal the entire link after you click on the "+" but nonetheless, this is a great option available in hootsuite.

In some cases, other apps, even Twitter (web) shows you the real link even if the link was shortened.

Always be careful of what you click on, be sure your browser is up-to-date and make sure you have antivirus installed on your computer.

William Blumberg - @WilliamBlumberg
How to use bad Yelp comments From http://t.co/cNTktMlF #smmoc

That was funny. And I think that's a great way of taking advantage of seemingly bad publicity. In all honesty, when a disgruntal client complaints about services or goods, it's always good to look at the whole picture.

Maybe this was a mistake in a given day, or maybe the guest or client had a bad day, or they are generally just nasty anyway and will always give negative comments.

When researching a place to do business with, don't just look at a bad review as a sign of trouble. Look at the majority of the reviews, understand the tone of the bad and good reviews, and do your own basic research.

Remember, crowds aren't always the smartest. Ultimately you have to decide if certain reviews apply to you or your situation.

Carol Hink - @CarolHink
Waving Hi & sending much Gratitude to awesome gang at #SMMOC !!! So appreciate your help :))

Missing a lot of people this morning at #SMMOC - @CarolHink, @LindaAbbit, @JeffHester.

@JeffHester is preparing for his wedding! Congratulations and I hope it's awesome!

@LisaMcClure & @DarinRMcClure are on the road today. Stay safe!

We have Food!

When SMMOC goes dark for a while, people tend to bring food and today was no exception. @zengy brough in some awesome bagels, @DniseSonnenberg brought some home-made baked goodness and @DanielaBolzmann got us some awesome cupcakes from @TheQueensBakery. By the way, this is how you eat a cupcake properly:

Closing comments

After at least 4 weeks of not being at SMMOC for various reasons, it was great to network and meetup with familiar faces.

The topics we covered at #SMMOC were diverse but also very relevant. We got great discussions about using Yelp vs Foursquare and what the value is for each one. Personally I get tremendous value from using both. Foursquare is huge for me and I use it for fun and business. I use Yelp more from a consumer point of view when I want to research a particular business or service.

One of the things we covered about Yelp is how sometimes some really good reviews get hidden from normal view. Sometimes the way these reviews are filtered seems unfair to the business and even seems like a disservice to the real users. But don't fret, you can always read these reviews. Just like @DanielaBolzmann pointed out, you can sort reviews with other methods. Normally you see the "Yelp Sorting" method which shows reviews based on Yelp's own algorithms.

To see all the reviews and sort them in other ways, use the links provided within the review itself. There are two places. One is at the end of the business listing and before the reviews start, like in the screenshot below:

And one is to show the filtered or hidden reviews as shown below:

We covered CRMs and CMSs, also we talked about how to avoid spamming your own facebook wall with one type of update. Most people frown upon the practice of posting one type of update to your own wall constantly. Try to mix it up a bit, like @MichelleLecous said, show the complexity and sophistication of your personality. Otherwise we see you as a boring one-sided person. And spammy to boot!

Other apps we talked about were Instapaper, Instagram, WordPress and Pinterest.

Hope to see you there next time!

pictures

smmoc-attendees smmoc-topics-notes cupcakes-smmoc-queens-bakery queens-bakery-smmoc-bolzmann smmoc-guys-setting-tables starting-smmoc-with-power

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Here's a video about Boiling Crab food and one of my many visits to the place. This is the "big" location in Garden Grove.

Warning for sound! - One of my first videos, with terrible sound so be warned.

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The goal of the Scoop.it SMMOC topic is to help members get visibility into their own posts or videos. You can also see the latest posts from the SMMOC page on my own website.

If you don't want to add a story, but just read the ones that get posted, you can subscribe to the feed from the scoop.it page. Look for the RSS symbol and add the page to your favorite feed reader.

The post SMMOC Scoop This! appeared first on Digital Marketing Through Content & Influence.

I've heard this now a few times. Meetup.com Is that the network is the best real "social" network. I see it as connecting real life interests with virtual communities and truly bridging the geographical gaps.

When you realize that there are other people interested in the same things as you are, and you can likely find a group of them meeting on a regular basis, within 10 or 15 miles from your location, that's cool. This has never happened before at this scale. These people are meeting, quickly online and then in real life. And trust me! they're not just tweeting about it, they're not just blogging about it.

Take for example even SMMOC is fueled by meetup.com. Meetup.com is quietly growing and will be shaking things up quite a bit. Connecting people in real life, that's where it all comes down to.

That's powerful. That's a strong network. And my thoughts on #Foursquare is that #Fsq is cool but in comparing the two, Meetup.com vs Foursquare?

They're very different so I wouldn't compare them much. Meetup.com joins you with like-minded individuals in a comfortable group setting. Foursquare in the other hand tells you which places are the happening spots around your current location.

Cheryl Hawley - @CherylAHawley
To find events in your area do you favor @foursquare or @meetup? #smmoc

I thought this was a great topic of discussion. Regarding a choice between the two, well they're really both two different things. Meetup is really good at bridging the digital knowledge and virtual relationshiphs into real in life meetings.

I've met some really great people at different meetups. But like @24x7media said, the people attending all have a common interest.

Foursquare in the other hand is good at telling you what type of places might be good to visit because they are trendy. Or at least trendy within social media circles, scratch that... at least within those that play Foursquare. In the grand scheme of things Foursquare isn't that big. But it's getting there...

Jeff Hester - @jeffhester
RT @DarinRMcClure: Time to lurk the #SMMOC hashtag & enjoy the cutting edge thought on the social space that happens there... Good Morni ...

See!? Everybody does it, so you might as well do it and next time you have to miss #SMMOC just lurk. Use the hashtag (as covered in today's meetup) to follow what people are talking. You can choose to participate or just watch.

William Blumberg - @WilliamBlumberg
Here are some operators for Twitter http://t.co/JuwRRj0T #SMMOC

Not the smooth operator kind, but the Advanced Search Operators. As mentioned in the meeting today, these are called Boolean. You can find more info about Boolean searching with this basic intro to boolean searching on the internet page .

The basics boolean searching is that you can pick a search that has multiple parameters, perhaps joining two different sets of data, or excluding a section of the data by using a filter and excluding certain terms.

Bob (Robert) Watson - @TopBrokerOC
One way to totally irritate your customer #ATT is to throttle back my iPhone data speed. #SMMOC

AT&T... You really don't want to upset @TopBrokerOC... He's got Klout and a room full of people every Saturday morning. Just cut the crap and let people have unlimited data, really. This is just greedy!

This post was curated with: Dashter

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Ifttt is similar to other services like Yahoo Pipes, or Tarpipe; it takes a source of content and sends it to a destination. The source can be an email, RSS, SMS, Facebook, Read it Later or others. The destination can be Twitter, email, a phone call, a blogpost or others.

A common use of such a tool is, for example, taking a blogpost and automatically sharing it on Twitter; that's an easy example. Using what you call tasks, ifttt can do much more than just retweet your blogposts. It can save a picture you've shared on Instagram and upload it to Facebook. Maybe you want to change your Twitter profile picture when you update your profile photo on Facebook; yes, ifttt.com can do that for you.

So for my SMMOC friends and collegues, here's a brief video introduction to IFTTT.com. The video should give you a good overview of what you can do and how simple it is to use.

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The incorporated cities of Orange County. Just a map I put together to show where all the incorporated cities in Orange County.

View Cities in Orange County in a larger map

* Source Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County,_California#Incorporated_cities

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