The best way to teach social media is to find a topic that a person has a passion for. Adam Cohen of Rosetta spells this out perfectly in a recent (ok- a year ago) blog post.

So I thought to myself, I LOVE food (my waistline will prove it). Why not bring together other passionate foodies (restaurants owners, chefs, caterers and food bloggers) and help them learn even more about how to combine their love of food with social media.

Sure, there’s Twitter and Facebook, but there’s much, much more out there….

Foodspotting: A terrific new application. Find dishes, not just restaurants. Let’s say you’ve just arrived in Maine and are looking for the BEST Lobster Roll. It may be at a roadside shack,a food truck, or (gasp) Red Lobster. Why not go to Foodspotting first, take a look at some pictures (with user-generated “Noms” or Likes) and find yourself the best Lobster Roll in Maine..

FourSquare: Geolocation meets retail. Let’s say you’re a frequent customer at a local restaurant. Use your mobile phone to “check in” at this restaurant. If you’re a regular there, wouldn’t it be nice to be recognized as the “mayor” of the establishment? If you’ve checked in more than anyone else, bingo, you’re the “mayor”, and if you are a smart/savvy restaurateur, you’d reward them with something, right? Starbucks is doing it, Harvard is doing it, and a local establishment here in Boston, Boloco is doing it. And doing it very well actually. They’ve actually turned this into a cause-related marketing campaign to reward the mayor AND a local non-profit.

Video: Bring your food/dining experience to your customer. If they haven’t been to your restaurant yet, why not bring it to them? Create a video, interview your chef, highlight your special of the day. Heck, take a picture of it and upload it to Foodspotting..

So much more to talk about it here, but if you’re a foodie and you live in the Boston area, I’d love to meet a fellow foodie at my May 24th Event

Some of the best social media minds in Boston (and fellow foodies) will be there to guide you through it all. They are: Mike Langford, Jeff Cutler, Justin Levy, Mike Schneider, Aaron Cohen