Charlotte HansonON the first Wednesday of each month, local tweeters get together at TweetMarbella to network and socialise. This month more than 70 tweeters attended, including some special visitors from other regions of Spain.
“Tweeters?”, I hear you ask…
For those not in the know, tweeters are users of Twitter, a social networking website with more than 175 million subscribers internationally. Individuals and businesses log on to their homepages at http://www.twitter.com/ and, using 140 characters or less, let the world know what they’re doing. Users can choose to follow interesting people (perhaps people they know, businesses which interest them or celebrities about whom they want to know more), post regular updates, and interact with other tweeters.
Twitter is becoming an important marketing tool for small and medium sized businesses on the Costa del Sol. And the next logical step? TweetUps – get togethers providing an opportunity for local tweeters to meet face to face in an informal environment for a spot of networking, a drink and a chat with friends they’ve made via the site. On the Costa del Sol, we like to call our gathering TweetMarbella!
It’s essentially a social gathering and everyone is welcome. Low key, relaxed and friendly networking is commonplace as business relationships initiated online continue to the next stage in an offline environment. Personally, I go for the social side of things, rather than to promote any business, although I do like to boast at how well my other half is doing in his chosen field – given half the chance! I’ve made many new friends there, and rekindled friendships with some friends and ex-colleagues from way back.
This month we were very excited to meet Mike and Julie Cliffe-Jones who travelled over to the mainland from Lanzarote. Mike (@mikecj) is the author of Beyond Blogging, a fantastic e-book aimed at bloggers wanting to generate an income from their blogs. Steve Hall (@thisisspain) also visited from Torrevieja. He has recently completed a cycle ride around the 92 football league clubs in England and Wales to raise awareness for the 45 million refugees in the world. In addition, we were hugely grateful to sample a selection of yummy cupcakes provided by Cake Couture (@cakecouture), and wash them down with a refreshing glass of wine served in a handy sealed glass (called The Tulip), courtesy of InovaSpain (@inoVawineman). The TweetUp was once again held at Guey bar in Nueva Andalucia, a handy venue which is easily accessible for most.
If you’re a regular tweeter looking to put faces to Twitter profile names, or new to Twitter and wanting to know more (Twitter curious!), then come along to the next TweetMarbella. For more information, search for TweetMarbella on Twitter or Facebook, or email the organiser Nicola Erlich on nicky@1on1consultancy.com
To summarise in a Twitter friendly 140 characters or less – “We look forward to meeting you at the next TweetMarbella. It’s free and it’s fun – what more could you want. See you there!”.
I was really impressed at the tweet up. I have to admit, I’d always thought of them as a bunch of geeks getting together to compare iPads, but the Marbella one was a full-on business networking event! Well worth the travel.
Thanks Mike. We enjoyed meeting you! Lots of non geeks there to socialise as well as to network!