Posted on May 5, 2009 - by Wayne Sutton
The evolution of Twitter: from Tweetups to Conferences: 5 for 2009 and then some.
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A few months ago I told some friends that I didn’t want to be known as just a twitter guy. My reasoning was that I do more than just tweet. I understand how to use twitter for journalism, marketing community building, etc., but I also do social media marketing, online video shows, blog setup and event planning. (shameless plug) . Of course all of this was before twitter jumped the shark. This was before Oprah and Ashton Kutcher showed up, and before the mainstream news media organization started seeing the power of twitter.
As someone who has been on twitter since July 14, 2006 (Find when you joined here: http://whendidyoujointwitter.appspot.com), I can say that I’m not surprised to see twitter grab all the attention it has lately. But even I didn’t think it would be this big. The other day I was on FriendFeed and the “unofficial king of Friendfeed,” since we’re in the crowning people kings right now, Robert Scoble, asked a question about five major twitter conferences planned for 2009. I knew about two of them, but here’s the list of all five.
http://training.oreilly.com/twitterbootcamp
http://www.thetwitterconference.com
Here’s Scoble’s Friendfeed discussion.
I’m listed as one of the The Characters/speakers for the http://www.140conf.com in June and from the looks of it the 140conf is going to rock. I can’t wait to meet some of the other characters in real life as well. The other conferences look awesome too, focusing on topics like twitter for business, how to use twitter to listen and respond to customers, twitter and journalism, corporate tweeting strategies and using twitter for marketing.
Now I’m looking at my TweetShops.com site and wishing I would have done more with it. I don’t think it’s too late, as so many people are joining twitter every day, and they need help finding their way (another shameless plug). Regardless, as an early adopter, I’ve seen a lot of old trends become new trends and old tools die to be reborn as something new. http://tweeterboard.com went away and now we have http://wefollow.com.
old – 
new
And as far as tweetups go, I was part of a group that organized one of the largest tweetups ever. We had about 300 people registered on a Thursday night.
The tweetup featured a social media panel, free drinks and food from local sponsors and twitter application announcements from Iconfactory, pici.me, and Beak. Also in attendance was TweetGrid’s own JazzyChad. This is all part of North Carolina’s strong social media and twitter development presence. Read: 5 twitter apps from the Triangle: @idek, @tweetgrid, @easytweets, GeoTweeter &
just launched @getencouraged
Either way, I’m glad to be a part of 140conf and looking at the buzz from the other conferences. As we plan future conferences in Raleigh, we may consider a twitter-focused one.
If you have been on Twitter since 2007, have you ever thought, “If I knew twitter would be this big, I would have done …..”
The evolution of Twitter: from Tweetups to Conferences: 5 for 2009 and then some.ShareRelated posts:
Author: Wayne Sutton
Wayne Sutton, Business Development/Marketing Strategist for TriOut. You can follow Wayne on Twitter, or on Facebook. Wayne can be reached via email at wayne@trioutnc.com
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Business development/marketing strategist for TriOut. Take a look around this site. I have some of informative post for you to enjoy. Leave me a comment if you read one that educates or inspires you. I can be reached via voicemail at 919-809-7328 or email at info at socialwayne dot com.
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May 5, 2009
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Professor Daddy-O said:
I think being “ahead of your time” goes with the territory. I’ve been downloading mp3’s since the mid 90’s. And although I saw napster etc. coming, I didn’t see it in that form.
More from authorAs we develop from the network into the networked, we realize we all make a contribution, no matter how late we make think it is. We’ll monetize if its meant. Real talk.
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May 5, 2009
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Wayne Sutton said:
Professor Daddy-O thanks for the comment
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May 6, 2009
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Steve Broback said:
Might want to mention the pricing or length of the events. There are some extremes here. One day versus three, over a thousand dollars vs less than $100. etc. 140: The Twitter Conference (the first Twitter-specific conference announced) is $250 for 2 days.
Steve Broback’s last blog post..Twitter in Politics: Is It Legitimate or Evil?
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May 20, 2009
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jason said:
i like it
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May 23, 2009
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Jay Berkowitz said:
I wonder if South X Southwest is actually THE Twitter conference? Twitter blew up three years ago at SXSW and the Twitteratti certainly returns in force to Austin!
Thanks for keepin us connected Wayne!
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May 24, 2009
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Richard said:
Sensible ideas. When I see "xyz is following you" I look up xyz’s profile. If I see umpteen thousand follows and followers and 6 updates. I block them. I wonder at all the programs that automate gathering followers and the automatic follow feature on Twitter itself. Seriously, if xyz finds or creates software to automate everything including posts, and urges me to buy the same, and we all automate … who will read anything, … but the robots?
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May 24, 2009
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Jill said:
that would be telling someone how to tweet. If someone wants to swear, likes to swear, and uses it a way of expressing themselves, what to you care, don’t follow them if you don’t like it.
I would hate to see twitter censored. What makes twitter great is that it has such few rules, and it is what people make it.
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May 24, 2009
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Zee Visram said:
This is an incredibly informative article, Wayne. Just excellent for a newbie like me.
Thanks.
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May 24, 2009
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Melissa said:
Good Info
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May 24, 2009
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ketinunkantim said:
I believe, Wayne, that people as yourself have a special mission on Earth upon sharing and being helpfull to others without further needs, nor expectations.
You really do it for free, and this is a remarkable act of fraternity in a world such as violent as it is in this days of us.
Fortunatelly you’ve crossed my way and I do thank God for it.
Blessed be, my friend.
I didn’t comment here before because… I had nothing to add to your sayings and I’m doing it now because I know your generosity deserves my cumpliments.
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May 25, 2009
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brittgow said:
My best twitter tip is to have your social bookmarking application open at the same time – so you can add recommended sites to your bookmarks and tag them straight away. No losing valuable links.
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May 25, 2009
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Corvida said:
Ha! Now that’s a nice one. I thought I was the only one that did this.
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May 25, 2009
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MizAnointed said:
I like this article it has really opened my eyes and understanding to using twitter. I looked at it as being a social network and nothing else, now I see the true value in using twitter and will put into practice the 7 habits. This goes along with the reading I am doing by Franklin Covey The 7 habits of highly effective people and I want to achieve my goals with people who are like minded and goal oriented as well and not just twittering. Now I am no longer a twitterer but a networker as well.
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May 25, 2009
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rowiro said:
Well put, Wayne, I enjoyed your take on Twitter. This is a great set of habits to create and follow. Twittering can be lots of fun (and it sure is for me). Most important to me is to imply the same common sense as used in communicating outside of Twitter. Great Article & Thanks. Robert Rowe @rowiro
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May 25, 2009
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Still Pertinent said:
Sorry. Lost me completely with "save" instead of saves, and other spelling and grammar errors so distracting I could not get to the content.
Please – spell check and grammar check. Sheesh!
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May 29, 2009
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BusinessCenterMarketing said:
I’m a great fan of Hootsuite, quick seamless and easy to use …not long lag times… Can I suggest you add an "e" at the end of it in your post mention?
[I also recommend using, use Twitter web apps like Hootsuit,]
great article and fab links
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June 4, 2009
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youfoundjake said:
Hey Wayne, thanks for the link back to us about creating a short url internally instead of using other services..
Phil Nelson came up with the la-petite-url plugin which works great for what I wanted.
I modified a little code as you can see to return a 301 instead of 302 on the short url. One thing also to mention, is that since I have a 301 redirect on the domain, I can remove the www. from the address and free up 4 characters, which is quite a lot when you are limited to 140 characters by default, unless you are using a supertweet which will give you up to 250 characters..
The next thing to do is add tracking, and maybe an internal short to an external site, but not quite sure that would work since the redirect passes the juice, but again its good for branding..
youfoundjake’s last blog post..Create Your Own Short URL and Keep the Branding to Yourself
This comment was originally posted on Social Wayne
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June 4, 2009
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youfoundjake said:
Hey Wayne, thanks for the link back to us about creating a short url internally instead of using other services..
Phil Nelson came up with the la-petite-url plugin which works great for what I wanted.
I modified a little code as you can see to return a 301 instead of 302 on the short url. One thing also to mention, is that since I have a 301 redirect on the domain, I can remove the http://www. from the address and free up 4 characters, which is quite a lot when you are limited to 140 characters by default, unless you are using a supertweet which will give you up to 250 characters..
The next thing to do is add tracking, and maybe an internal short to an external site, but not quite sure that would work since the redirect passes the juice, but again its good for branding..
youfoundjake’s last blog post..Create Your Own Short URL and Keep the Branding to Yourself
This comment was originally posted on Social Wayne
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May 7, 2009
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Wayne Sutton said:
I’m using backtype connect plugin that adds social comments: http://blog.backtype.com/2009/04/backtype-connect-wordpress-plugin/
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