Social Media Movement at Marist: TweetUp

After much coordination with many wonderful offices at Marist, a date, time and place have been determined for Marist's very first TweetUp, and it's fast approaching!  It will be on Tuesday, April 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the Student Center Room 349.  I'd like to thank Tim Massie, Jim Urso, Dr. Mark Van Dyke, the Office of Undergraduate Admission, and the School of Communication and the Arts for their help and support over the past few weeks on this unique event.  I encourage all members of the Marist College community to attend join us for an informative, yet casual night of pure social media bliss.  Whether you are at the preliminary stages of social media/Twitter exploration, or you are a "Tweeting/blogging/foursquaring" guru, this event will surely stimulate your excitement about the blooming world of social media.  

So what in the world is a TweetUp?

A TweetUp is a new type of networking event that emerged with the increasing popularity and use of Twitter.  The event provides an opportunity for face-to-face interaction between those who follow similar organizations and discuss alike trends on Twitter.  


As I began to discuss this event through tweets to fellow "Marist tweeters," I was stunned by their interest and enthusiasm towards this project that will cause more Marist students, faculty, and staff to increase their social media use, and therefore experience the benefits of a strong online presence. 

For students like Jim Urso and Abbey Scalia, the networking event triggered them to dig deep.  Abbey wrote a wonderful article about the upcoming event on the MaristMy575 online publication.  This same article was also featured on the FRONT PAGE of our college newspaper, The Circle. As I sat down with her for an interview to discuss the event, I was astonished to hear that after conducting some online research, Abbey told me that she thinks this type of event is "revolutionary" on college campuses; she did not find much news about TweetUps taking place elsewhere in the United States.

COOL! I had no idea I was THAT creative! 


Jim Urso gave me some GREAT ideas on ways to publicize the event, and believes that this may be newsworthy material not only for Marist's The Circle, but also for online college publications like USA Today College, College Media Network, or The Chronicle of Higher Education.  This could go big!  He said that he really liked the programming of the event, because it involves networking between Marist Tweeters while also incorporating an information session with student and professional guest speakers. Jim also thought that the creation of a videoblog post on Marist Office Hours would further enhance my social media message to the Marist online community.  Earlier in the week I sat down with him to shoot a videoblog post! (Coming soon!)

Here's the news release I wrote up for the event.  It's also featured on the School of Communication and the Arts homepage! Check it out!

 Coordinating, hosting, and publicizing for this event are allowing me to put my public relations skills to the test.  The project has shaped me into a social media advocate, and demonstrated the amazing community of students, faculty, and staff that are here at Marist.  I am overwhelmed by the encouragement and support I am receiving from classmates and online Twitter followers.  Thanks!