First came emails, followed by chat rooms, MySpace and Facebook. And when we thought there couldn’t possibly be any other way to waste time, Twitter comes along (we kid; Twitter is awesome!) In our intense, fast-past world, many of us can’t be bothered to type in more than one sentence at a time, which makes Twitter a convenient way to let people know what we are doing at any given time.
While people argue that these online tools keep us disconnected from the outside world, many are using them to come together IRL (that’s In Real Life, for all you newbies) and Twitter is no different. Tweetups are becoming increasingly popular among users and can be a convenient way to organize a quick get-together outside of cyberspace. NASA, for example, recently organized a tweetup, inviting a limited number of their followers to personally watch the Shuttle Atlantis Liftoff in November.
If you’re contemplating creating your own tweetup, here are some tips to help you organize a successful event.
Have a Purpose and a good #
Tweetups really began as small, informal gatherings. Users would tweet “Anyone want to meet at the bar?” and show up, hoping other people would be there as well. These days, tweetups can be just as intense as the Oscars, with all the preparations involved. But before you book Wolfgang Puck to cater, decide on a purpose for your tweetups. Is it to meet your customers? Meet other people in the same business? Introduce a new product or service? Your purpose will help you decide who to invite and determine other details, such as location and activities and of course, your theme. Aside from your theme, think of an appropriate hashtag (#) so you can keep track of the buzz around your event.
It’s All in the Details
As with any event, date, time and place are important. Pick a time and date where you’ll have the most attendees. Make sure the location is somewhere not only appropriate for your event, but accessible to most of your target audience as well. Of course, you’ll want to make sure it’s a place where people can actually tweet while at the event and you may even want to have a projector in place where you can flash what people are tweeting about (another reason to choose a good hashtag!). Think of good ways people can promote themselves – for example, instead of using regular “My Name Is” nametag, have “My Twitter User Name is” tags.
Spread the Word
Of course, you’ll want as many people to attend as possible. Aside from tweeting your invite, don’t forget to disseminate information and send invites via your Facebook Fan or Group page, email, website or even offline by telling clients about your event.
You Receive as Good as You Get
In other words, attend other people’s tweetups as well! In addition to sending out good Twitter karma, you can use this opportunity to network with other like-minded people.
Still twiddling your thumbs about setting up a tweetup? Drop us a line and we’ll be happy to give you more advice or even set-up an event for you! We can take care of all the details, and you can just sit back and relax!
Tags: Self Promotion, Twitter
