by Deborah Wroe

I had cause to use the hash tag #sonotwhatTwitterisfor the other day after one of my search feeds on Tweetdeck was full of diatribe, accounts clearly set up just to slag off a person or a place. I stand by the fact that that it is ‘so not what Twitter is for’, and for that matter Facebook, which also has groups set up just to insult somebody or some thing. And there have been widely reported incidents of cyber bullying, stalking and general abusive comments about people or brands on Facebook. Anyway I digress, this blog is a celebration of the good that social media can do.

Using social media for social good is one of the straplines around Twestival, the global grassroots fundraising initiative. On a single day, 24 March 2011, 150+ towns and cities all over the globe held events to raise money for local causes. Twestival crowdsources volunteers via Twitter to get teams together and plan local offline events, often without meeting face to face until the event itself. This year Oldham took place for the first time. I was regional co-ordinator for Australia and New Zealand for Twestival Global in 2010 (I was living there at the time) and decided that Oldham, with its rising number of social media users, should get in on the action and take part in this amazing global event. And I am glad we did; as well as the money raised for our nominated charity Oldham Mountain Rescue, we got great PR for the charity, got them on Twitter and through a team effort crowdsourced local business support for both donations and attendance at our two events. Twestival Oldham really brought together the local business community across Oldham, Tameside, and the surrounding areas.

#NowthatiswhatTwitterisfor

By Liz Lancashire

Oldham's very first Twestival is taking place in the town on Thursday 24th March.

In the space of two years, Twestival has grown from a one-off event in London to a global gathering of 160 cities (and one town!). So we want the inaugural Twestival Oldham to show off the town at its best. We have a strong, inclusive community in the borough with a history of charitable giving to those in need, and we have a very active bunch of social media lurvers! Oldham has struggled to shake off past images of whippets and pies and it has suffered from enough negative press for any town to deal with in a long time, so now we should get together en masse to show the more progressive side of the town!

If you're a Twitter regular then you need to be at Oldham's first Tweet-up!  And if you're a newbie at Twitter, come along to experience the more 'social' side of social media.  Twestival perfectly highlights the ethics of Twitter, being social and giving back. And there will be plenty of people there happy to talk social media, including us at Owl.

There are two events happening, Twestival Sunlight is for families and takes place from 4-6pm.  There will be dance, music, jewellery and cookery workshops, face painting, and furry star appearances and takes place at Earl Dance Centre.

The evening event, Twestival After Dark is at Oldham Athletic and will be hosted by Latic's warm up chappy, Broady.  There are lots and lots of prizes, including a signed book from RTS's presenter of the year, Prof Brian Cox!  The goody bag and the free pizza just about cancels out the cost of entry, and on top of all this, 100% of the proceeds raised go to Oldham Mountain Rescue.

If you want to win prizes, have fun, raise money for OMRT, and say that you were at Oldham's very first Twestival, book tickets now.

By Deborah Wroe

We at Owl are gearing up for Oldham's first tweet-up, Twestival Oldham.

On Thursday 24 March, Oldham will be one of 160+ towns and cities all over the world hosting unique events with 100% of the proceeds going to local causes. Twestival (Twitter Festival) was originally born out of Twitter, with the first event held in London in 2009 when a small group of tweeters got together to raise money for charity.  Now Twestival has grown to global proportions and we are delighted that Oldham is on the Twestival map.

We were the first Twestival to nominate our charity, and are keen to make us much money as possible for the very worthwhile Oldham Mountain Rescue.
 
Proceedings will begin with Sunlight Twestival in the afternoon, at Earl Dance Centre in Earl Mill at 4pm to 6pm, to enable children to attend after school.  Activities will include dance lessons and demos, cookery demonstrations, face painting, jewellery making and visits from some local furry mascots with photo opportunities.
 
Twestival After Dark will be held from 6pm until 9pm at Oldham Athletics Corner Flag Suite with more fun for the grown-ups. Guests can enjoy a raffle, goodie bags, an auction, and a local quiz (Twiz!), all compered by Oldham Athletics warm-up guy, Broady. 

All the businesses involved in Twestival give their time and services for free, in return for social media publicity, and all are more than happy to support the excellent work of our nominated charity, Oldham Mountain Rescue. This is Oldham’s first tweet-up and will give local Tweeters the opportunity to meet face to face.

To book tickets to Twestival Oldham go to http://oldham.twestival.com/
 
For those that can’t attend either event, but still wish to support the cause we have a Just Giving page http://www.justgiving.com/Twestival-Oldham
 
To keep up to date with the events follow us on Twitter twitter.com/twestivaloldham or like us on Facebook at facebook.com/twestivaloldham
 
Along with Owl Marketing, other local companies so far that have volunteered their time and resources are:- Oldham Athletic, Earl Dance Centre, The Big Event Company, Dominos Pizza, Brazilian Soccer School, Street College, Oldham Golf Club, Oldham Rugby League, Rainbow Delicious Bakery, Urban Haze, Chefology at The Golden Fleece, Pamper & Pose, Itsa Mistry Design Studios, Mountain Feet, Emma Bakes Cupcakes, 168 Technology, Hay Tarn Wills, Stuart Coleman Photography, Urban Haze, JW Lees & Tracy Nails.

There is still time to support the event by providing services or items for the goodie bags, raffle and the auction, please contact deborah@owl-marketing.co.uk