This is a guest post written by Sharon Shi, an Innovations Associate at SMGx who also enjoys and loves trying new foods.

This past Saturday, my team Congenial Piglets participated in the ING Direct sponsored event, Downtown Dash (@DTDash). Downtown Dash isn’t just your usual city scavenger hunt, but it was a scavenger hunt focused all on social media (i.e. Twitter, FourSquare, Facebook). On the day of the event, teams of 2 were given clues that shot them off to different parts of the city to complete different challenges. In order to receive credit for completing the challenges, teams had to check-in on FourSquare at the location, tweet their check-in, and then tweet a picture of the team at the location, all using the #dtdash hashtag.

Before all that craziness even occurred, Downtown Dash had a Social Engagement Challenge (SEC) where teams competed between August 10 - September 8 to be the most socially influential team of the dash. The winner was based on how many SEC were completed and the amount of traffic teams drove to their profiles. The Congenial Piglets completed all 7 challenges but lacked in page views compared to our competitors but there’s always next year! The SEC included,

1. Checking-in at the ING Cafe and leaving a tip
2. Signing up for Equinox 3-day challenge and checking-in
3. Finding a cafe that serves Metropolis Coffee, check-in, and take a picture with a bag of the coffee
4. Going to the Green City Farmer’s Market and find a prepared food item that uses at least 3 ingredients from the farmer’s market, take a picture, and tweet it on Twitter
5. Create a video describing “The Event of Your Dreams,” post it on YouTube, and tweet on Twitter
6. Check-in at Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen and take a picture and tweet it on Twitter
7. And of course, follow froyo (frozen yogurt) food truck @Culture, check-in at its location, tweet a picture on Twitter

That’s right, your very own Chicago froyo food truck was a challenge and a sponsor of the event! On 2 given days, you had to find the Culture Truck (easily done by following them on Twitter @Culture), check-in at its location on FourSquare, share the check-in on Twitter with the hashtag #DTDash, and tweet a photo in front of the truck. The best part of the challenge was the free froyo! With such a busy schedule, I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to complete the challenge. Luckily, I followed the trucks on Twitter last Wednesday morning and saw they were parked right near my work on State/Lake but we’re only going to be there until 11am or so. I had meetings until 11am, could I still make it? Not letting go of the thought I could still catch the truck, as soon as my meeting was over, a little after 11am, I tweeted the truck and told them I WAS COMING and NOT TO LEAVE! Perhaps a little more dramatic than anticipated. So I scurried down from the 32nd floor of my building and ran to the truck and caught them just as they were ready to scooch along to their next stop. CHALLENGE COMPLETED!

I’m sure not all participants were as frantic as I was. I spoke to the Culture truck recently and they said “it worked out really nicely for us and the participants.” In addition it was great PR for them as everyone tweeted their location and how much they were enjoying their “complimentary cups of the greatest frozen yogurt on the planet.” They also loved seeing everyone’s pictures with the truck and yogurt.

Unfortunately I didn’t see the Culture truck out on the actual day of the event but was still hoping to win their prize which included a private frozen yogurt party for the winner and 10 of their friends. I. was. jealous. Luckily I did win some other fabulous prizes including ticket to the Chicago Fire game on 9/25, gift card to Market, and an hour personal training session with Sko-Fit (@skofit). I’d say I made out pretty well. Until next year!

Connect with Sharon on Twitter @Shartron or to here more about her adventures with Downtown Dash, read her blog at www.shartron.blogspot.com.