Momentum of the Muse

So, I did end up going to the Vancouver Twestival. Over 4, 000 CDN was raised in Vancouver, and 250, 000 USD worldwide – so far. There are still 80 cities pending out of 202 cities.

I contributed with my ticket purchase, the purchase of raffle tickets, and sipping on a few tasty cocktails, seeing as Opus was contributing 6% of liquor sales to charity:water as well. I had a great time, won twice in the raffle, and enjoyed my cocktails plenty. How cool is it to couple an awesome night on the town with helping for a great cause?

It was a terrific event – kudos to Miss 604 for running it. I was super impressed with how smoothly everything went, how well put together it was, and had lots of fun.

Can’t wait for the next one!

I just want to talk about a little thing called Twestival, which is coming up this Thursday.

Now, I’ve rambled on about twitter enough. More than enough. And then some. With a healthy dose of a bit more.

Speaking of which – here’s me, on twitter, so give me a follow with an @ if you so please.

Now, Twestival, if you haven’t yet heard, is 175+ cities around the world mobilising through Twitter and hosting events on February 12th. All money raised from these events is going to provide clean drinking water to the 1 in 6 people who do not currently have access to it. I didn’t manage to buy tickets in the first round of sales, blast my procrastinating ways. But, luckily, all my moaning and pouting and disappointment paid off. When the next round went on sale, my man was able to snipe up a pair. He’s not quite the twitter assassin I am, but he’s a badass ninja, sneaking in and snapping up tickets I didn’t even realise were on sale. I am mighty pleased, to say the least.

Aside from my bragging, I just wanted to talk a little bit about this Twestival business. I just think it’s awesome that there’s been such a tremendous amount of support – I mean, 175+ cities worldwide, is phenomenal. Instead of using twitter to bitch about motrin, or talk about what we ate for lunch, people are mobilising, and doing something valid. The site is predominantly the water cooler of the online world. You know, you can flirt with Sue from accounting, console Chris in IT over his latest botched foray in the rhealm of romance, or dish with Glenda from HR about how much sluttier Karen’s skirts have been getting since McHandsome as Hell started in marketing. Except that Sue is a children’s book writer, Chris owns a badass winery in California, and who knows what Glenda does, she’s freaking hilarious and that’s all that matters.

The point is, I love the idea that communication can lead to change. Like there are all these altruistic tentacles reaching around the world, pulling in twitter users, and helping us to make a difference. Grassroots, only wires and modems and other names for technological things because I don’t know that many. Which also proves just how easy Wordpress truly is.

I love the idea that a person, or a group of people, can look at a tool and use it for something else, evolving it into a more dynamic thing.

Where else can we band together and each do something small, to spur on change? How many existing arenas aren’t being used to their full potential?

I recently joined twitter. A little late coming, too. I mean, come on, Britney Spears is already on the damn thing.

Here are some posts to check out if you’re new, curious, or already tweeting away:

• 21 Irresistibly Irresponsible Ways to Tweet With Greater Confidence

• If Twitter is So Great Why Don’t I Get It? 10 Tips for Twitter Beginners

• Trick or Tweet. Top 10 Ways Twitter is Like Halloween

And Darren Rowse from problogger recently started a new blog.

TwiTip focuses on all that is twitter. It only has a few posts up so far, but they are all useful for beginners.

I had decided to try out twitter after reading countless articles about how necessary it is to incorporate social media into your online scope. Others were saying how they used it to leverage their blogs and gained a big readership. So far, I’m not too sure about that, but I have met a few characters and discovered a couple of hilarious blogs. The people on twitter are very helpful, and give advice, answers most of the questions that I tweet.

If you are on twitter or decide to join, please feel free to follow me!

What is everyone else’s experience with, or opinion of twitter?

With blogging, facebook, twitter and other social media sites, the professional and the personal start to merge.

They’re pretty much the water cooler of the internet. I notice bloggers writing post upon post about using social media to leverage your blog or site. They say social media can be a full-time job, and then tout how distracting they can be, but also how important. I’m shocked at how much traffic they get from these sites. Others use it for research, to communicate with like-minded individuals, who are in the same industry, to make business contacts. Some use it for fun; to be social – hence the social media title. I would like to think you could use it for whatever you wanted, simultaneously.

However, I’ve had others disagree with me, saying;

Twitter adds no value to anyone’s life. It’s just a big waste of time. I use it to promote myself professionally, and that’s it.

Now, I have a number of questions on this subject, and if anyone wants to indulge me by answering them, I would be delighted.

Questions ensue…

• Where do you draw the line? What is too personal? In my friends opinion, anything that is not work-related is rather pointless. He maintains this for blogging, and twitter. However, my argument lies in the fact that blogging is a personal medium. That personal, human aspect that can be delivered via impersonal internet is what captures attention. But, again, where is that line?
• Branding yourself as a freelancer, is it necessary to be professional=serious? My favorite bloggers are not at all serious. If all of the sudden, they wrote that “I absolutely must purchase this product!” I would click the link right away. They have that power, and yet I suspect if they wielded it, it would be to sell something utterly ridiculous. Can it be a part of a person’s profession to be un-serious?
• Can you create a clear line of division between the personal and the professional online? Or do you use life experiences to illustrate your points, to drive them home?

I guess it all comes down to personal preference.

But I am very curious to know. Do you feel you have a clean line of division between your professional persona, and your personal one? Or are they one and the same?