Facebook, Twitter, Linked In. Quick, what day celebrates all three of these? No, not National Goof Off Day. And not Canada Day (which is July 1st). Yep, you got it: Social Media Day on June 30, 2010, which was concocted by online magazine, Mashable. Mashable is a magazine website distinctly devoted to technology and social media trends. The #NWITweetup crew gathered together at Pepe's Restaurant for a lunch/networking "tweetup", which is a type of chamber of commerce meeting of Northwest Indiana for those who are heavy into social networking for personal reasons as well as business purposes. Dave Woodson, who is a type of coordinator for the tweetups and runs his own business online at www.davewoodson.com, said, "I've watched my business grow with it. Plain and simple. It was a great, free way to advertise myself by talking about myself essentially."
As much as it is like a chamber of commerce meeting, it's very different from a chamber of commerce as well. Because most people that are at the tweetups follow and keep up with each other on the various social networking sites, there is more of a bond between people at the meetings and a lot of people are actually good friends. Rahsaan Taylor, an attendee of many of the tweetups, said, "It's nice to get my name out there, which is [the direction of the tweetups] should go. Just to be a part of it." And the atmosphere is one that is a little bit, actually, a lot more easy-going than your conventional networking event, which really helps people feel more comfortable and able to share their business and their life with each other.
And, the events really help people to get past just communicating over a virtual interface and exchange it for a traditional face-to-face encounter instead. "This is 
actually my very first tweetup," said Trish Ramirez from InSphere Insurance Solutions. "And, I came to meet the folks I'm seeing on Twitter." This specific tweetup in honor of Social Media Day was a typical one where banter and business cards were being exchanged. Although the size of the tweetups are not extremely large, a lot of people would like to see them grow and expand way beyond what it currently is and even have additional time outside of the tweetups to host workshops and other opportunities to learn about social media and how it can help an individual or business.
If you would like more information about tweetups in Northwest Indiana or would like to contact one of the coordinators, you can go to www.nwitweetup.com.
To see a short video from the event, click here.
