If it’s April 16, or rather 4/16 - It’s FourSquare Day, or rather 4sqday.

Bring your phone to this gig. Actually, it’s essential you bring it – it’s your invitation to participate in Foursquare Day, the next big social media party.

Local businesses, mostly eateries and bars, will cash in on the next personal global positioning trend , 4sqday, or Four Square Day.

initiated by a cell phone application of the same name, it allows people to communicate through texts mapping, on where to meet or dine –at a store, a mall, restaurant or a bar – with an event tie-in or just to hang with friends. And like a moving target – the group can move en-mass or simply co-mingle and move about to other venues. People who visit venues repeatedly and more than others in t heir group get designated as “mayors”

However you write it, it spells a trend in face-to-face gatherings. Last year’s Foursquare drew fewer than a million participants. But with people using Twitter and Facebook to detail their every move and activity, 4sqday is expected to grow in venue and consumer participation.

It’s kind of like good-old-fashioned bar-hopping. Except now, the businesses aren’t just passively standing by. They can actively promote their products and services though the same application consumers are using to gather. They can broadcast their 2-4-1 drink deals, freebies or discounts.

Read this article about how Nathan Bonilla-Warford, a Tampa optometrist who is geeky over numbers, came up with the idea of designating 4/16 as 4sqday.

Check out real-time activity and local participating businesses by searching @4sqday #4sqday #4sqdaymiami or #4sqdaysfl on Twitter.com.

-- Follow Cindy Kent on Twitter.com @mindingyourbiz