The MLB Giants opened a social media café -- called @Café -- at AT&T Park on Monday. Located behind the centerfield bleachers, the first-of-its-kind social media HQs will serve as a gathering spot for fans who want to follow chatter about the team, players and all things Giants and MLB. Inside the space, fans will find a 12-foot-by-4-foot video wall displaying Giants social chatter, including trending Tweets, Instagram photos and results from Facebook polls and check-ins. Adjacent to the wall are two 50-inch LCD screens that will carry both batting practice and the game live. The café will include a full-service coffee and espresso bar, featuring Peet's Coffee and Tea (Giants). In S.F., Jeff Elder noted there also is a "phone-charging station" and "powerful wi-fi" in the café. Giants Social Media Dir Bryan Srabian said that the idea is to "let fans who follow the team on social media get a little face to face." He said, "Social media is huge for us. And this place gives it a home the fans can visit." Srabian's social media team uses a "Panda-sized touch-screen for surfing Tweetdeck, where they are ever watchful for the quips and pics from fans that the team can curate." The team "finds tweets to retweet and curate onto the @Cafe's big display screen." Other staff members "surf smaller screens to find the Instagrams that go up on the park's scoreboard, and to moderate other accounts." Srabian: "This was my dream" (SFGATE.com, 6/19).
