Largest Tweetup not a fail whale event

Largest Tweetup – My Thoughts

Hey, it was 4th of July weekend, it was a Friday night, and there was no parking. Still had a turn out of 19 folks that signed in and several more that didn’t. Some of the non tweeting folks opted not to sign in along with some that were new.

The event, hosted by @Rex7 and @Prebynski, was billed as the Largest Tweetup in St. Louis. They were shooting for the Guinness Book of World Records. Let’s just say this event probably didn’t make it. Was it waste? I don’t think so.

When first asked by Punching Kitty I was a little shy about panning this event as a big plus for St. Louis. After a couple of days to process, my take is definitely improved. This event will definitely lead to social networking growth for the local scene.

Any tweetup that doesn’t end with bad vibes adds to the momentum and the interactions.

People are talking about it. Good or bad, it’s conversation that wasn’t happening before. Some folks are even taking sides for or against Rex and Brandon.

Newbies were given a chance to meet and great with some of the more seasoned folks in social networking, at least in St. Louis. People doubled their connections with individuals they’d actually gotten to meet in person. A couple of folks are going to start blogging and now have some new friends to ask for help.

Another venue has been introduced to a tweetup. This is big. Once social networking meetups become part of the everyday conversation, it spreads like wildfire.

Did I come away doting over Rex and Brandon? Heck no; they’re just guys. They bet big and didn’t totally go broke. That’s a win in social networking circles.

Should we be calling them out as hosting a flop? Yeah, sure for a few minutes. They deserve a bit of rib jabbing this go round. Maybe next time they’ll talk less and do more. If we beat them down now though, we don’t add any value.

Rex took time out to share follow up comments with the St. Louis Social Media Report.

Rex and Brandon, guys, let’s agree that in between now and the next event that you two will make some serious inroads into the local social networking groups. Also, I challenge you guys to drop some followers and follows between now and the next time we meet. Go ahead. I promise it won’t hurt.

For the record, I’m tojosan on Twitter.

Rizzo

Zing!

I'm gonna meet the guy on the 16th at the next smcstl event -gotta give him a chance.

share flag

spam
offensive
disagree
off topic

tojosan

Rebuffing Rex on Largest Tweetup
That's what I'd like to title this reply. You make some good points Bill. I honestly appreciate your stopping by.

I do beg to differ on what you call accepting bs. My perspective is that beating the guys till they bleed isn't going to get an improvement, though I've been known to take that approach on occasion. I'm working the small beating combined with asking them to take a step back towards center, by getting involved locally, losing some of the dead weight, and moving forward.

Again, thanks for stopping by. I love a spirited go of things.

Bill Streeter

>>>Furthermore, it's a shame that people who gathered for a fun event now have to explain about not having a record number of people turnout. It's like making fun of the kid who is not popular in high school.<<<

You totally set yourself up for that, would anyone have to explain anything if you had set it up as THE LARGEST TWEETUP EVER? Who's fault is that? And no it's not like making fun of the unpopular kid. It's like taking down an annoying braggart. The whole way you promoted the Tweetup was very off-putting to a lot of people. From that ridiculously terrible video, to the bragging that you had the MOST followers in St. Louis, which is obvious bs.

But thats cool. I guess some people will accept any old bullshit hype if cool as long as you call it a tweetup or something. I'll point out bullshit when I see it.

Amen to anything at a great Irish pub.

I agree totally Rex about the not being there thing. Sadly it makes better headlines to kvetch than find some point to gently recommend improving on.

Thanks for taking up my call, but as you said, let's not take it too seriously. It's not about the tool, or even about the events, it's about people and connections. Those should always be first.

Regards,
Todd

Rex Gradeless

Chris's comment is spot on. My niche group on Twitter started out as the legal community. I know of 2 lawyers on Twitter in St. Louis. I can think of only a handful of other Twitter users from St. Louis who follow me. If someone could figure out how many from St. Louis actually follow me - I would appreciate it.

We made a mistake to think we could amass such a large tweetup on such a short notice without having many local contacts. Those who are arguing other reasons for the low turn out are being disingenuous. All politics are local.

I accept Todd's call to interact more with the local social networking community. This is what Twitter and building communities is all about. In fact, I will be at the next Social Media Club event and would be happy to introduce myself to anyone. (I hear they have great turnouts!)

Furthermore, it's a shame that people who gathered for a fun event now have to explain about not having a record number of people turnout. It's like making fun of the kid who is not popular in high school.

***You simply look like an ass for putting someone down for not having tons of people show up to their event. WE HAD FUN !! Your comments on the event hardly matter if you were not there.

Lastly, do not take Twitter (or life) too seriously. There are much more important things in life. Such as the relationships built at our event!

Chris @ Rizzo Tees

I hesitate to criticize here - ANYTHING happening at McGurk's is a good thing, discussion over!

However, the DM I received from @Rex7, inviting me to the Tweetup, was the first interaction I had EVER had with him. He doesn't really interact with any of his followers. He tweets lots of interesting links, but never really talks with anyone. Go check his tweetstream - the "@" replies are few and far between.

Having a large follower list is not a bad thing, per se (wink wink), but real interaction is a very good thing, IMHO.

Karen Goodman

I wasn't able to make this one, but I think where they went wrong is assuming that bigger is always better. I've had fun at some of the larger tweetups (Royale and Atomic Cowboy events), but I've made better connections at the small to medium sized events.

People I met at those events...including my buddy @tojosan (aka Todd Jordan)...are now counted as friends and not just twitter followers.

DNLee

I was out of town and missed it. I made it to the Tweet up sponsored by @KWMU, @RCPstl and @RACstl a few wks ago. It was nice. Look forward to future tweetups.

@Fetesociety

Largest Tweetup – My Thoughts

Share this:

Trackbacks