The Scene: Phoenix

The Action: I'm speaking at the annual event put on by the International Association of Ice Cream Vendors and Distributors (an opportunity afforded me by The Speakers Group - by whom I'm represented)

The Purpose: Talk about how to get started with the social web

A few minutes after speaking I'm taste testing ice cream in the exhibitor's hall. It's like a wine tasting event. Only at wine events you toss a bit of wine. Here, you throw away 7/8 of an ice cream sandwich. (Basically, this is the best job ever, yes. I know.)

The man who calls himself simply, "Ice Cream Man" is in the building. He walks up to me, Curty Wurty Pop in hand, his friend Gooch next to him. "You know, we thought they might be flying in some asshole to teach us about social media," he says, taking a bite from his pop, "we're glad you're not an asshole."

The Ice Cream Man, in addition to being forthright, is one of a new generation of folks reinventing the ice cream industry. I was there to share what I know about the social web. In the process, I got an education on the ice cream industry. (In case you can't tell, I love the work I get to do in the world.)

So what did I learn?

Cool Haus

Before the event I learned about Cool Haus which, according to their site is, "an architecturally inspired ice cream sandwich." Right-o. LA always has the coolest stuff. It's an ice cream truck. Times a billion. With hand-made cookies and super fresh handmade ice cream.

But here's the really good stuff. They tweet their location out to all their followers - all 6,300 of them. They don't have to drive aimlessly around the neighborhood looking for customers. Their customers come to them. In an interview with Daily Trojan, Cool Haus co-founder Natasha Case says, “All mobile food is dependent on Twitter or something like it to get the word out about their product. It’s a great way to build fan loyalty.”

Read the Time article on CoolHaus. Trust me, you've never seen ice cream served like this before. (They're doing it way right.)

Ice Cream Man

Where Cool Haus is on the gourmet, pricey side, The Ice Cream Man has made it his personal mission to give away half a million ice cream cones. Free. In seven years. And he's funny. And he's whipsmart. I look forward to seeing where this new incarnation of the ice cream man goes.

In case you're wondering, this explains why he gives away ice cream - from the FAQ page:

"Q. Why do you give away free ice cream?

A. There are a few reasons: 1. Free ice cream makes people happy, 2. Because I know there's a way I can give away hundreds of thousands of free ice creams, 3. It's the best job in the world (I think), and 4. Hopefully, it'll inspire and motivate people to get out and do stuff, like fulfilling their dreams."

Curty Wurty Pops

Turns out you can't say "popsicle" anymore without capitalizing it - Popsicle owns the word. So the new frozen ice cream-like things on sticks are called "pops," Curty Wurty founder Curtis Dunlap, Jr. informed me. This was news to me. So was the experience of something that isn't even on the market yet. Apple pie and ice cream flavored pops. Blowing your mind good. (Yes, I got one of those t-shirts at their booth. Which was totally blingy and lit with funky florescent lights.)

Did you know it costs approximately five dollars a minute to keep an ice cream truck on the road? It seems to me that the industry could benefit from something like BakerTweet - it pings your followers the moment the bun's ready to come out of the oven.

An alert system that pings you when your favorite mobile food truck is outside of your office building? How about Happy Hour on wheels? 

Yeah, you know, that'd be pretty sweet. 

{A tiny, sweet lil PS. Chris and I put out The Unconventional Guide to the Social Web. It's chock full of social web case studies like this one. Go check it out. And spread the word if'n you love it.}