Tagged with twestival …

Mar 22 2011
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Wheat

Bristwestival: A look at the data over the years

Bristwestival by numbers
http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=bristwestival-110322040752-phpapp01&stripped_title=bristwestival-by-numbers&userName=alterianjames

This Thursday is the annual Twitter-based fundraising event in Bristol. It is part of the global Twestival day of action. Users and non-users alike of the social networking site, Twitter, will gather and be be entertained by local bands and have numerous opportunities to win prizes (Ipad2), raising much-needed funds for the chosen local charity, The Rainbow Trust.
I have taken a look into the social media data around the event using Alterian SM2 and compared the volumes of ‘noise’ that have been made each year. You can see from volume alone that the event is getting bigger and bigger every time. We can also see who is creating the mentions around the event and how bloggers are tagging their Bristwestival content.
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Feb 07 2011
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Wheat

Social Media Week Enrichment Programme – Enrol here

Social Media Week returns and for the UK, predominantly within the confines of London, there is a significant amount of events and activities planned around the next few days. I shall be attending a few events on the Wednesday and Thursday, please do say “Hello”.

I agreed, to some extent, with this post over on the ShinyShiny blog and it is true that such a self-perpetuating scene, with the tools at its disposal, make it easier to spread the word about social media itself than the plight of A.N.Other industry (Here’s looking at you print.) but that isn’t to say that the opportunity is not worthwhile – you just have to make it and yourself work harder.

There will be a LOT of noise and a lot of content in the online streams of Social Media Week (The irony is not lost through this blog post – which shall be shared via Twitter, LinkedIn and more – worry not) How do you get value out of the sheer volume and not be put off by the echo chamber?

In order to make the most gain from this special week, I propose a Social Media Week Enrichment Plan whereby, we highlight the great and lesser spotted blog posts of the week and make recommendations of other Twitter users so that we broaden our online horizons.

Also, seize the opportunity to do something worthwhile with your interest in social media. Next month is the return of Twestival (March 24) and more towns and cities than ever are taking part in the global fundraising event. As a co-roganiser of the Bristol event, I can honestly say it is great fun, a challenge and makes you feel good about being online too much. Make this week of increased social media profile the week you do some social media for social good.

I shall update the two items below throughout the week and welcome your input in the comments section.

Social Media Week Blogroll – I encourage you to read these blog posts and ask that you suggest at least one more to me to add to the list:

Social Business Week

Top Influencers Challenge

Football: Social Network or Big Business

33 Digital: Secrets of Social Media 

Social Media Week Commschat special Here is the transcript from the lively discussion: Transcript

LikeMinds Social Media Week Live Broadcasts

Best practices for creating new content

Social Recruitment Debate

Social CRM – Live Blog

Twitter Recommendation Engine – If you like these Twitter folk, why not try these? 

(@EmLeary @Wadds @JoanneJacobs) Try @MacFack @NickWallen @eWilko

(@Armano @TheBrandBuilder @Mashable) Try @1000heads @TrueDigital or The Duffy Agency

(@JoshFeldber @GemmaWent @Mazi) Try @CraigMcGill, @CharlotteClark @Fergb

(@ScottGould @WisdomLondon @adamvincenzini) Try @ActionLamb @LewisWiltshire @iamluca

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Mar 26 2010
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Wheat

Twestimonials

Bristol Twestival would be nothing without it’s organisers and so it is that I have taken it upon myself to write up a few recommendations as to how and why the Bristol Twestival team are outstanding individuals.

This is not an exercise in sucking up or anything sycophantic. In reality, I have spent very little time with several of these people. Such is the pervasive nature of online communication, Bristwestival was pulled together with few face to face meetings.

Matt Anderson – @PRBristolblog

Making things work and pulling in the right people at the right time. Matt is a motivated and skilled coordinator and always good for a chat.

Dan Martin – @Dan_Martin

The one with the vision to do serious social good with social media and the ability to take on the bulk of the organisation. If you want someone who will drop everything to make a difference for you and the wider community, Dan will do it and then some.

Becky Midgley – @Reeb1981

The bubbly spirit in the team that keeps smiling and encouraging others to push themselves further. Her enthusiasm for the event, but above all, the cause has been fantastic.

Gina Dyer – @GDyer

The girl with the perma-smile, constant energy and packs a mean goody bag. The height of sincerity and the perfect first person to meet at the start of the evening.

Jay Williams – @jaywilliamspr

Always keen to make his connections count and to put everything into doing the absolute best he can for everyone. I’ve had a lot of online contact with Jay and had been keen to meet the man behind the relentless quest to make Twitter count and to have a good time with it. He didn’t disappoint.

Avinash Patil – @niteglow

The shining light amongst us. A social media enthusiast to get anyone involved with Twitter and did he tell you about the aliens?

Sam Downie – @samdownie

Full of ideas and working the radio PR channels to promote the event and providing a crowd eye view of the event on camera.

Thank you to everyone that came out to play. There have been some great stories coming out from the night and the fact we smashed our fundraising target reflects how connected the Bristol Twitter community is and the serendipitous nature of social media.

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Feb 09 2010
3 Comments
Wheat

Online Community – a force for social good

Community has been given a new lease of life online. As soon as you hop on to a network of people you are more than just connected. Community offers a range of elements, from support to strength in numbers.

Too often people can fear the idea of a business community because they think that being active within one will mean revealing too many secrets, especially in a community that contains rival companies. From the offset this can create a strained atmosphere, a stifling of group creativity and also, cliques.

A recent example, allbeit offline, of a barista introducing a dis-loyalty card in London’s trendy (Obligatory prefix) Shoreditch, is testament to businesses uniting together for the greater good.

Like Minds is proving to be a bit of a social change movement, with a lofty aim of generating £100,000 of revenue for the City of Exeter and in doing so proving the often questioned ROI from social media. The conference will bring great benefit to more then just the attendees and in turn will make a great gesture of support to the local business community. Other conferences do nothing or simply make a token gesture of planting a tree to offset carbon emissions.

Coming together for social good is something that social media is uniquely set up for. The boundaries are reduced, the red tape of charity is snipped, and things just get done. Take the Twestival organisation, initially, a near impromptu coming together of Twitter users in a handful of cities hosting a simultaneous putting-faces-to-avatars meetup, doubling up as fun-filled fundraising event. In this its second year, it is a more coordinated affair and because of the exponential growth of smartphones and users of Twitter, it will be a more powerful force for good. Bristol’s Twestival takes place on Thursday 25 March.

I am wary that the role of social media is overplayed in circumstances. Social media is an enabler and nothing more but for charitable and community gain it can certainly get things going.

How do you work within a community and what opportunities has community presented you?

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