Social Media gets Social at Orlando’s First Official ‘Tweet Up’

by Kim Taylor

Last night, Orlando Sentinel Tech Writer Etan Horowitz hosted Orlando’s first Tweet Up – a gathering of local folks who ‘Tweet’ – at Scruffy Murphy’s in College Park.

The informal, no-agenda gathering brought people together from many industries including PR, Real Estate, Interactive Media, Journalism and more.

When I heard about the event a few weeks ago, I knew it would be a good opportunity to meet some folks I’d been “following” on Twitter, but I also thought it’d be a great time to promote myself and Curley & Pynn, by wearing a T-shirt I had custom-made at Zazzle.

At the risk of embarrassing myself I arrived at the Tweet Up, one of 100+ people, wearing this:

Needless to say, I met some great people and had the opportunity to be an ambassador for our firm.

Giving New Meaning to the Word “Networking”

by Roger Pynn

When was the last time you got around a buffet table and people weren’t bemoaning the economy?

Instead of doom and gloom, the chatter yesterday at an event for people refusing to participate in the recession was all about possibilities. Refreshing.

Interestingly, this upbeat discussion came from a group of real “networkers” … the computer network experts at OrLANtech who have refused to participate in the recession, and are instead bringing together groups of their own clients to meet each other and create a new network.

As people grazed on sandwiches and sweets there wasn’t a single comment about “the bailout” or “the stimulus,” but there were plenty of realized opportunities to help each other explore business.

“It is our thought that there exists the potential for great benefit for each of our customers, perhaps simply by them getting to know one another,” said OrLANtech’s Jim Liska, who in his invitation to the “Resist the Recession” event quoted BMI Founder and Chairman Dr. Ivan Misner, who said:

“Don’t let a bad economy be your excuse for failure. Instead, make it your opportunity to succeed. While others are looking at the problems, those of us looking for opportunities will not only get through a bad economy but will prosper.”

Sometimes you forget in the face of adversity that the way out of a hole is up and the folks at OrLANtech provided a ladder at lunch today. Kudos.