Meet Greta Buccellato | Augmented Reality Hospitality Professional

We had the good fortune of connecting with Greta Buccellato and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Greta, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I find one of my biggest strengths is my flexible mindset, being able to see the potential and utility behind things. I’m not afraid to try an idea either, succeed or fail at it, and try again. It’s just so gratifying when a project is a hit. It really is one of the best feelings in the world to know I made something from just an idea to full physical fruition. Ultimately my success is subjective and looks differently from day to day. Sometimes it looks like a big payday and sometimes it’s just being able to drag myself to an event.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a bartender and the owner of Coded Connections, an augmented reality company here in South Florida. My hospitality career and creative streak led me to start designing digital garnish for my guests in my hometown of Atlanta back in 2021. I began by generating my own qr code as it became really popular with touch less menus post COVID. I directed my codes to a landing page on my website that was designed around that one cocktail or event. I made general birthday and anniversary pages, then I moved on to the augmented reality garnish soon after. I, like many other bartenders, am really passionate about creating new experiences for my guests, and what better way to do that than digitally. In this day and age people always have their phones out and handy so I wanted to tap into that as a way to share and connect with my guests on a deeper and longer lasting level. Today my company has evolved into much more than just bar service. We do branding work, special events and in January 2024, Coded Connections to be a part of the Avenue of the Arts in Fort Lauderdale, adding augmentation to some of the wall art for the festival. It hasn’t always been easy, because there are so many frustrating factors that can go wrong with the execution of the codes not to mention helping the user access the technology. It is however incredibly satisfying when all that work pays off with genuine joy from my guests.
I also do volunteer work with the United States Bartenders guild as the VP position for the Palm Beach chapter. Our national nonprofit does monthly meetings, seminars and community service to educate and empower our local hospitality workers. You should check it out, it’s a pretty awesome group and a great resource for bartenders.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
#1 is La Trova, it is an absolute dynasty of amazing bartenders in the heart of little Havana, we’re definitely going there. We’re doing a daytrip around Wynwood art district to explore their scene and hitting up The Sylvester. We’re going to Fort Lauderdale to find the Green Hat Speakeasy that is locked away for a cocktail by Iker Ibanez, that place is legit. There’s just so much down here. So much natural beauty and so many hidden gems that we could trip around indefinitely and still not see it all.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to thank the Palm Beach and Miami chapters of the United States Bartenders guild as well as the Chilled 100 Media group for the mentorship I’ve received since moving down to South Florida. These are some of the best hospitality professionals I’ve ever known and I’m so happy to be a part of both communities.

Website: https://www.codedconnections.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gretabuccellato/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretabuccellato/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gretabuccellato777

Other: https://linktr.ee/gretabuccellato

Image Credits
Greta Buccellato