I've had an unusually busy last few days.  On Friday morning I happened to see a Tweet by my friend Morgan Brown that there was an OC Tweetup.  I am fairly new to Twitter and I had no idea whether a Tweetup was an actual or a virtual meeting.  It turns out that it can be both.  Silly me!

I received the Tweet at 9:58. The Tweeup began at 10:00.  There were several OC Tweeple in attendance, so I dashed out of the house and headed for Coffee Bean in Lake Forest.  I was excited to see Loren Nason. Loren was kind enough to help me put together my outside blog Rancho Santa Margarita Homes & Lifestyles during Project Blogger a couple of years ago.

My most significant online competitor in Rancho Santa Margarita, AR Member Linsey Planeta,  was also there.  It was really nice to get to see her in person.

The Tweetup was organized and moderated by Jon Lansner, who writes Lansner on Real Estate - The Real Estate Blog for the Orange County Register.  The idea behind the meetup was to brainstorm on maximizing the benefits of Twitter and social media.  Attendees brought questions about Twitter and Twitter based applications and shared what had worked for them so far.

Here's what I took away from the the #tworco OC Tweeup:

TweetDeck:  There are several options for managing your Tweets.  This one easy.  I didn't have to spend a bunch of time trying to figure it out.  I can organize by groups which makes it much more managable.

BrightKite: A location based social application allows you to see who Tweeting in your area.  You can choose to check in at different locations, or you can remain incognito if so desired.  I think caution should be excercised for safety reasons, but it is an interesting application.

My Drop Card: An application that allows you to send contact information and networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) via SMS.  This application is quick and easy and definitely worth checking out.

The final thing I learned is the ability to create an RSS feed for a Twitter Category / Group. I will now be able to see if anyone Tweets about #tworco...and I will have more than two minutes to be out the door before the meeting starts.

As for the Quid Pro Quo:  It pays to be connected with writers and reporters of Newspapers. I got a Tweet from Jon Lansner of the OC Register this morning asking me if I had a listing he could use in a post.  Yesterday, a beautiful Sunset Photo that I had placed on Flickr was used by The OC Register's Science Dude, Gary Robbins.  I've been told, "I'll scratch your back, if you scratch mine."  I intend to do some scratching.

For real estate agents additional exposure is good on a number of levels.  As bloggers involved in social media, we are in a position that allows us to showcase our neighborhoods and listings in a way that is groundbreaking.  If we have the gJuice flowing our clients will be amazed and impressed by their home's visibility.

I'm excited about Twitter and I'm looking forward to making it part of my marketing strategy for 2009.

How are you using Twitter?  Please feel free to leave a link in the comments if you've written about how you use Twitter.