When @shefinds shared the information curiosity peeked my attention: an IBM tweetup? Hhhhhmmm. Not sure what to expect specially when you receive an email request after registration asking for your full-name as it appears on ID for security check-in purposes. The tweetup was held in big blue’s 12th floor high-rise offices on Madison Avenue. A nicely suited security personnel with somewhat of an English accent (i thought) greets you very nicely, checks your name on the list and sends you through. The tweetup was held at an open conference space with refreshment stations, including a wine, beer and soda station with a cheese and fruit station next to it. @sandy_carter overheard someone in the crowd say “this is the most formal tweetup” laughter ensued while @jowyang pretended to drop his suit jacket.

What is a tweetup? An informal gathering of members in the twittersphere wherein engagement is beyond 140 characters. There is no computing or mobile device required. Pure face-to-face interaction with people following you and their followers, the people you follow and their followers. A vibrant social scene brimming with ideas, innovation, insights or simple laughter and smiles. Then of course there are those twitterati who invite the non-Twitter users to the mix. I extended the invitation to two friends who are non-twitter users. At the end of the tweetup, one of them pledged to actively use their Twitter account which had been dormant upon registration for sometime now. Victory!

Overall, a well-attended and fun tweetup event. Shout out to new friends @shefinds, @shefindsrebekah, @bryanthatcher, @erikmichielsen, @lynnmcfarlane, @tomnixon, @billhunt and @jeneanchapman. If I didn’t meet you and you were at the event please say hi! I’m @mavindigital on Twitter.

Learn more about Sandy Carter

Learn more about Jeremy Owyang

Congratulations @sandy_carter and @jowyang! Let’s do it again!

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