Detroit’s Ultimate Social Media Bar

April 20, 2009

Park Bar - Opening Day (Source: Park Bar MySpace Page)There’s a bar that’s “got” the core concepts of social media from the beginning, better than most companies and establishments – but there hasn’t even been a Tweetup there.

American Public Medias’ show “The Story” well-covered a story us downtowners have known for awhile – the magic of the Park Bar, owned by Jerry Balenger.

The place embraces all the tenants of social media; but doesn’t as a part of a contrived strategy but just because it is simply the best thing to do.

How does it do this?

  1. It encourages conversation.  The bar is round, not square, so that you can have a conversation much easier.  I’ve met so many new friends – and had great memories with old ones – in part due to the conducive nature of the layout to conversation.  No awkward leans; and it’s way easier for a group of three or four to have a chat at the bar without getting a table; and that’s really important when meeting new people.
  2. It helps others out.  The story NPR had told, about helping out another local pizza business by buying ALL of it’s inventory it’s first night and then promoting it at THEIR bar, is fundamentally what social media is all about.  Promote each other with reckless abandon, and the results will come back to you.
  3. The Park Bar found a niche and stuck to it.  The Park is a little out of the way, just a block off of Foxtown and a block off of Grand Circus Park, tucked away across from what was once a beautiful building.  But, it, next to Cliff Bells, has carved out a great niche of being great for bringing new people around for AND as a beloved spot for us locals.  It doesn’t try to be Hard Rock; it doesn’t try to be Hockeytown; it is what it is.
  4. It is loyal to it’s community.  You can’t turn on the TV for a non-Detroit sports team, plain and simple.  You can ask, but it’s not going to happen.  It’s community is Detroit, and that’s how it is.

I think the lesson for us all is that none of these social media tenets or ideas are new; they’re very old but wrapped up today in slick ajax and a bubbly font.  In short, the Park Bar has found success using the ideals of social media, and it doesn’t even have a Twitter account.

(Photo Sourced from the Park Bar’s MySpace Page)

Posted by Jeremiah Staes | Have Your Say & Join The One Other Guy | Filed Under Advertising, Business, Podcasting, Social Media, Social Media Fundamentals, blogging