Tonight the co-founders of Do It While You’re Young (DIWYY), Jerri Stephenson and Kristina Wegscheider, are hosting a webinar to help you learn how to budget, bargain and save for your dream trip. DIWYY is the leading site for women 18 to 35 years old who want to travel, study, work or volunteer abroad.

The webinar will cover the topics of:

• Choosing the trip you want to go on
• Planning a budget
• Paying for it all

The webinar starts promptly at 7pm and costs $5 for non-members. More information on how to RSVP is here.



Lost Girls World Premiere Reading Party: May 11th

Round the world travelers, The Lost Girls, are celebrating their first ever book reading next week in New York City where it all began. Join them at the premiere party for “The Lost Girls: Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World” at Borders in Columbus Circle to hear from the authors themselves, engage in a Q/A session, and then toast to their success with drinks afterwards. They promise a night of travel, inspiration, discovery, and adventure!

Let us know if you’re in attendance for these events and how they went!



Sosauce loves attending travel events. If you are hosting any upcoming events in the New York area and would love Sosauce to attend, email us the info and we will RSVP!

Mark your calendars for Monday, April 26th for a night on the town in New York’s Chinatown with Sosauce and Atlas Obscura!

We will be hosting a fun travel meet up at the Whiskey Tavern in New York City for a night of beers and travel talk. For those of you who have attended previous Sosauce events, you should know this is not something to be missed. Get familiar with Travel Geeks here in the city and learn about the world’s wonders, curiosities, and esoterica with the Atlas Obscura team.

Arrive sharply at 7:30pm at Whiskey Tavern for the usual meet and greet, complete with Sosauce swag freebies and name tags. For those of us without a curfew, we’ll be heading to the China Town Arcade afterwards for post-bar games.

Come one, come all – but make sure to RSVP with us so we can take a head count! Email me at Sosauce (alisha @ sosauce . com) with the names of you and your guests as well as your travel blog or site.

See you all there!

Become a Sosauce event sponsor so you can co-host fun travel events with us in the future! Go here to get started.

SHUCK, SIP AND FLEX

Shuck Famous Malpeque Oysters

Sip Atlantic Canadian Wines, Beer & Cocktails

Flex Your Canadian Mussels

Upon entering the restaurant, I was taken aback at the formality of the atmosphere and wondered whether a gal with a plaid dress, nose ring, and tatted foot would fit in. Luckily, a rep from Hawkins greeted me at the door and sat me at the bar where I felt more at home. Within minutes I (finally!) met up with Meg and Anna from the Social Media Roundtable event where we caught up on our busy lives in the city. After enjoying some complimentary drinks we were joined by the wildly entertaining “Mommy blogger,” Carol Cain and then proceeded to test our Canadian knowledge as we were asked some trivia questions such as:

• Where do A-list celebrities escape to fish some of the most pristine salmon rivers in the world? (hint: it’s in New Brunswick)
• Why is cod-pot fishing – found only on a small island off Newfoundland & Labrador – making heads turn in the environmental community?
• What exactly is Nova Scotia Tidal Bore Rafting?

The true highlight of the evening though was reuniting with some of our favorite humor-filled travel writers, Mike Barish and Paul Brady. The five of us (me, Anna, Carol, Mike, and Paul) quickly grabbed a table and felt no shame in revealing the blunders of our socially-awkward lives. The staff at Flex Mussels were also a great group! Our waiters were refreshingly friendly, adorning us with fresh h’orderves, heaping plates of seafood, refilling drinks, and even went out of their way to prepare me a yummy salad upon learning my allergy to shellfish. Needless to say, it was an enjoyable few hours.

The best part of these types of events is making genuine connections with interesting people who you later go on to call friends. The Canadian Mussels event (which we live tweeted) was a nice way to learn about a new travel destination and kick back with good people. So thanks to Atlantic Canada and Hawkins International for inviting Sosauce, we had a great time!

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The Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership (ACTP) brings together the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the provincial departments responsible for tourism in New Brunswick , Newfoundland and Labrador , Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and the four provincial tourism industry associations.

Sosauce loves attending travel events. If you are hosting any upcoming events in the New York area and would love Sosauce to attend, email us the info and we will RSVP!

Whether you’re a travel blogger, journalist, hotelier, airline representative, or head of a travel start-up, social media is changing the landscape of your online marketing efforts. Since it’s still new, it takes baby steps and an open mind to fully grasp the potential for success by being an active player in social networking.

We attended the New York Social Media Roundtable last night, which focused on the travel industry and were pleased to learn that our methods are right on target to our goals in the social media world. But to others, this is a whole other ballgame. Lucky for you, we’re Travel Geeks so we took notes! Below are some rules, tips, and guidelines from the New York Social Media Roundtable on how to effectively use social networking communities such as Twitter and Facebook to communicate and engage your audiences. Consider this a free lesson from Sosauce, the New York Social Media Roundtable group, and Flightpath on social media. Your welcome.



The basics

• Social media is a way to communicate and engage directly with audiences
• Social media is a continual conversation – it’s a 24/7 job that shouldn’t be assigned to just one person and be given a time limit
• Pick a platform that works for YOU! Don’t spread yourself too thin by setting up profiles on a million different sites

Be a good sport

• Remember, it’s about community! Show you’re interested, in a broader sense – reach out to more people – and you’ll notice positive results
• Don’t be a hater. It’s best to be honest about a bad experience, but remember to be polite and address feedback quickly and respectfully
• You can’t control what’s being said about you on social media, you can only respond it; and how you respond makes all the difference
• Keep in mind the long-term effects of social media revolve around creating positive relationships – translating audiences into loyal users, clients, partners, and friends

Rules of the game

• Always state a clear disclaimer about sponsored blog posts, tweets, articles, and trips
• Your social media policy should reflect consistency in your brand, be sure to have all of your staff on board
• Though you don’t want to babysit your employees about crossing the line between professional and personal social posts, set guidelines in place. But always encourage them to get out there and be social

Measuring & Analytics

• Track and monitor conversations with ease by using search columns, Google Alerts, and hash tags with aggregated applications (i.e. Tweetdeck)
• Try tracking link backs through analytic tools such as Google and Twitter retweets to give you an insight on where your audience is coming from, how they’re finding you, and what they’re interested in
• Turning links and users into sales is the goal of ROI but it can be difficult
• Stop worrying about measurements, metrics, and ROI – it’s too early to grasp concrete analytics on such a growing trend. There’s also no real way to “measure” whether social media is worth investing or not; it’s not about money, it’s about people

Experiment a little!

• Rising tools and sites such as Foursquare are simply filters to existing social networks, not replacements. Explore these new tools, then choose which are best applicable for you
• When it comes to public relations, get creative. The days of formal and corporate methods are on their way out, so embrace new tactics
• Facebook Fan pages should be more focused on user-generated content and experiences, so encourage it

Though we enjoyed hearing the panel of “social media experts”, we did leave with unanswered questions. Fill us in on your input, feedback, and answers to our questions in the comments below. We’ll also be posting these questions on our Travel Geeks discussion group on LinkedIn.

Twitter and Facebook are clearly at the forefront of social media. But what about the popular blogging site Tumblr? Or social media for professionals on LinkedIn? And is MySpace at all relevant?

Facebook Ads are hit or miss. Though it’s great to pinpoint your specific target audience, click-throughs are few and far between. How do you maximize marketing on Facebook?

Sosauce had a blast meeting new travel friends and reuniting with the regulars at NYSMRT. If we missed you at the panel, be sure to say Hi to us on Twitter, leave a message on our Facebook page, or shoot us an email. We promise to see you soon!

Come join us at The Center near Union Square to learn what tools travel publicists, agents, and bloggers are using to engage with audiences. Discussions include:

• Discover how social platforms have helped travel bloggers build significance in the digital community.
• Share techniques that hotels and venues are using to reach new and potential visitors.
• Explore the evolving role of digital content in sharing travel experiences.
• Ask questions and contribute opinions about the role of social media in the travelsphere

Sosauce will be present so be sure to say hi to me, Alisha, and Sean tonight! We suggest you double check reservations at nysocialmediaroundtable.com. The event begins at 6:30pm sharp – see you there!

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NY Social Media Roundtable is a gathering of anyone and everyone who has a use for social media in their personal or professional lives. With a new discussion topic every month, NYSMRT aims to foster and showcase social media thought leadership in the NY metro area.

First off, Sosauce has a new homepage! After getting asked “What IS Sosauce?” so many times, we finally have the answer for you in one sentence: Sosauce.com is your destination to recreate and share your travel memories. Simple, right? Check out the new homepage, and see other feature updates we’ve done to our site as well.

Secondly, Travel Geeks everywhere can now do more with their photos using the brand spankin’ new Sosauce Store. We asked you how you use your travel photos, and we listened. Since the majority of you use of your travel photos online – whether it be for your blog or to share in an album – we at Sosauce wanted to make photo products not only travel-friendly, but also quality items at inexpensive prices. We recommend you turn your travel photos into a customized postcard, for only $1.95 each!

But of course there are plenty more items to choose from. Feel free to shop around the Sosauce Store here. Enjoy!

Enough of the self-promotion, let’s move on to saucy happenings. The new season is upon us and we’ve been asked about upcoming events. Well fear not dear friends because we do have some events up our sleeves. Though we can’t reveal much information at this time, we can give you a few hints as to what we’ll be doing. Look out for some spicy contests, a cause-oriented yard sale, and possibly a photography showcase. We can’t give out the details just yet so stay tuned to see what happens in the next few weeks.

Those are all the announcements you missed about Sosauce. Doesn’t it feel good to be in the know now?

PS – Keep up with Sosauce elsewhere:

Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
“Travel Geeks” on LinkedIn
Sosauce Chili
Sosauce Chili Travels

We’ve partnered with Giano restaurant to present SHIFT, a one-night art show and multimedia event in the East Village. SHIFT will feature several up-and-coming NYC artists, including:

Maki Teshima — print making + painting
Miho Ogai — installation
Bailey Russel — photography
Leon Belt — video art
Chris Conly — music

We couldn’t think of a better way to support other forms of creative expression here in our city. Come on out!

Location: Giano Restaurant
Giano will prepare a special $5 glass wine assortment for the evening. Full menu is available.

Hope to see you there!

What is new media and how can young people engage it to create effective social change?

For those of you who are interested in more than just traveling – and support social change, whether local or abroad – we invite you to participate in our New Media & Youth Action Conference on September 1st in New York City.

Sosauce is presenting a free all-day community youth forum alongside numerous local organizations on progressive issues such as health, environment, global & local development and cultural diplomacy. We’re providing an open platform for young people to learn about how to use new media sites and social entrepreneurship to create effective change.

Join us as we hear how various non-profits are using today’s media platforms to empower powerful changes among their communities.

The event will be held on Tuesday, September 1^st at the Interchurch Center in New York City. Our co-founder, Sean Pfitzenmaier will be speaking along with other organizations in the non-profit community on creating social change through social media. The event runs from 10am – 3pm and will offer Q/A breakout-learning sessions for those interested in getting involved.

Sponsors include: Sosauce, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, Young People For, Sparkseed, Fired Up Media, Americans for Informed Democracy, Responsible Endowments Coalition, and several others.

To reserve your spot at this important event, please sign up here (space is limited). You can learn more about the New Media & Youth Action Conference at the following sites:

Official site

Sosauce

Facebook event

Garys Guide

Wandering Educators

Away from Africa

We hope to see you getting social and getting active!

New Media & Youth Action Conference

Powered by: Sosauce

Tuesday, September 1^st 2009

10am-3pm

Interchurch Center

(475 Riverside Dr. #530)

Morningside Heights, NYC

And oh, what a BBQ it was. Great music from Brian Blackout and top-notch burgers and dogs grilled by Francisco, a professional chef. Thanks again to Matador and all your help. We love you guys.

Enjoy the photos!

Three days of equestrian races, drinking, and ceremonies that celebrate the patrols on the Scottish/English borders since the 1500s.

Glastonbury Festival June 25 – 28 Glastonbury, Scotland

Four days featuring hundreds of bands, from Lady GaGa and Bruce Springsteen, to bands you’ve never heard of. Expect to camp all weekend!

Crop Over June 28 – August 15 Bridgetown, Barbados

Summer carnival marking the end of the sugar harvest concluding with parades, calypso concerts and rum block parties.

The Humungus Fungus Fest August 7-9 Crystal Falls, Michigan

Wow, the U.S. has the largest mushroom in the world – it’s 11 tons! Come eat mushroom pizza and get bragging rights.

Il Palio August 13-16 Sienna, Italy

Ridiculous breakneck speed horse race where the only rules are there are no rules. Needless to say it’s intense. Note that the first horse to cross the line wins!

Buenos Aires Tango Festival August 14-31 Buenos Aires, Argentina

Free shows, exclusive performances, tributes, premieres of original productions, lectures, seminars, interdisciplinary spaces and appearances by both established and emerging artists of the genre. Man that’s a lot to do!

Henley-On-Todd Regatta August 22Henley-On-Todd, Australia

Water races in the middle of the desert – except boats have holes in the bottom of it, so you can run the race, or participate in yachting, sand shoveling, the triathlon, and countless other activities.

La Tomatina August 26 Spain

A humongous tomato food fight on the streets of Spain. You know the rest of course.

Burning Man August 31 – September 7 Black Rock City, Nevada

To quote: the “most artistic, survivalist, futuristic and utterly surreal show on earth” which culminates burning a 50 ft effigy of a man in the desert, in a town that is created only for this festival in Nevada.

These are just a few of the festivals Katie enjoyed. But if you’re in search of more global happenings from this summer, we’ve created our own trip around the world for other global get-togethers. Check out Sosauce’s list for summer global festivals and if you’d like to submit your own festival experience, let us know!