Three Social Media Steps to Free Sangria at The Pierre Hotel

Calling all social media-philes! If you’re in Manhattan tomorrow, stop by Two E, the bar at The Pierre (on the southeast corner of Central Park) to celebrate Social Media Day. Just stopping by will score you $18 carafes, with five flavors available to you. If you put your social media panache to work, you could get a little more.

Here’s the deal:

1. Somehow social media-ize the event: tweet it, blog it or slap something on your Facebook Wall
2. Print a copy of your newly developed social media content
3. Bring it with you to Two E

And, I have some other tips. Be sure to:

1. Reference @ThePierreNY
2. Use the hashtags #SangriaSocial and #SMDay
3. Tweet this blog post (you can’t blame me for trying!)

The event runs from 6:30 PM to 9 PM at 2 E. 61st St (between 5th Ave and Madison). I’ll be there.

wtf? Why Am I Not on This List?

I tried to embed this video, but it didn’t work. Check it out here.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Have You Smoked a Dirty Rat?

Marvin Samel of Drew Estate explains this extremely rare and exclusive cigar. Head over to Cigar Reader, my other blog, to learn more.

It’s about Blogging

I’m often asked how I can blog about as many topics as I do: travel, cigars, the art market, social media marketing, technology, finance and even reinsurance. The answer is really pretty simple. As much as I enjoy each of these disciplines (and I do), it really isn’t about the subject matter. At the end of the day, I’m a blogger first. I’d rather blog about anything than not be a blogger at all, and the thought of trading it all in for traditional journalism in any of these fields just doesn’t turn me on.

Content’s great … but blogging is where I live.

Davidoff Madison Avenue’s New Cigar Is Coming

Michael Herklots of Davidoff Madison Avenue let me try a prototype of the new cigar he’s developing with Pepin Garcia. To learn more about it, head over to Cigar Reader.

New Theme: Koi (via WordPress.com News)

I’m always excited about new tools from WordPress.

Say hello to Koi, our newest theme. This light and colorful theme provides a beautiful framework for your WordPress.com site with delicate, hand-drawn illustrations and refined typography. The tasteful artwork featured in the header and footer are suggestive of koi, an ornamental fish often considered a symbol of love and friendship. [caption id="attachment_4724" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Example of Koi's layout showing the lovely … Read More

via WordPress.com News

Learn Cigar Blending from the Best

La Aurora’s Jose Blanco explains the ins and outs of cigar blending. For more information on cigars, visit my other blog, Cigar Reader.

St Barths Customs

Long lines, staccato questions and the ever-present threat o detention can make even the most honest of travelers start to sweat. With long, bureaucrat-controlled lines, the potential for frustration reaches incredible levels at customs stations around the world.

You’ll find none of this at the lone airport on St. Barthelemy.

Arriving off-season, of course, helped take the sting out of the customs gauntlet, such as it is, on St. Barths. But, I can’t imagine it being terribly daunting even during the busiest days of the year. The customs agent merely stamped and waved each visitor on.

As my fellow passengers left the terminal, the layer of border security left, too. Before I’d even stepped into the car, he was already leaning against a wall, cigarette in hand.

Priceless.

Disclosure: Eden Rock picked up the tab for this trip, and it would have been impossible to cover this destination otherwise, given the cost. Nonetheless, my opinions are my own – they’re certainly not for sale at any price.

What Every New York Subway Rider Is Thinking

The #fml jokes on this are endless … endless.

[props to @mjassal]

WordPress Gives Us The VIP Treatment, Goes Down On Us Again (via TechCrunch)

The only way to describe this is … ouch. Anyway, I still love WordPress.

Well, that was fun. If you tried to access TechCrunch any time in the last hour or so, you probably noticed that it wasn't working at all. Instead, you were greeted by the overly cheery notice "WordPress.com will be back in a minute!" Had we written that message ourselves, there would have been significantly more profanity. The cause of the downtime is still being determined; we're waiting for more details from WordPress.com, the hosted blogging … Read More

via TechCrunch