A growing number of resort and spa destinations are spreading their wings and reaching a wider customer base via social media. With the help of social networking platforms and niche bloggers, vacation spots are broadening their branding efforts from the sand to the slopes, and connecting with potential patrons they may not have reached through traditional advertising.

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum , where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business. Small businesses stand to increase their local audience and further their market reach through geolocation platforms, which attach real-world locations to mobile phones.

Lon S.

The Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator is held at SXSW to help foster startup development and innovation.

Whether you’re using it on your phone or your desktop, Google Buzz is quickly becoming an interesting and popular way to share content with your Gmail friends.

As you may know, each Friday we do an informal poll to find out what Mashable readers think of a particular topic du jour. This week, since we’re at TED with some of the best and brightest minds working hard to change the world, we thought we should take the Friday Poll on location and find out what TED attendees have to say about this week’s topic

Think you’re such a social media expert that you could tweet for a living?

With over 9 million posts and comments in two days , Google Buzz has stormed the web like a swarm of locusts. An array of strong features, integration with Gmail, and lots of press have turned Buzz into an overnight phenomenon.