Gail Nelson
A contingent of BurrellesLuce Twitterers – @valeriesimon, @dfriez, and I – @gailnelson – along with Twitter voyeur Crystal DeGoede – attended a uniquely themed TweetUp last night. Appropriately titled Masquertweet (a mash-up of masquerade and TweetUp), it  was the brainchild of a small cadre of Twitters: @PRCog,  @aerocles and @prdude – who conceived the event to let anonymous and public social media participants mingle without jeopardizing the careers of those who wished to remain nameless. The organizers assembled all the right ingredients. They selected a cool venue (49 Grove in the West Village), created excitement among potential attendees, added a compelling purpose (proceeds benefit the 12for12K charitable cause) and attracted a sponsor (BurrellesLuce – that’s us!) to help underwrite the event.  

The BurrellesLuce marketing team is always seeking effective new ways to connect with our audience, and this was our first TweetUp sponsorship. How did this experiment stack up from a marketing perspective? Through my bleary eyes, after less than six hours sleep, I would say:

• Masquertweet was a perfect fit with our social media program. Most of the “Burrelleans” who are active in social media – and we have quite a few thanks to the social media policy we put in place about six months ago – endeavor to develop online social media connections into offline relationships. It makes business sense. It makes personal branding sense. And it’s just plain fun.
• The price was reasonable. We donated $1,000, plus an HPMini and three copies of Shel Israel’s soon-to-be published book, Twitterville. And we invested $28 in a selection of masks for our attendees.
• We gained positive exposure to a key audience. With the write-up on the Masquertweet website, the positive online tweets and stories about it over the past week, plus the chance to meet in person the folks who use or influence the purchase of our services, this event aligned with our business goals.
• We feel very good about having helped a great cause. Masquertweet would have happened – and some of BurrellesLuce folks would have attended – whether or not we sponsored the event. But our contribution means that more dollars will make it into the coffers of Eye Care for Kids, the 12for12k beneficiary for the month of July. And we think the raffle prizes helped to build attendee interest.

For me personally, the evening was a blast. I met @GinaLaGuardia, a writer and a major force behind 12for12k; @DeenaEsq, a costume design major turned web 2.0 lawyer who dressed for the event as “blind justice”; @Rachel Wells, a fabulous young PR pro recently with Manning Savage and Lee; Maria Perez aka @ProfNet; and so many more PR people, writers, and unexpected folks – such as the X-rated Twitterer who put together the fabulous Masquertweet music and blogger Costa Tsiokos (@popstat), the winner of our HP Mini raffle.

Have you attended a TweetUp? What are your thoughts about sponsorship?

P.S. If you’d like to learn a bit more about taking online relationships offline, please read our white paper “From Twitterviews to Tweetups: Putting the Social in Media.”