Dishing social media: Getting to know Boston, socially

The unofficial capital of New England, The Hub, Beantown, America's Walking City, Olde Towne, City of Champions. However you know Boston, by the magical fruit, killer sports teams or otherwise, the city is full of history, culture and unique retail real estate and there are plenty of ways to stay updated and socially connected. The ICSC New England Idea Exchange is coming up July 16-18 so now is the perfect time to brush up on Boston. Below, find some of my favorites to get the exposé on Boston. Boston Restaurant Knowledge Knowing the restaurant scene in a city you're representing is HUGE no matter what deal you're trying to make. Restaurants play an integral part in driving traffic to areas of the city and to shopping centers. * From the coming soon videos to the Favorite Five Sandwich Shop listing, hot hotel lounges and who has the best froyo, Thrillist (www.thrillist.com/BOS/browse/food) tops the chart for me. * Runner up is Eater Boston (www.boston.eater.com) despite the massive "I Love NY" ad streaming as a pop-up on the Boston homepage. Eater Boston is restaurant/food focused only unlike Thrillist which is a wittier review site covering a wider range of topics. I've heard from many brokers recently that Eater is their new go-to site for educating themselves on the restaurant scene. Eater has social sharing buttons for each article and includes a radar on the bottom of the homepage showing newly opened, newly reviewed and newly closed restaurants. * Next, Boston Restaurant Talk (www.bostonrestaurants.blogspot.com), a blog-style online journal of Boston restaurant news that comes up very high on SEO searches. * Lastly, UrbanDaddy, a slightly more risqué review site typically highlighting a sexy couple on the homepage banner. UrbanDaddy boasts "hyper-relevant content and digital innovation." The site has credible content including a scrolling archive list of hotspots with pictures hard to resist the click. Don't worry, I don't think it will alert your company's IT department when viewed. Boston News Other than the obvious, boston.com, Boston Magazine, The Herald and Improper Bostonian I have found break-out sites like Patch (www.Patch.com), Curbed Boston (www.boston.curbed.com) and Your Town to be extremely helpful when looking for more local knowledge, events and people. The sites are structured by individual towns so you can hone in on the exact area of interest. Retail real estate media sites covering Boston include, NEREJ, The Real Reporter, Citybizlist, Bisnow, Boston SF News and the Boston Business Journal. Boston's Best on Twitter (various categories) @cbsboston @crenewsnetwork @bostonnewsnow @CurbedBoston @BostonGlobe @BBJNewsroom @NECN @BlockAvenue @WickedLocal @hiddenboston @Thrillist @ChrisBrogan @bostondotcom @bostontweet @NEREJ @BeantownDrinks. If you'd like to follow me, I'm @DiPodaski Boston LinkedIn Groups LinkedIn has been a proven method of staying connected with those in the industry and serves as a great tool to see who knows who. Here are some Boston groups that I've found to be great for networking and Q&A (some public, some members only) ICSC Next Generation - Boston, AMA Boston Marketers, Boston Area Retail Real Estate Professionals, NAIOP Mass. Random Social Media Fact 6.46 million LinkedIn passwords were recently stolen and posted on a hacker site, 433 of those were “1234”. Don’t let your accounts get hacked, think of something a little more clever. Diana Podaski is marketing and social media manager for Linear Retail Properties, Burlington, Mass.