What is a Tweetup?

A Tweetup is:

• A gathering of people who use Twitter
• It can be a general geographic Tweetup like a Tweetup of people in Vancouver
• It can be a Tweetup for a cause where Twitter friends organize a get together to do something for the community
• It can be topical such as a Tweetup for martial artists, cyclists or people who are in the social media scene
• It’s about the fact that when we get offline and meet in person it cements relationships and builds community
• An Event that Usually lasts from 1 to 3 hours

A Tweetup is not:

• An event where you pull people in from Twitter to pitch or sell them something
• A seminar event
• A tradeshow or multi-day event
• A general community event like a sports event, lecture etc.(it’s called a Tweetup because it’s people on Twitter connecting in real life)

Who Can Organize a Tweetup?

• Anyone with a Twitter account
• You don’t have to be a social media guru or expert, it’s about community.
• Usually one person will announce a Tweetup but many are involved in the organization and promotion, it’s a community focused.

I have a big event happening already. Can I promote it as a Tweetup?

No. People who come to a Tweetup expect to connect with those who use Twitter as a networking and community tool. This would be misleading if a large portion of the people were not in fact on Twitter, people go to meet their online connections offline.

You can however create a special Tweetup within a larger event. For instance at a race, or something like Dragon Boat Festival you could have a “Tweetup Tent” for a 3 hour period during the main event where Twitter folk meet and mingle. If you’re doing a fundraiser at a pub or lounge, have the Tweetup for a couple hours before the main event, then let people know they can hang around later if they want to network with the rest of the community.

Who made these rules anyway?

Twitter, social media and etiquette attached to it are evolving constantly, this however is accepted practice right now. These answers are a summary of how the concept of a Tweetup is being used within the social media community. The majority of people attending or promoting Tweetups follow these loose guidelines. You can break these rules (or bend them) just realize that you may get a fair bit of negative push-back or even lose good Twitter connections.

Write up done by @shanegibson