(Try planning this kind of fun. Go ahead, good luck)

Tweetups, like Meetups and Networking Events, are always nice to plan. It’s also helpful to be able to pick your venue, plan a menu, craft a guest list, and develop a framework for how the evening should flow in advance. It’s especially helpful to the venue owner in case the numbers attending your event are going to need their own space.

But Tweetups, in their essence, are spontaneous and can’t always be planned. Much like any given day, you never know what’s going to happen…

1. When political protesters in Iraq were getting the word out about places to meet, they couldn’t plan the event. They simply couldn’t risk it.
2. Take last night. The home town was having a “Christmas window” viewing down the main street. Families flocked up and down the street to admire the store owners’ creations. While that was going on, a local company was having a networking event. Those events weren’t going to go on all night yet some of the attendees still wanted to enjoy the night out with friends.

TWEETUP!

A few tweets later and a crew of folks were meeting at a local establishment. Dubbed an “afterweetup” after respect for the local company’s event, the new movement later became an “afteraftertweetup,” when the scene moved to a local Mexican diner for a “nightcap.”

How to Spread the Word About an Unplanned Tweetup

You spread the word on an unplanned tweetup much like you do with a planned tweetup. You just do it much more hastily.

• Use familar hastags on twitter to spread the word
• Tweet often
• Don’t be afraid to use Facebook, texts, emails, and that talk feature on the cell phone too.
• Whatever crowd-gathering measures comes to mind
• Repeat with frequency
• Document with photos, videos, tweets, and posts

Then, most importantly, go have some fun.  Before too long, word gets out about the events and people start to get used to the “planned spontaneity.”

TweetUp HashTags in Northwest Indiana

There are a few hashtags those in The Region use to announce Tweetups

• #nwindiana
• #nwitweetup
• #nwi
• #aftertweetup
• #afteraftertweetup
• #nwitwoker

Keep monitoring tweets with these words. You never know when they’re announcing a tweetup.

How Often Do You Plan a TweetUp?

(photo credit:  Svavar Trausti via Flickr)