Silicone Bitch: Social Media Hits Category Busy This Summer

News and notes about the South Florida social media and blogging scene, with a little tech thrown in for good measure. And maybe some other random events, too.

Meteorologists try to predict how active each hurricane season will be with scientific knowledge and instruments, but no such gauge exists for social media. The point: no one who was involved in the local social media scene last year could have predicted how busy summer 2010 would be! So here we go ... lots of tidbits to share since our last post and that's just scratching the surface.

COWORKING COMES TO FORT LAUDERDALE

A new co-working space is opening up in Fort Lauderdale, according to Willie Morris. Coworking is an international movement based on the idea that you don't have to rent an entire office but you can share it with other small business entrepreneurs and freelancers. It also helps folks who work independently get over the inevitable sense of cabin fever that comes with working from home. Even independent contractors want a rock pile to go to sometimes.

Miami's original space is Brikolodge and now Fort Lauderdale will get into the coworking groove on 1109 Las Olas. There's an open house until September 1st. Look for the sign that says TSDG. Read more at Willie Morris.

MOUSE CAR PARADE

The Mouse Car Parade hosted by Truly Nolen was a smashing success though no bugs were squashed in the process. After a trip down A1A around Fort Lauderdale Beach, a visit to the Discovery Museum and lunch at Pizza Fusion, parade participants ended up at Butterfly World where yours truly learned from Barry the Bug Guy that South Florida's infamous Palmetto Bugs aren't exactly real!

CHEVY CUPCAKE CRAWL

One of my fave blog darlings, Jewel, is singing to a sweeter note with a Chevy-sponsored cupcake crawl on August 28. Stop by her blog and let her know why you deserved to load on sugar while driving a Chevylicious car!

PEDDLING PIZZA IS NOT A CRIME

Carlos Miller posted an article about social media pizza king Craig Agranoff and his wildly popular tweetups over at Miami Beach 411.

BLOGGING WORKSHOP

My blogging workshop at Preemo on August 7th went really well. It was a small group, which was great, because we had a chance to focus on each blogger's individual needs -- something that I had done ahead of time by speaking to each participant over the phone before the workshop. The participants were outstanding: a professional blogger wanting to break out on her own creative topics; a successful real estate agent and former journalist; a former broadcast journalist and current communications professional; a PR professional; and a clinical social worker on leave.

One thing I learned as a teacher (a good teacher is always a student) is how closely our blogs are related to our lives. I know that seems obvious, but take a moment to think about it ... it matters so much when you are about to embark on a publishing project of this nature.

Below is a slide show from the workshop. Many topics came up that aren't mentioned in the slide show. Although guided by each slide, the workshop flowed smoothly in a very organic manner with lecture and discussion.

Blogging for Newbies Workshop at Preemo - August 7, 2010

View more presentations from vicequeenmaria.

The next workshop, by popular request, will be about all the bells and whistles of blogging, such as using Digg, posting pictures from Flickr, etc; This workshop will take place sometime at the end of September. Stay tuned.

SOUTH FLORIDA FREELANCE NETWORK PANEL

Patrick Barbanes and I will be presenting a FREE panel on "Social Media and Blogging For Your Entrepreneurship," hosted by the South Florida Freelance Network, August 24 at 6:30 PM in Plantation. More information at Meetup.com/Freelancer.

SOCIAL CHATS

A media player for my Tuesday broadcasts is now ready. Show director and co-host Tonya Scholz and I have been broadcasting for nearly two months now and having a blast talking about social media as well as local personalities, events and restaurants, plus more, including favorite topic "the South Florida cougar." We've been all over the tri-county area so far from Sugarcane Raw Bar in Midtown Miami to Reef Road Rum Bar in West Palm Beach and several Boca hot spots in between. You can scroll through all the shows in the archive here.

NEWS AND NOTES

• New Tech Community meets tonight August 19 in Boca Raton to discuss "10 Key Elements of a Startup," with Seth Elliott, Alex De Carvalho, Ulises Orozco and Ryan Abbott. Register for free at Eventbrite.
• Social Media Club South Florida meets August 25th at Bleu Moon in the Doubletree Hotel downtown Miami to benefit Citizen Gulf, a nationwide social media movement that supports the fishing businesses affected by the oil spill. A $10 donation gets you in the door for socializing and blues by Cat Shell with a full bar and menu available. Register at Eventbrite. No cash will be accepted at the door.
• Startup Addicts meets up on August 26 with Toby Morning, founder of Semantic Seed in Silicon Valley. More information at Meetup.com/Miami Tech. Join The Startup Forum Group on Linkedin for news and notes about the local startup scene.
  
• Social Media Club Palm Beach County relaunches next month on September 9th at Off The Hookah on Clematis Street.

And don't forget, you can always learn about more events at the OE Calendar.

Photo Credits
Coworking Space: Willie Morris
Mouse Car Parade: Blanca Stella on Flickr

Food: Spaghettigasms at Scarpetta

Spaghetti at Scarpetta: the best things in life don't have to be complicated.

There's a group of folks I've recently met whose acquaintance is making it an even greater pleasure to live here in South Florida. The foodies are a motley crew from different walks of life with three things in common: a love of good eats, good drinks and good company.

Many of the foodies are great bloggers and writers, including, but not limited to: South Florida Food and Wine Blog, Mango and Lime, A La Maude, Ergagit, Sushi Pro and even my former landlord (what a small world!), who delights us on Facebook with gorgeous pictures of his latest kitchen wizardry.

My first opportunity to break bread with the South Florida Foodies was at Scarpetta, Miami's version of the New York City original, founded by Chef Scott Conant. In Italian, scarpetta means that thing we all love to do -- scoop up really good sauce with bread. Well, this restaurant is a bit fancier than a sop-up-sauce kind of place, but the food is just as good as if your grandma had been standing behind the stove stirring the pot. And I don't mean an old school grandma, but rather a grandma with gourmet flair who understands style and substance all rolled up in one mouthful.

Which brings me directly to the spaghetti. Yes, spaghetti. Simple spaghetti. Simple, yet bursting on my tongue with rich, buttery tomato sauce and fresh basil. Scarpetta's version of the classic dish makes me want to return to this luxuriously decorated oceanfront restaurant, the food on the plate reminding me that no matter how elegant a place is, that stuff I'm putting in my mouth better stick to my ribs. I loved this spaghetti so much for its comfort food quality, that all pretension was thrown out the window. Hopefully that didn't smack a fashion model sunbathing by the pool. So enamored did I become of this dish, that I thought of nominating handsome Scott Conant for hurricane season boyfriend; availed of fresh ingredients, I bet he could whip up something just as good over a sterno in the candlelight. Sorry, Chef Boyardee, though you come in a can, a seasoned hurricane pro aspires to much finer cuisine de aftermath.

(Actually, I'd have nominate Chef Michael Pirolo, who was in the kitchen the night of our sumptuous repast.)

Although Scarpetta serves much more than pasta (the noodles themselves made fresh on the premises, of course), it was this dish that lingered on my tongue's memory. Others I'd love to have an affair with, heck, even put up with tourists in the lobby for, would be the creamy polenta with the fricassee of truffled mushrooms, as well as the braised short ribs. Additional melt-in-your-mouth goodness could easily be found in the duck and foie gras ravioli with a marsala reduction.

And the cocktails. Yes, the cocktails. Go to this place even if you don't want to eat. As far as I know, there's no other bar like this in Miami Beach, mixing up vintage style cocktails that transport you to the streets of Rome wearing a fabulous scarf, big sunglasses and riding a Vespa to meet your intolerably sexy Italian lover. If you like whetting your appetite with drinks a bit on the bitter side, you'll love the San Remo, which is a blissful mix of Carpano Antica, Campari, elderflower liqueur, bourbon, fresh orange juice and fresh lemon sour, served on the rocks. It's like Audrey Hepburn on ice -- sassy and sophisticated with a dash of down-to-earth.

Luckily for us locals, Scarpetta is serving its signature spaghetti and other favorites during Miami Spice until September 30th at a reasonable cost of $35. Don't be intimidated by the lumbering tower and cavernous hallways of this resort property -- somewhere in there is that amazing bowl of spaghetti calling your name. And hey you don't even have to mortgage the house to park the car -- during Miami Spice, valet is only $7 with ticket stub validation.

Photo credit: Yogma on Flickr