On a perfect summer night in Iowa, more than 70 Twitter users descended upon El Bait Shop (@elbaitshop) in downtown Des Moines.
This tweetup was the first large Twitter event of the summer and the weather couldn’t have been any better. If you hadn’t gathered by now, a tweetup is a meetup of Twitter users, and the Des Moines Twitter community has been organizing these types of events since January 2008. The very first tweetup saw just six users, but numbers have grown steadily with each subsequent gathering.
Nathan T. Wright (@nathantwright), founder at Lava Row, rallied area users with an invitation on Twtvite with a goal of 100 RSVPs. The official count on Twtvite was 70, but many commented that there were most likely 100 users or more on the Bait Shop patio.
While many of the events you’ll see showing up on the TechSentry calendar are very tech-intensive, tweetups are generally more social and laid back. Due to the nature of the participants you’ll often see discussions emerging about technology, startups and plans for world domination, but the most important part of a #dmtweetup is having a good time relaxing with friends.
If you didn’t make it to this event you missed a great chance to meet a very talented group of individuals, but there are sure to be many more tweetups (and events) throughout the year, so start making room on your calendar.
