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On Tuesday August 3rd, Angela Vithoulkas and her team at the VIVO Café flagship store, 388 George Street, Sydney, hosted an ambitious foursquare event in an attempt to set a world record on the relatively new social media platform of foursquare.

Angela made use of her extensive social media connections to promote the foursquare swarm breakfast over a period of two weeks, and gained the attention and backing of foursquare developer  and CEO Dennis Crowley.

“It was a little nerve wracking setting up this challenge so publicly,” says Angela, “but the response we got online was phenomenal. The real test was this morning though, not really knowing who would come and who wouldn’t.”

Battling wild Sydney weather conditions which could easily have kept people at home, Angela and her team were prepared for any eventuality.

 “I’m very pleased with the results from this morning,” says Angela. “My main aim was to see whether a business could make money by promoting their services out through social media for zero dollars, and especially to see how foursquare could be applied to a retail or hospitality venue.”

Logging 78 unique visitors and 134 check-ins, the event, the first of its kind in the world organised by a café, unlocked the coveted foursquare Swarm Badge before 9am, two hours after the first check-in for the morning.

“This morning wasn’t just about a touchy-feely get together,” says Angela. “I really wanted to show that you can make money for your business by using social media. The ticket price for everyone who came this morning was $15 for coffee and a bacon & egg sandwich. $5 of that ticket price went to a local Sydney charity, the Sydney Community Foundation, and the other $10 was for VIVO.”

“I’m always amazed at how readily people get involved in things, especially through the social media channels,” says Angela. “Foursquare is still in its infancy in Australia and we seem to still be behind the US in adopting it as a platform. But, I wanted to see whether the social media world would get behind it, and also see where the interest came from, whether it was existing customers of VIVO, or whether the interest came from further afield.”

Iggy Pintado, author of the Connection Generation, and arguably one of Australia’s most connected people, joined the event. 

“Today’s VIVOSwarm event showed that with the power of social media connection, ANY small business can leverage their social and business networks to generate awareness, foot traffic, loyalty and revenue,” he said. “Will I tell all my friends about how cool it was to be involved in a Swarm event ? Definitely. Will the goodwill generated from this event entice me back in future and for the next Swarm event? Absolutely.”

Traditionally a street front business, VIVO café has already experienced success through social media, managing to defy the effects of the GFC and keep a steady customer base despite their immediate, and traditional, market shrinking through massive job cuts. The VIVO Swarm event showed that foursquare can be a viable extension of that social media strategy.

About VIVO Cafés

VIVO Cafés are both located on George Street in Sydney’s CBD. Owners Angela and Con Vithoulkas know, after 25 years in the café industry, that they have created their finest work ever with the winning VIVO formula of sensational coffee, fabulous food and exceptional service.

The winner of 6 awards, including City of Sydney Business Award for Outstanding Café of the Year and Outstanding Business of the Year, VIVO Cafés can attribute their success to the drive and business acumen of Con and Angela, herself the winner of the Telstra New South Wales 2007 Women’s Business Owner and described by Madison Magazine as Australia’s “food guru”. Their continued dedication to providing excellence in service, food and coffee sees them brewing more coffees for Sydneysiders, Monday to Friday, than any other CBD outlet. And they intend to continue conquering the world, one coffee at a time!    

www.vivocafe.com.au