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The Power of Twitter: A Denver Meetup Case Study

OK, here's another post for all of you who are still on the fence about "that silly little chat-thingy called Twitter". I had been going through the motions, and when I went to a conference a couple weeks ago, I saw the potential. Now, after last night after an event called #DenverTweetup... I'm sold. I'm officially taking the position of "You are absolutely crazy if you don't jump on this Twitter bandwagon!"

Here's a Little Story of how last night got started: Over the past couple months, whenever I got followed by someone in/around Denver, I'd send a little welcome greeting talking about the need to get together someday.

The funny thing is -- I had no intention of really doing anything anytime soon because I only had about 12 to 15 Denver area followers at the time, and knowing that when it comes to groups -- 10% attendance is typical and I didn't think 1.2 to 1.5 people (counting myself) would be an interesting enough gathering.

That was my first mistake. I completely ignored the fact that the Twitter world doesn't revolve around me and my Twitter followers. Between me, and all of the other followers in my group, there are hundreds of Denver area Twits. When you factor in all of the Twits in THEIR network, there are THOUSANDS! Next thing I know, Allen - a Denver Wedding Photographer who goes by @TheBigKlosowski - takes the stick and runs with it!

That was 8 days ago. Soon after, he had a handful of responses (including me) saying we were interested, and discussions about when & where started to take place. After a couple of hours and input from about a dozen people, it was settled that we'd meet at Dazzle -- a Jazz Bar in Downtown Denver exactly one week from Allen's Tweet. When Allen called Dazzle, he was guessing 10 people would show up, and they were kind enough to give us a back room to ourselves. (The service was outstanding, BTW! I wish I remembered the name of our server.)

Little did we know that creating a simple hashtag would generate such a buzz! Friends of friends of friends started asking what this "#DenverTweetup" thing was all about. As of last night, there were nearly 300 tweets buzzing around, and another 100 came in during the event.

By the time I got there, it was about 6:10, and there were already about a dozen people hanging out. Funny thing is that even though I hadn't met any of them, I already had an idea of who was who because of the tweets coming through from people already there.

I never got a final count, but I think over 30 people came. Not bad for a week's notice. The funny thing is that everyone was so interested in learning about each other's businesses, that we each probably only got to actually have a conversation with about 20% of the people there!

OK, that's enough for "#denvertweetup part 1". #denvertweetup part 2" will have some more info on how/why I think this is so valuable, and how it applies to us as Real Estate Professionals (or for anyone with a regional niche for that matter.)

PS - I STILL don't know who ordered me the mojito, but thank you! I owe you next time.

Posted by Joel McDonald on 11/19/2008 05:23 PM

Comments (83)

Twitter for Local Networking in the Networking Channel

denver things to do, denver tweetup, twitterlocalnet, denver co meetup, twitter tips

Post is included in group: Twitter

83 Comments on The Power of Twitter: A Denver Meetup Case Study

NOV

2008

I just joined twitter....now I know one more reason why....thanks.

Joel - Great testimonial to Twitter..and that's how I got to your blog post...from your Tweet on Twitter.

Very cool post. I've been on twitter for a little while. Keep it going.

Joel, great blog. Since I have started Email and Internet marketing my business has gone through the roof. I would love to share some ideas. Email me when you get the chance. I would enjoy talking with you. Thanks, Keith

Great post and a great case study in what a few tweets can render! It caught on fire and resulted in a terrific meeting of like-minded folks and an awesome vibe.

Awesome news - encouraging and eye opening.

My fav part ... I didn't think 1.2 to 1.5 people (counting myself) would be an interesting enough gathering.

Hilarious!

@joelrunner - you are just too cool! Funny thing is that I posted a twitpic last night of a mojito Rick made me and that led to a Miami Mojito Tweet-up that will happen on Friday in Miami Beach - doesn't get any cooler than that!

You're doing it Joel - you are making it happen - it's all about engaging and making connections - Congrats!

Thinking I should have ordered a Mojito myself! Will have to at the next DenverTweetup! Must agree that it was great to meet everyone (although I did feel weird to begin with having to say "and what is your twitter name" after being given a "real" name to figure out who people were!)

Larry & Tony -- glad to hear you're giving Twitter a try! Drop by & say "hi" at @joelrunner

Dora Keith & Deb -- thanks for the encouraging words! I'm still new to this blogging & Social Networking thing, but am having a blast so far!

Steve - thanks. For every 10 or 20 times I try, I say something funny. Right when I tell myself "quit trying to be funny Joel. No one gets your humor" -- I get a laugh out of someone. ;-)

Elizabeth - Glad you could make it! I hope to hang out & get to know a little bit more about you at the next one.

Rick & Ines - You are the masters of SM and I can only hope to someday have a blog like you do at Miamism.com. I'm just glad that you're so open to sharing your experiences.

Thanks for the great follow-up article Joel. I was really surprised by how many people showed, I'm guessing in total it was close to 40 by the time people came and went. My only regret was that I wasn't able to stay for the whole thing! Next time I'll be there for the whole night. Now we need to start planning the next one!

By the way, we need to do a shout-out to @AprilRox for picking Dazzle, it was a great venue.

Maybe I should try getting together with some of the Tucson Twits. @TucsonAZ

Thanks for the positive news...I am going to look into this (a fence sitter).

OK... OK... now I am convinced. Thanks for the tip.

From what I am seeing and reading on AR and Twitter, this is going to be very useful for many reasons. This is a great example of what can be done for networking. Good job.

@akronohiohomes BTW........ ; )

I'm sold! We've been contemplating coming aboard, but this story is the straw that broke the camel's back!

Well maybe there is something to twitter, I signed in a couple of weeks ago and haven't been back. I had better go check it out again. Thanks for the ideas. Do you ever feel like you might be spread to thin trying to keep up with all of them?

Great post dood! Shows the power of Twitter and the need to take the online to the face-to-face networking. Next TweetUp I hope I'm in town! If not, have a mojito for me!

Joel, great idea of the coffee met and greet. I am just making head way with facebook and hope to do the same with twitter. @frankrubi.

Nice story - I'm still new to Twiiter and I believe I'm following you, yet I've never seen you on AR before! I still don't understand the hashtag part.

kewl post man. lookin' forward to meeting you in Atlanta (hopefully for REtechSouth)

Joel just joined and still trying to figure this stuff out. But this sounds like fun

Dazzel is the Best Jazz Club in the Rocky Mountain Region and it's in my Neighborhood

Hi Joel - This is a great example of how Twitter can help us expand our local spheres. We'll be doing the same in Las Vegas real soon.

Cool indeed glad your having success with it. Does one become a Twit or a tweet when they join. HAHA. Thanks for sharing with us.

Joel - As you already know, I attended my first "tweetup" last night here in Austin. Great job documenting your event here, and it was good talking to you again today. Take care and have a great week!

Awesome ! Twitter does rock !! Am just starting to get a hang of it.. and the more one becomes acclaimated with it, the more cool it is. This post is a great example of the power of tweets !

I'm REALLY SORRY...BUT SOMEBODY PLEASE EXPLAIN WHAT THE HECK TWITTER IS!!!

Are you telling me that these people were sending Twitter messages even at this live event? I'm assuming you can Twitter on a phone. That just seems funny to me. I have a vision of no one talking at the bar because everyone is busy sending a Twitter message to each other even though they can just walk up and say hello.

That is too cool for school, Joel! Your last post got me off the fence and onto Twitter -- now this one seals the deal. :-)

I've got to learn about twitter, every time I turn around someone mentions it! A great story and an interesting way to connect with people outside of your circle. Thanks.

Hey @joelrunner - what a cool idea and how great that it worked out well. An AR meet-up and now your Denver Twitter Meet-up, what's next??!? ;-)

@acummings

I guess I'll continue to be ignorant, since no one wants to explain TWITTER to me.

Twitter for NitTwits anyways!

Joel, I live in Colorado Springs. I'd like to get a Tweet up going. How do I get started? And would it be named #ColoSpgsTweetup? What does the # sign mean?

Hello Joel, looks like you and the rest of the Denvernites had fun at your twitt night. Cold in NJ with a little snow. Maybe see you @ Winter Park in March, of course snow permitting :)

I've been on the fence about getting started. I've looked at it as "one other thing to get involved in with little time." You're pushing me over the fence though!!! Good post for us that haven't seen the value!!!

Gee, it sounds awesome. I'd love to have a local Tweetup. We just joined a new Northern CA meetup group and it's great.

Allen - Yeah @AprilRox definitely had a good suggestion. I wonder if she knew that Dazzle was on Twitter? (@dazzlejazz)

Robin - Go for it! You could start by starting conversations with others in your area at twitterlocal.net (It looks like there are a ton of tweeps out there. @housechick could probably have a great following of people in the area.

Li Colleen & Bill - Glad to hear you're almost ready to check it out! Let us know when you decide that now is a good time to start, and be sure to give us a link to your twitter profile with another comment on this post.

David - It looks like there are a bunch of people in Akron OH tweeting. Start chatting with them & I bet you'd have an epic tweetup! Be sure to share your successes with us!

Randy - It's definitely a balancing act, but you'll figure out how to fit it in without taking up a bunch of time. I re-blogged a post by Nik_Nik about how to do exactly that.

Brad - Do you think they serve Mojitos at Dazbog? If so, let's get together tomorrow for Breakfast!

Frank - Facebook is great because a lot of people on FB don't "get" twitter & vice-versa. Check out Ping.fm to sindicate all stuff to FB, myspace, linkedin, twitter, etc.

Georgina - Hashtags are simply a way of organizing tweets so you can keep better track of what is going on around a certain subject. For example, If you're at the NAR conference you can follow that phrase on search.twitter.com & get tweets like which panels are worth going to, notable points from speakers, etc. It's as if you were there! All you have to do to start a hashtag is to pick a phrase and add a # (hash) in front of it. People will catch on and do the same.

Man, I've gotta organize a tweetup in my area. Thanks for the inspiration!

Jeff & Lisa - Please forgive me. I'm sorry for taking over an hour to get back to you but my wife doesn't like it when I get on the computer during dinner with the family...

My very first blog post references 5 other posts that also explain the value of using it. You can view that post here. but here are a few more for you to check out.

http://activerain.com/blogsview/730972/How-to-Twitter-Part By Kim Wood

http://activerain.com/blogsview/777293/Dont-be-a-Qwitter-Stick-with-Twitter It also includes a great video by Ryan explaining the value of it.

Bottom line: You can research it all you want, but it simply won't make sense until you just jump in and try it. (Ryan's video explains it better than I could too.)

Good luck.

I'm on Twitter too. That is very cool! Thanks for sharing a Twitter success story!

Joel, thank you. I am twittering a little but mostly lost. Good to know that eventually something will happen.

That's encouraging. I am just starting to catch on to it. So far it has been fun. Who knows where

it might lead.

Matt - Thanks for the Kudos! I'm thinking I'll be in Atlanta for a Stompernet conference in Jan/Feb & hope to meet you then! March 12 is my 10th anniversary, and we're probably taking a trip somewhere in Europe so REtechSouth is unknown. I'm working on making it though!

Ed/Cindy, Jane, John & Charles - thanks for your kind words!

Jason - it's so funny we both had a Tweetup on the same night & that's AWESOME that you picked up a solid lead out of the deal! (Did you hear that people? Jason got a REAL client from meeting the folks he's been twittering with!)

Christopher & Stephanie - Ain't it cool? The best part about it is that it's actually a really FUN form of prospecting!

Tim - There was very little twittering at the event. The tweets that did go on were mostly to let those that couldn't come know what they were missing. Don't knock a tweetup until you try one ;-)

Kerry - We'll all be looking for a post to this forum with your Twitter username. Will we see that tomorrow? ;-)

Ann - yeah. I'm thinking I'm just going to use Twitter to make sure I already know the people I'm going to meet at various conferences!

Stephen - You can call us Tweeps anything you like -- Just don't call us late for dinner.

Marianne - #ColoSpringsTweetup could work. It's as easy as picking a phrase and running with it. People will catch on. I'd make it shorter though since the longer, the less convenient per tweet. Maybe #COSTweetup ? Be sure to use twitterlocal.net to find some locals who would be interested. I guarantee you'll find a TON of tweeps in the area. BTW: The # just makes it a "clickable" phrase (Although it's not clickable on the main Twitter page. Don't know why that is.)

Julie - Let me know when you'll be in CO & if you're going to be South of Denver before heading up to WP. Any Twitterer/AR member is a welcome guest at our home. (Although we'll be travelling a lot of March.)

Sergio - give it 10 minutes a day (don't just send random tweets, but ENGAGE in other people's conversations) and give it 60 days... No less. You'll bre hooked!

Vickie - Pick a date (SOON) and just do it! (Don't worry about finding the best date. With groups, it's impossible to find a "perfect date") I'm looking forward to an update from you that you had a tweetup in the Danville area before the end of November! Here's a list of potential followers. GO GET EM!

Ryan - you too! Don't just say it. DO IT. Do it tomorrow! They will come. Here's your list.

Jen, Maria & Sandy, What are your usernames? Be sure to let us all know.

Also, be sure to follow plenty of others in your area. When it seems appropriate to enter into one of the conversations, just do it. (Remember it's NOT just about sending random tweets. It's about interacting with others in your group.)

HI JOEL!

That's really cool to hear. I just started up on Twitter. I'm in the learning phase, but I'm excited at the possibilities!

Thanks!

Yes, right you are. I have a definite timeline with this client and it seems solid to me. I hope to have my first Twitter sale by the spring!

Hi Joel,

I'm still in the 'trying to figure out how to love it' stage with Twitter. Tell me why (and how) it's become wonderful for you....

Lynn

Lynn,

I'll write another post about it today or tomorrow (part 2), but I don't really know how else to explain it. If the half-dozen links to other very well written posts I've given don't make sense to you, maybe it's just not for you.

Let me just say this: I don't necessarily believe the biggest power of Twitter is in generating new business. It's about building better relationships with your potential clients which will naturally increase conversion rates. Twitter is a vehicle that I believe will do that in a way that no other method can do. (Not email, not phone, and not postcards or thankyou notes.)

NOV

2008

Hi Joel - this really sounds fun. Looking forward to post 2 on the tweetup..

Interesting, I really need to catch up.....I'm just figuring out blogs! lol!

Joel - great post. Is Twitter similar to Facebook and LinkedIn? Do you recommend being on all of these? I have just recently started corresponding on Facebook and have had success with it. I'm guessing Twitter is aimed at connecting with unknown locals whereas Facebook connects you with "friends". Is that a true assessment? Thanks for your help!

Okay, Okay, if I have to Twitter, I will but I've been resisting it so far.

Joel,

very cool....okay, okay...I'll check into it..you sold me!

This is totally cool! The best part of Twitter is that you do meet the public in the cities we live. Sounds like a ton of fun to me. Wish I was there.

I'm a2karen on twitter...I just figured out you are @joelrunner. Your post was great w/photo and big red arrows. Smile.

Oh yea, I love get togethers as well.

Joel -- good stuff -- not that many people in the Myrtle Beach area are on twitter yet -- outside of kids -- www.twitpic.com makes it pretty cool -- thanks for all the tips @EllisJason -- JE ps Mojito's on Tuesday NICE!!

Hi Joel, Great post. Thanks for sharing. Keep posting best.

Best - Sash

OK....I guess I need to venture over to twitter and check it out!

Thanks Joel

Very cool, I've been on twitter a while but haven't explored the possibilities. Thanks for helping to pull me in the direction of changing that.

who is from the Boston area?

That was a great turn our for short notice and encourages me more to figure out Twitter.

Joel,

Great post. I'm curious do you use something like ping.fm to automatically post an update to all your social networking sites when you do enter in an update as to what you're doing or do you manually update each one separate?

Right on Joel and congrats on being featured. I have been trying to tell people that going local is the key to Twitter in real estate. I would love to put together a Tweetup in Bellingham, but I don't think it is quite big enough yet. We only have a fraction of the population of Denver ;)

Ryan - Jason Crouch & I were on the phone yesterday comparing tweetup experiences & I dunno... His event was quite a bit more intimate (about 10 people), and I think that has its advantages too. Although having 30-40 people at the tweetup was fun, we hardly got to really interact with each other. Even so, I bet you're underestimating how many friends of friends in other people's networks would be interested. We had people who drove nearly an hour to come to our tweetup. I bet they'll come ESPECIALLY if you get a buzz going with a #hashtag!

Mark - I do use ping, but not for ALL of my posts. Most of my efforts go into twitter because it's just too much for FB & myspace. There's a lot more "chatter" on Twitter that would just look strange if syndicated. I usually use ping when I have a picture update that I want syndicated across all networks. It's great for that!

Shuki - Here's a fish: http://www.twitterlocal.net/show/boston+ma/10 Here's a fishing pole: www.twitterlocal.net GO GET EM!

Jason Ellis - I dunno. I found a ton of people at http://www.twitterlocal.net/show/myrtle+beach+sc/10 The first one I looked at is a CEO living in Myrtle Beach. Seems like if your tweetup were just you and him, it'd still be worth-while. ;-)

Lisa - I'm still figuring out blogs too. I've only been on AR for a week, but I'm a "jump in with 2 feet" kinda guy. ;-) I've only been on Twitter a few months, but I'm obviously sold on that too.

I just read Carole Provenzale's post about online networking (that she started back when Prodigy was the newest craze). I think it has a lot of paralells with Twitter. Thanks for Sharing Carole!

Joel - that is awesome and great you got to meet the tweeps face to face. I think it a great tool, and another good place to connect our other social networking sites.

Here's a great collection of Twitter Resources posted by Paul Chaney for you to look through.

Interesting post, Joel. I think we're all just beginning to realize how these new technologies will affect our everyday lives both business and personal.

Hey Joel, thanks for the advice. Now I know. I think it'd be great to get one going. Ever venture down to the Springs? You would be most welcomed to our TweetUp.

I actually live in Castle Rock, so I'm not much farther from Springs than I am from Denver. Let me know when you get one together! I'll retweet it to my list. (I know I've got a small handfull of C Springs folks amongst my followers -- although they're mostly Realtors ;-)

@joelrunner - thanks for the description of the #, now it makes more sense

NOV

2008

This was a great story. New technolical breakthroughs in getting a drink. Looking forward to part 2.

This was a great story. New technological breakthroughs in getting a drink. Looking forward to part 2.

NOV

2008

Hey Joel: We've got a date that a couple of us are able to make for a #CSTweet-Up. It's 12/17, @ 5:00 pm, at Salsa Brava on Briargate Parkway. Take the exit from I-25 and go east about a 1-2 miles. On the left at the corner of Chapel Hills and Briargate Parkway. See you then!

Marianne,

It looks like there are a couple dates floating around: The 10th & the 17th. You might want to make sure those that are tweeting their lists have the current date. Here's everything I found about CStweetup.

NOV

2008

Joel I had a blast at the Tweetup. I look forward to seeing you at the next one or over lunch if sooner!

I'd love to meet other DenverTweeters. Direct Message me after following if you want a followback - @balibones.

Yeah Joel, I know. Amy Cavendar and I have been trying to put it together. We started with the 10th, but realized that there was a major conflict with a group we both belong to, so we changed it to the 17th. I think all you'll see now is the 17th. We do have a respondent to the evening and we have made it clear that it's the 17th. Do you think you might be able to join us?

DEC

I've joined twitter and looking forward to getting really into this. Thanks for all your twitter posts.

DEC

Joel, I'm so thankful that you are doing these posts. I'm learning, slowly! Keep 'em coming! Great tips here. These really help all of us that are newer to Twitter! Thanks!

JUN

Great story Joel - Now you should write a post about how we met because of twitter. You followed me, then I checked out you and your website and filled out a form for more info...and now hopefully we'll be doing some business together. You are the second contact I've made on twitter that has become a terrific business contact for me!

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