Have you hugged your Social Media Strategist, Community Manager, Company Blogger or favorite Internet Guru yet? If not, you should. Today, June 30, was declared Social Media Day by Mashable!

Mashable, the popular web culture site wanted to dedicate a day where all walks of life involved in social media could get together and geek out… I mean celebrate progress. Social media has become an incredible forum to:

• Network.
• Lend a voice to the voiceless.
• Help generate emergency funds after a national disaster occurred.
• Rescue a grad student who Tweeted one word from an Egyptian jail cell, “Arrested.”
• Keep in contact with long-lost friends, colleagues and family members.
• Become a web-celebrity, journalist and/or best-selling author. (In some cases all three.)
• And so much more …

So Why Social Media Day?
It’s simple, communicating with many people online builds fabulous relationships. But nothing beats a little face-to-face time every so often.

Join the Conversation in Person and Find a Social Media Day Meetup Near You!
There are a few options to choose from. You can go to Mashable’s website and look for a Meetup in your area, or Google “Social Media Day Meetup [your city name here]” and see what comes up. At present there are more than 600+ meetups in over 90 countries with thousands of attendees. Here in Tampa Bay we are expecting over 150 social media enthusiasts to show up and celebrate.

Another good way to find out where a local Social Media Day meetup will be in your area is via Twitter by looking up the hashtag #smday. There’s no time like the present, go find your local meetup.

And REMEMBER hug your personal Social Media specialist (even if it’s yourself) before you go!