How to run a Tweetup

A Tweetup is where you arrange a get together for your twitter followers. A must for any business conference using Twitter.

1. Get a venue. Well you have that. Just reserve a part of the hotel bar or exhibition floor at your conference. It needn’t cost any more than you’re already paying.
2. Create a landing page on your website. Doesn’t have to say much more than where, when, why and who.  Link this to a registration form. Tweetups are generally free to attend so you’ll need to vet your registrations. Ensure your Twitter account is obvious and give people the chance to tweet it easily.
3. Promote it. You should have already built a following on Twitter so just start tweeting about it. Send an invite to your connections in Linked In and invite anyone that confirms their attendance at the event. Create a hashtag for the tweetup and use that in the promotion.
4. Organise a few snacks and some free booze. You don’t have to go mad but don’t be tight either. You want people to have a good time and come to the next one. Even better, get it sponsored and then you can throw a party.
5. Get organized. You’ll need to have a list and check people in.  As the face of the tweetup you should welcome everyone.
6. Network. Meet people and make introductions. Get people talking get them networking.
7. Get up and speak. You need to be the face of this. Prepare and deliver a short speech and possibly a video, of course this will be pushing the event. And if you have the budget, you could even have some entertainment.
8. Monitor the success. How many tweets did it generate? How many attended? How many followers did it generate? Did any of these become customers?
9. Why wait for next year? If it was successful why not run these once a quarter? Fancy getting your customers together for a drink once a quarter…

Would love to hear about any tweetups you’ve attended or run. Any more tips?

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