If You Charge For It, It Ain't a Tweet-up!
Posted on August 5, 2009
Filed Under Social Networking, Twitter | 39 Comments
Call me a social media purist but one of the best aspects of this new medium is that it fosters free collaboration, information sharing and interaction among participants. I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned from those I’ve met and interacted with on various social media channels. This open spirit is the main reason why large companies, traditional marketing execs and members of the traditional media have a hard time utilizing social media to its maximum potential. The old rules simply do not apply.
I bring this up because the Phoenix PRSA is organizing a meeting of its members. Its charging members to attend and calling it a Tweet-up. Now since when did Tweet-up’s get hijacked like this? Well, for one thing, let me be clear, a Tweet-up can’t be hijacked because any ad-hoc, spontaneous, free, social event organized via Twitter is a Tweet-up. However, in this particular case the name Tweet-up is being hijacked. In my estimation this event surely cannot be called a Tweet-up.
I have nothing against Phoenix PRSA, the organizer of the event or the organization itself. In fact I didn’t even know the organization existed until a few days ago. I say this just to be clear on my intention here. My point is not to go on a rant against them. I’m only commenting on the fact that while there are no spoken rules on what qualifies for a Tweet-up and what doesn’t, I can tell you what it represents to those of us for whom social media has meant more than just the latest band wagon.
So, to me here are the characteristics of a “true” Tweet-up:
- In its truest form a Tweet-up should be free, accessible and relevant to your friends on Twitter
- The more spontaneous the better
- There should be no “member” vs. “non-member” distinction
- Organized in the spirit of being social – (no Amway salespeople please)
Now based on this, the Phoenix PRSA “Tweet-up” does not qualify. This event is essentially an organizational meeting that is being organized and promoted on Twitter. So, call it a member meeting or an end of summer gathering for PRSA well wishers, but please do not call it a Tweet-up!
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39 Responses to “If You Charge For It, It Ain't a Tweet-up!”
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When I hear the term Tweetup, I think of a free, social event, organized via Twitter. I agree with you in thinking that payment required or member-only events shouldn’t be termed Tweetup.
I never knew the rules. Live and learn.
As a proud member of PRSA and a member of its board of directors, I always appreciate a lively conversation about what is happening in the communications industry.
PRSA regularly hosts events, both paid and non-paid for its members. This night time event replaces our regular monthly luncheon. Based on the rate of RSVPs so far, people are not having an issue with the small fee being paid. This fee will cover the costs of food and drink for the attendees at the event. I wasn’t aware that Tweet Up was a trademarked word or that there were such stringent guidelines for what qualifies.
When I hear tweetup …. WTF you’ve never heard of PRSA?
Abbie – its not that there are stringent guidlines around what is and what is not a Tweet-up – but a member meeting for an organization that charges a fee – and is scheduled out weeks in advance – is simply not the common understanding of a Tweet-up. Otherwise a U2 concert is a Tweet-up, a Obama rally is a Tweet-up. While no one is holding a violation ticket it just doesn’t’ look good IMHO. It’s kind of like a dad trying to speak in teen lingo to a 13 year old daughter. Just looks odd. Nothing says he can’t do it, but it just doesn’t connect.
Scott – honestly I’d never heard of PRSA until recently.
Maureen – long time – thanks for commenting!
WesleyTech – thanks for the RT by the way.
Pretty disgusting really. This demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of what social media represents- their membership should be very leery as well the clients of any attendee.
As a member of PRSA who helped think of this idea in the first place, I can say this event is a PRSA Lunch (as we have every month) at night…basically it is REALLY hot outside and we wanted to have our normal lunch at night to get people who are busy during the day and more accessible in the evening. Since we have a formal speakers at the lunches, we decided to make it looser by just having some fun questions – when we heard so many tweeps interested, we added a hashtag and figured we would tweet-up with all our fellow communications buddies during the event. As you can see from the website, we clearly list it as a PRSA Lunch at Night and then as a tweet-up to make it more fun for our big PR twitter fans.
Alison,
From the technical end I truly do understand your point. Again, like I said in an earlier comment, it just sounds like a dad trying too hard to be hip with his 13 year old daughter. Maybe even a bit misleading.
Twitter doesn’t have 13 year olds on it. That was established today in a major report.
And if they do, I don’t think they are working their tails off to get their members and networking friends 1/2 off at a great local joint in Scottsdale.
We aren’t trying to be cool. If you look at the PRSA website, it is clearly listed as a Lunch at Night first and foremost.
Again Alison – I don’t disagree with your point of view. The event simply can not be called a Tweet-up – that’s all regardless of what it’s called first and foremost. Thanks for your comment much appreciated.
It has nothing to do with a 13 year old, it has everything to do with hijacking an international brand for monetary gain. Paid speakers? A tweetup is a place for people on twitter that follow you to meet you, not get lectured. Have a lunch and then a tweetup fine, but one isn’t the other.
I’m actually surprised that a PR Association would even defend this, stop now before you become another ‘Horizon.’
Etiquette fail.
Shailesh, enjoying following you on Twitter. I think it’s all eye-of-the-beholder here. Appreciating your personal definition of a tweetup and others who have commented, I view one as an event – fee or no fee – that uses Twitter to help encourage and organize attendance of like-minded people. For this PRSA event I assume there is discounted food and beverage that a fee helps offset. PRSA is a professional organization with budget limitations like most other orgs and for me (noting I’m a proud member) it makes sense to share the expense.
Fyi, a successful Tweetup example from earlier this year was the Phoenix Suns Tweetup which rallied fan turnout via a Twitter offer of discounted tickets to a specific game. I wrote about it http://bit.ly/o5wE
The problem is that a Tweetup is open to the gen pub, not to a membership, a club, or a group. If Scott Monty had meant for it to be commercial he would have called it FordTweetup.
Tweetups are not exclusive, have your lunch, and then have an open to the public tweetup, but leave your brand out of it.
Tweetups belong to the public, and it should absolutely remain that way.
As a PRSA member and regular attendee of our events, I have to ask – what is the big deal?
I’m going to agree with Ryan here; this is a simple difference of opinions, but I don’t think anyone can judge who is wrong or right. Based on RSVPs, people here in Phoenix clearly don’t have a problem with calling it “Tweet-up.”
Because there are no spoken rules, I think the definition is open for interpretation.
Alison, my 15 yr old has a twitter acct.
I am with Benn, charging for a tweet-up is just against what a tweet-up is. Call it a meeting or lecture if you are charging. Not a tweet-up.
Wow – lots of conversation around this topic. Bottom line, I agree with the fact that if you call something a tweet-up, it’s free and open (usually one seeks a sponsor to cover drinks and food).
I have a feeling that we’re going to see more and more breeches of “social” etiquette as “social” becomes more and more mainstream. Shall be an interesting transition to say the least.
-Aaron
I would suggest that the non-PRSA folks in Phoenix organize a real Tweetup at or near the venue, then casually invite the PRSA crowd over to see what one really is. No need to stir up stuff … educate them.
Two cents.
My suggestion is to have the lunch and learn portion and then adjourn to a less formal Tweetup. I agree the premise of a tweetup pretty much indicates that it should be free.
I agree with so very many on here: Tweetups should be free. If there is a fee to attend, then it’s a conference or a workshop or a dinner or something else.
Want to feed people? Get a sponsor (or ten) to help with the food costs.
Want to promote your business/organization ahead of all others? Foot the bill.
This is the equilavent to a cash bar at a wedding reception. It’s poor etiquette and will not leave a pleasant memory for guests/attendees.
I don’t mind paying for my own food if I am going to a tweet-up just to meet other tweeps just to get to know them. Or for my drinks. But it should all be clear ahead of time.
Calling a paid association event a tweet-up is either misleading and manipulative, or it shows a complete unfamiliarity with the culture of Twitter. I imagine it’s the latter; most PRSA people I’ve met are new to social media. I like Jason’s idea–show ‘em what a tweet-up really is.
I find it telling that so many PRSA members are on twitter, yet are unfamiliar with the most basic standards of the platform and social media in general. Knowing what a tweet-up is and is not considered to be is very basic stuff. This also tells me these “professionals” are behind the communications curve and aren’t doing what they need to do to learn, and then apply emerging communications and media best practices into work they do for their clients. Neither Twitter nor social media are very new concepts at this point in day to day use by businesses and other organizations, so using that particular excuse is pathetic for professionals in an industry that are supposed to advise and represent these same businesses and institutions.
I feel bad for any clients of the above PR firms who might be advised to sponsor and charge for a tweet-up because, you know, the PR adviser thinks it’s just “a difference of opinion.” It might be in the PRSA’s eyes, but not in the public arena. Par example: look at the viral bad PR the PRSA is now getting over this flap. (hint: do a twitter search to see how fast it is spreading). Any firms out there specialize in crises or image management?
As a communications professional myself, I knew I wasn’t a PRSA member for a reason, and the above case study only confirms it. The PRSA gives the rest of us a bad name and are an illustration why PR in general has grown a reputation in recent years for being clueless, out of touch, and all smoke and mirrors. The PRSA needs to adapt and lead or just go get the hell out of the way.
My name is Alison Bailin Batz. I am 28-years-old.
Full transparency: I am a proud member of PRSA and volunteer on their media breakfasts and lunches. I worked with our volunteer team and found a great location for our August LUNCHEON (for which we always charge $25 and up). Due to some great people’s efforts, we got a smoking deal on a space, adult beverages and food. So much so, we wanted to lower the price and shake things up a bit.
Backstory – In February, we moved our luncheon to the evening so that folks busy during the day would have a chance to attend. It was our biggest turnout in several years.
According to polling done by me on Twitter and email, folks wanted another one at night in 2009. So, we figured August would be the perfect month – it’s hot and AWFUL at noon, people have wonderful vacations to talk about and we were eager to tweet out from the event pearls of wisdom, jokes and photos. In fact, we wanted to encourage everyone to do it by adding a hashtag to the event.
So, I AM THE ONE WHO WROTE THE DESCRIPTION FOR THE AUGUST LUNCHEON. The title of the event – as you can see on http://www.phoenixprsa.org/ – is the August PRSA Lunch…at Night.
Now, in order to get folks excited about the event, as well as to get the word out to some other groups we are friendly with such as IABC and the AMA, I ADDED IN THE DESCRITION THAT WE CAN DO IT AS A TWEET-UP TOO.
This seems to be there all the trouble has come from. And heck, I was proud that we were having a lunch CHEAPER than any other one this year.
I called it a tweet-up in the description (again, not in the title) to encourage folks both active on twitter and those who are still getting into it to post freely about the event, post during the event and go crazy tweeting out advice after the event for our colleagues who had parenting, work or vacation obligations. In this 140-character world, I called it a lunch AND tweet-up in my short-and-sweet way to get all people to come together. The event is about inclusion.
My goal was to let people from all ages and walks of communication life know we (the community) want to hear from them – their triumphs, tribulations, advice and more.
I am not about calling anyone out of touch or attacking. I just wanted to get people excited for the August luncheon.
“The event is about inclusion.
My goal was to let people from all ages and walks of communication life know we (the community) want to hear from them – their triumphs, tribulations, advice and more.”
Yes, tweet-ups are all about inclusion. That’s why they are FREE. Charging for a tweet-up DISCLUDES people. PR Lesson: don’t use trendy communications buzzwords like “tweet-up” to “shake things up a bit” unless you know what they mean.
I’m at the National Poetry Slam this week, and this debate reminds me of the sensitivity poets have around the misuse of the term slam. Calling a poetry reading a slam, and deciding you’ll have someone dress as a beatnik snap his fingers, does a disservice to those who are working hard in their communities to run slams, with its specific rules around competition, judging by members of the audience, and (in most cases) an open signup format.
Social media — especially Twitter — is a world in which rules are still evolving, but terminology must be precisely used in order to help orient newcomers. Certainly, I’d surmise that if anyone would be a proponent of precise language, it would be PR folks. Tweetups are understood to be free, organized on a grassroots level, and used for networking. Charging for a meeting put on by an organization with lectures? Well, that’s none of those things.
for some reason, I’m a little more relaxed about this– perhaps it’s the fried clams I had for lunch leaving me a little drowsy (I didn’t Tweet about my lunch, as Twitter was down, natch).
I didn’t realize there were rules for what is called a “Tweetup.” It’s like the silly “what’s a blog” argument all over again. If they want to charge, and people show up, bless ‘em. I might suggest PRSAs try a few more free events, but that doesn’t speak to what to call them.
Let’s take another example. PodCamp (www.podcamp.org) started out as a free event, and many still are free. The Boston event, in part to cut down on no-shows, started charging $50. The PodCamp Foundation, unlike whoever named “Tweetup,” actually does have rules and guidelines, but in this case- they changed the rules.
Relax folks– pressure PRSA to have more free events, but I’m not going to tell them what not to call a Tweetup. Sheesh.
While I think charging for a tweetup is a mistake (Twestival tweetups being a notable exception), I’m wondering about the rules. Spontaneous? So the San Antonio and San Francisco blood donation tweetups, carefully planned and resulting in large numbers of first-time donors, were perversions of the tweetup ethic because they weren’t spontaneous? H&R Block’s tweetups with tax professionals are targets for criticism because they were organized?
By and large, I’m with Doug Haslam on this one. PRSA may have missed an opportunity to attract non-members and put their social media chops on display, but is it really worth all this angst? Have tweetups become sacrosanct in such a short period of time?
Deep breaths, everyone…
How does charging a fee to attend disqualify an event as a tweetup? I think limiting the attendees to “members” of a certain organization misses the mark a bit but who really cares?
A tweetup is a gathering of people who use Twitter. Why can’t there be some structure to it or even limitations? I organized a tweetup here in the Boston area back in April and collected $20 per attendee to cover the catering. Was that wrong?
Interesting stuff by everyone so far. Not sure how much I have to add. After reading through the comments I feel like on one side, tweeter should not be abused for the end gain of your personal business, but if people are taking advantage of twitter for their own personal benefit then why shouldn’t a company. So if they want to call it a “tweetup” then they should be allowed. With this much push back, PRSA will probably refine their methods.
On the other hand, it also feels like a “get a free vacation so we can force a timeshare down your throat.” So I can understand the feeling of manipulation that some twitter faithful would have felt.
Not great twitter etiquette, but if the people will go to your event, why not?
Phil said: “I’m at the National Poetry Slam this week…”
I totally read that as “National Poultry Slam” and the images that conjured up will not be easily forgotten.
(sorry for the hijack, but I thought we all needed a little laugh here…)
Just to be CRYSTAL clear – PRSA is a NON PROFIT organization. We are volunteers. It isn’t a business. We don’t make money.
Shel and Doug, I agree. The last I heard, ours was a free market economy. Twitter is a service that serves many masters, some purely social, some purely commercial and some in-between. If someone is offering a Tweetup for a specific purpose and audience and need to charge for this, those who perceive value from it will attend, those who don’t, won’t.
For those “purists” who are against “controlled” activity and want this free social society, doesn’t trying to control how another user uses or benefits from a service like Twitter go against the very grain of what you are trying to protect?
Please, there are such more important battles to fight.
As with any subculture which ceases to be a niche and is adopted by a far wider audience, Twitter’s unique vernacular was inevitably going to be adopted and used by this larger group, and some of the Twitter “I’ve had an account since 2006″ purists won’t always agree with how it’s used…
This phenomenon is not unique to Twitter. And it’s happened here because Alison et al chose to apply the term “Tweet-Up” in a different way than the “accepted” definition used by the self-appointed defenders of the concept of what Twitter is and represents.
I happen to agree with the notion that a Tweet-Up should generally be free or at most charge a nominal fee to cover some of the organizing costs, but the spontaneous aspect I think has long-since ceased to be a requirement; many are planned out well in advance. But mostly, skewering Alison for daring to use the term in a way you don’t agree with (not to mention saying, “their membership should be very leery as well the clients of any attendee”) is about as petty as it gets.
THAT’s the FAIL here.
I’m going to chime in here for two reasons:
1) My name was already invoked above (by Benn)
2) I coined the term “tweetup,” so I think I should have some say as to how it’s being used. See http://www.wordspy.com/words/tweetup.asp for the details.
Personally, I don’t care if a tweetup is free or includes a cover charge. The point of a tweetup is it’s a face-to-face meeting of two or more people who use Twitter. Period.
Thank you Scott for seeing this for what it is.
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I think this is a perfect opportunity to chuck the word “tweetup” in the rubbish bin, along with “webinar.” I’ve never been fond of either word, so use them as you wish — I probably won’t, regardless.