Online PR Agency C&M Denies All Responsibility for Twestival Hangovers (Or How We Helped Brightwest Go with a Bang)
Some were there to do business, others just to socialise and meet new friends, but for most attendees of last night’s Twitter-meet Brightwest, it was a little bit of both. The rise of social media has meant a blurring of lines between personal and professional lives, but rather than feeling uncomfortable about it, most of the folks we talked to last night seemed happy enough to be wearing multiple hats and reaping the obvious benefits of doing so.
Like a brain-dating service for geeks and web addicts, Twitter has brought together leagues of like-minded people who otherwise would never have known of each other’s existence – and yesterday’s global Twestival was all about pulling us away from our computers and removing the 140 character limit from our conversations (well it was also about raising money for charity but that was almost happy side-effect – we would have gone anyway I suspect).
It goes without saying that people who Tweet on the whole have something to say, and they crave an audience for their opinions
. Never was this more true than in Brighton (aka silicon beach) with its profusion of creative minds and a standing tradition of web-related forums such as BarCamp and DConstruct, as well as the regular blogger and Flickr meets.
So what happens when you put 100 pontificating geeks into a room together and give them beer? It gets loud. The sheer vociferous enthusiasm of last night’s exchanges was overwhelming and without exception, everyone we talked to had something interesting to say. From photography (yezzer</a>) to writing (<a href="http://twitter.com/miss_scribbler">miss_scribbler) to carbon footprints (divydovy</a>) to online PR tactics (<a href="http://twitter.com/that_ian">that_ian) and even a bit of mild psychoanalysis (@rapella), the nature of the dialogue didn’t seem to matter so much as the ability to articulate one’s passion, whatever that might be.
Apart from the excellent conversation, we were also treated to a game of Twingo (like bingo, but with Twitter avatars instead of numbers), free booze on C&M and some seriously cheesy DJing, which apparently descended into equally cheesy dancing led by rah_rah</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/shortlisted">shortlisted. Having been on the diet coke and ginger beer respectively, the C&M Twestival posse is thankfully hangover free this morning, though judging by the amusing Brightwest aftermath Tweets (see below) it seems we are in the minority.
But getting back to the Online PR angle (there is one, honest)… Twestival was a great demonstration of why we should never forget the ‘social’ in ‘social media’. Twitter isn’t, or at least shouldn’t be, a one-way promotional platform, but is most fruitful when treated as an interactive exchange. Last night reminded us that as long as you say what’s on your mind (whether via the internet or in person) with intelligence and enthusiasm, someone out there will be willing to listen and respond. This applies just as much to brands as to people – so if you’re a company with a message, isn’t it about time you got on board and started Tweeting?
Thanks and Praise…
Huge thanks to @tristanbailey (www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/en) for allowing us to use his photos after a frustrating SD card FAIL on our part.
A big hello to everyone who talked to us last night, including: victoriajane</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/yellowpark">yellowpark, yezzer</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com.that_ian">that_ian, megan_vaz</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/miss_scribbler">miss_scribbler, divydovy</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/rapella">rapella, akacarlos</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/cliveandrews">cliveandrews, madmotive</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/rapella">rapella, rosiefresh</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/kelvinnewman">kelvinnewman, robshepherd</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/willmcinnes">willmcinnes, @ogstar.
Special praise goes to special_noodles</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/rosiefresh">rosiefresh – the Leapfrogg team who made it all happen in under three weeks. Respect.
And some of our favourite post-Brightwest Tweets…
@madmotive: Home after #brightwest. It was absolutly brilliant! Could do that every week and I still not get to chat to everyone as much as we’d like.
@JimCallender: Loving the energy from tonights #brightwest #twestival Wow, who knows where this will go. Great to meet new people and friends. Shanti!
@Shortlisted: I appear to have been run over – oh no, that was just #brightwest
LINKS
http://twitter.com
http://twestival.com
http://brighton.twestival.com
http://www.flickr.com/groups/brightwest/pool
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rapella
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special_noodles
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