Wanna go to @TwestivalPhoenix?
The boom of Twitter has led to the growth of an international event, Twestival. The local TwestivalPhoenix takes place Friday night, September 10 in Tempe and benefits a great cause.
You might be asking yourself what in the heck is a Twestival?
Twestival is a charitable event that grew out of the social networking site Twitter. The first Twestival event Phoenix participated in took place in February, but if you weren’t a part of the Twitterverse back then you might not have heard about it.
Back in February, Twestival Global and all the events held in various cities around the globe all benefited the same charity.
This September 10-13, cities around the globe will hold Twestival Local events benefiting a charity in their community.
St. Mary’s Food Bank is the beneficiary for this year’s TwestivalPhoenix being held at Aloft Tempe Hotel(@alofttempe).
Chris Lee (@chrislee) got involved as the organizer of the local event back in February and took the reins again for the upcoming event.
Lee said the biggest thing about this year’s event surround Twitter’s growth in that time.
“Last time the organizers were sourcing a lot of the donations because a lot of the businesses were not on Twitter,” Lee said. “This time with so many more businesses being on Twitter it was easier to connect with interested businesses. It is great being able to use Twitter to do good.”
St. Mary’s Food Bank was chosen as the beneficiary after the people in the Phoenix Metro voiced their opinion by voting online. Voting, coupled with a little research on the part of the volunteer committee led to the selection.
“Right now hunger is a major issue and St. Mary’s does a lot with the money that is brought to them,” Lee said.
With a title sponsor on board to cover location and food costs, 100% of the money raised from ticket sales, raffle tickets and silent auction items goes to charity.
The first Twestival held in the Valley came together on a quick timeline and was more like a tweet-up. This time around Lee and his volunteers have more raffle prizes and silent auction items and have set a bigger goal of $7,000 for the money they hope to raise. You’ll also get a free drink and food with your ticket purchase.
Some of the top silent auction items are a Suns suite, signed Cardinals gear and tons of restaurant gift certificates.
Lee said the goal is to get a couple hundred people there, so that could be you for a $10 – $30 donation.
“It is going to be a good time,” Lee said. “Twitter events are great because you can connect to people on Twitter and then meet them in real life. It is amazing to circumvent the whole friendship process because if you are on Twitter, when you meet you are already old friends, plus we are able to do good. We are building a sense of community here in Phoenix.”
Lee said the plan is for Twestival events to happen twice a year. The global event benefiting a single charity in February and in September they will do the local format.
If you would like more information on buying tickets for TwestivalPhoenix visit, http://phoenix.twestival.com/. While you’re buying your ticket on the site, check out the latest information on sponsors, the venue and more.
Find @TwestivalPhx on Twitter and connect with Chris Lee @chrisslee or the other volunteer organizers @aussieheather or @blairhatz or @jennycarnie.
And don’t forget to follow me @natsnews on Twitter. And if this is the first you are hearing of this Twitter thing, send me an e-mail (natsnews@azfamily.com) and we’ll get you tweeting today.
See you at TwestivalPhoenix!