In Chicago, the social media scene sparkles with tweetups, parties and events – year round. So that you can live and learn vicariously, I’ll be covering how social media comes alive for brands and bloggers at events like Sauza’s Chicago Ladies Night In.

Thanks to Beth Rosen of 4 Keys Media, this event’s organizer, for the invitation and the opportunity to cover the event here and on my food, event and travel photography site, thesociallens.com.

Disclosure: As a guest, I received limo transportation to and from the event, food and drinks at the event and Sauza gold and silver to take home. Guests appeared on the live broadcast with Chef Marcela.

Brands and Bloggers Social Media PR Party Recipe 10 Ingredients

1. Make an Irresistible Offer

How would attending a tequila party benefit my readers? I asked this question before I accepted the invitation. Because this is a business-based blog, there isn’t much occasion to mention alcohol of any kind here and in social media updates. When I found out that the event included cooking demonstrations, I – personally – was in. I love to cook and watch professional chefs in action. Now, how to bring in the business angle? That’s how I came up with the PR=Party Review concept. How would adding more details increase your event’s response rate?

2. Book a Celebrity

Chef Marcela Valladolid, host of Food Network’s show, Mexican Made Easy
is a rising star, yet is personable and approachable. Sauza sponsored the event and Chef Marcela’s appearance. Booking a celebrity brings a star quality to your event. Who would you invite?

3. Mix Education with Entertainment

Chef Marcela talked about the tones of tequila, elevating it from an ordinary margarita mix ingredient into a spirit with history, character, taste and purpose. I can’t count the number of people I told about Chef Marcel’s tequila turkey infusion recipe. How can you or your products go from ordinary to remarkable?

4. Make a Go-Getter Guest List

Think about who you would like to attend and cover your event. Who would be on your A-list? How would you find them?

5. Serve fabulous food and drinks

Starting with crunchy deep fried olives, my new favorite appetizer, Chef Marcela introduced her recipes in stages, demonstrated how to make them and answered questions about cooking techniques. How would you demonstrate what you do – and make it interactive?

6. Livestream on Facebook

A dedicated camera crew, and on set lighting throughout the location, took this event’s live stream to a more professional level. Although I invited my network, friends and family to watch online, I’m not sure if anyone did. Still, the concept of a live show on Facebook is really intriguing to me. This is one hot topic we’re talking about with our clients. What kind of show would you host?

7. Deliver Door-to-Door

Limos picked up guests in groups, allowing for time to chat, eliminating the need for a designated driver and insuring that guests would arrive and leave on time. Partnering with a limo company as a sponsor gives them visibility and offsets the transportation costs. What kinds of transportation would you arrange for your guests?

8. Niche Match

One of Sauza’s markets is women, make that women in book groups. Our book group sampled a Sauza drink at our meeting this month. How can you match a niche with your product?

9. Lavish Location

Thanks to Stacey Roney of Beauty on Call for inviting us into her fabulous home. Built by her husband, the home is an elegant modern masterpiece, which was the perfect backdrop for a Ladies Night In celebration. Where would you host your event?

10. Make it Spread-able

First, you need a hashtag, or an identifier that marks social mentions, like #ChiSauzaLadiesNtIn. Photographers will bring their cameras and create sets like this one,
Chicago Ladies Night In with Chef Marcela and Sauza #ChiSauzaLadiesNtIn

Food and entertaining editor Jen Luby of Second City Soiree wrote about the recipes and invited her readers to inject some Mexican flare into their holiday menus. MJ Tam of Chicagonista covered the girlfriend angle while Nicole Yeary Nicole Yeary‘s ladies night in storify coverage blends photography and social media updates into an all-in-one post.
Some #chisauzaladiesntin guests tweeted and others like Amy Hesser posted event updates on Facebook. Community contributions spread the word about the event in progress and posts like this one add post-event dimension.

This post’s image credit: c2010 Barbara Rozgonyi for thesociallens.com from the 2010 brands and bloggers collection.

How did these party recipe ingredients inspire you?