Posts Tagged ‘tweetshops’

Posted on June 14, 2009 - by Wayne Sutton

WordPress & Twitter: It takes 2 to make a blog go right at #WordCampRDU

Yesterday, I had the opportunity of speaking at WordCamp RDU about Twitter and WordPress. WordCamp events are focused on the WordPress platform and the first WordCamp was held three years ago in San Francisco. Fast forward three years later in Durham North Carolina, I was excited about seeing NC host a WordCamp and the opportunity to meet Matt Mullenweg @PhotoMatt founder of WordPress. WordCampRDU was organized by Daniel Baldwin (@ldbaldwin) and was held at the School of Education on the campus of North Carolina Central.

This was my second time speaking at a WordCamp event, my first was WordCampCTL in Charlotte, NC in November of 2008 where I was on a promotion/marketing panel. My topic at WordCampRDU was Twitter but I really wanted the audience to not focus on Twitter so much but look at how we use to promote our blogs before twitter, the past, present and future of social media and twitter related plugins for WordPress blogs.

Below is my WordPress & Twitter: “It takes two to make a blog go right” presentation but keep in mind that I talked a lot more than what’s covered in the slides.

After taking a look at the slides and I hope the attendees of my session left with the impression that when I say “it takes two” to make a blog go right, that I’m not actually talking about twitter but the content.

Also here are a few reference links that I used for my presentation:
Jump on the social media bandwagon graphic via Matt Hamm
2010 web graphic via Robert Scoble
Twickie
100+ Remarkably Beautiful Twitter Icons And Buttons
Flavours Icon Set And Cute Tweeters Icon Set
12 Tools To Synchronize WordPress And Twitter
10 Twitter Hacks For Your WordPress Blog

More on the founder of WordPress Matt Mullenweg in another post, as I had the chance to interview him and hang out with Matt after WordCampRDU.

PS. If there is no video it didn’t happen…..

A few of my photos from WordCampRDU:

Posted on May 5, 2009 - by Wayne Sutton

The evolution of Twitter: from Tweetups to Conferences: 5 for 2009 and then some.

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://media140.com

http://www.140conf.com

http://www.thetwitterconference.com

http://twtrcon.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 …..”