I attended yesterday’s #SAMPRB (for those who don’t know, that stands for San Antonio Media, PR and Business) Tweetup at Paloma Blanca. I’d say that, overall, it was a huge success.
Representatives from each faction stood up to talk a little bit about personal branding and how you can use social media, especially microblogging, to improve yours. There was:
- @joeruiz to represent journalists
- @andinavarez to represent the PR folks out there
- and @nanpalmero to represent all of us using microblogging to help us in business
All three had fairly brief talks, just in hopes of giving a brief overview and sparking coversation by the crowd (over 50 were expected–quite a turnout!).
Although the speaking overall might have been slightly confusing for someone who was completely new to microblogging and hoping to learn some of the basics. And the accoustics a little bit difficult–packed restaurant combined with waterfall noise and packed room (okay, I’m just getting old, senile and hard of hearing!) Overall, it was great, especially the follow up conversation later, for learning a few more tricks of the trade from others with different experiences and perspectives.
For instance, I’m a twhirl user. I’ve been using it for a while now and have found that there are aspects about it that make me a bit crazy. But I didn’t know what else to use since it’s the only application that seems to work for those using multiple Twitter accounts. But yesterday I found out that Seesmic Desktop is a great alternative for those using multiple accounts. Can’t wait to try it!
For any newbies who came to yesterday’s Tweetup hoping to learn the basics, please consider attending TweetCampSA which should be chock full of information and extremely helpful for both rookie microbloggers along with seasoned veterans.
Also, Social Media Breakfasts, held each month, are also very informative. I’ve learned SO much at those as well as meeting some great folks.
Overall, I think the best thing about the #SAMPRB Tweetup yesterday was the chance to meet so many people whose tweets I’ve been reading for so long. That’s the true purpose of Tweetups, anyway. Just taking the social aspect to the next level by making it personal! Not to mention meeting even more folks that I wasn’t yet following but now am.
I will also add that I liked the organization of this Tweetup. I think that that added quite a bit to it’s success. I know that traditionally, the Tweetup has been a more spur-of-the-moment type event with folks calling a happy hour in the afternoon to meet and chat over cocktails.
That might have worked for me about ten years ago. But now, as a business owner with a hectic schedule, not to mention being a toddler mom with another one on the way, the whole happy hour thing doesn’t work as well for me as it used to. Although I can arrange the after work event, with some notice, planning and coordination with my husband. I much prefer something planned with plenty of time to schedule around meetings. Especially an event that happens during the work day. That’s why this was great! I also liked knowing what the topic was up front. Sorry! I’m just a major planner. What can I say?! I’m sure I’m not the only one out there!
So kudos to Andi, Donna and Joe for an awesome Tweetup. Keep up the good work! I’ll look forward to the next one!
by Tracy Marlowe
