TwestivalTO by motionblur, MichaelNus

Recently I’ve been caught saying that I thought that the Toronto Twitter and social media scene was seemingly starting to get a bit small. That observation came from my noticing that I would attend a tweetup or meetup and I would know 9/10 people in the room. Not that I’m complaining of course since it’s nice to have a “Cheers” feel in one’s network where everybody knows your name. However, as a relative newcomer to the aforementioned scene (I’ve only been here just over a year since returning from New York) I would have to say the highlight of 2010 was meeting so many great new people. It’s what made the social media scene so exciting.

Old and new friends at TwestivalTO
Old and new friends at TwestivalTO photo: Erin Leydon

Rannie and I started Tweetgasm with Casie with the intention of making it the monthly tweetup where you could meet those folks who follow you on Twitter and make new connections. They’ve been very successful thus far but as of this past Monday’s edition of Tweetgasm I found myself in that position again where I pretty much knew everyone in the room with the exception of maybe 4 people who made it there for their first time. Again, not a bad “problem” to have, but I guess I just like meeting new folks and hearing their stories for the first time. I also love introducing old friends to new friends, expanding the network.

Twestival gave the old cobwebs a shaking last night and I met more new people than I could handle. The atmosphere was friendly and people were having a great time. I was overjoyed to not only meet so many new folks but to reconnect with some old friends who I have not seen in a dog’s age and connect them up! What really sets a good meetup apart from the usual is, in my humble opinion, alternate activities under the same roof. It’s generally easier to meet someone new when you have something in common to talk about. For example while at twestival you could walk up to someone and introduce yourself as you would at any tweetup, but there were also other things to do to set the pretext of a new connection.

I drew some Eightshit!

I drew some Eightshit! photo: Motionblur

Last night you could help the Bnotions guys draw some Eightshit (AKA “Eightish” on the app store) avatars, hang with Lydia, Jenna and the Microsoft crew and throw down in a Kinect dancing competition, take in some live acts in the main room or (as many, MANY people did) attend the karaoke contest in the annex room. That was a very popular part of the night, hosted by Nat and Marie and streamed globally to the satellite Twestival events. I got to sing toe to toe with my friends and colleagues, including Sean Ward and Regina Sy with a rousing rendition of Jason Rolland‘s least favourite song, “Don’t Stop Believin.’” Huge thanks to Jason for making it possible last night! You da man.

Here’s Rob Lavigne’s coverage of the Karaoke showdown. I was blown away by the crowd response. You all sounded amazing!

There has got to be a myriad of pictures, video and other media from last night and I am having the devil’s task tracking them all down but it’s worth it. Here are some of the places where you can review what went down last night in case you weren’t there (GASP!) or just wanted to relive it!

 

TwestivalTO, MichaelNus, Holy Trinity of Happiness, Casie Stewart

Photo: CasieStewart.com