nfptweetup

I’m very excited about tomorrow night’s event, as it looks like it could be the biggest yet (with 142 people registered to attend) and hopefully the best.  In all honesty, though, I’d be hard pushed to name the ‘best’, NFPtweetup, or even my favourite, as they’ve all been so different and all good in their own way – partly because we change the format slightly each time, to keep them fresh and interesting, and partly because the people that come each time make each one different.

We put the finishing touches to the agenda this afternoon, confirming what promises to be a really interesting presentation from Yvonne Struthers at RAFBF on the charity’s current 1940 Chronicle campaign, which utilises a number of different Twitter profiles to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and reconstruct it as though it is happening today in real time.  It reminds me very much of the Twitter profiles created by fans of the cult TV show, Mad Men, which is also very relevant to the last session…

A debate, entitled, ‘Fragmenting your brand online or tailoring your messages to your audiences – Are there times when having multiple social media profiles for your organisation makes sense?’

This has been coming onto my radar so much lately in various guises that it seemed ripe to explore in more detail.  If you haven’t already, it’s well worth taking a look at Steve Bridger’s blog post on Saturday which definitely touches on this, and Rob Dyson’s post in response to a post from Reuben Turner (hope you’re still with me?!) on the subject of whether multiple Twitter accounts are a good idea.  I’ve also come across a couple of charities with multiple profiles on Twitter recently, as well as had a several conversations about whether to create a new Facebook or Twitter page for an event or campaign or use your core account and, since we’ll be hearing from RAFBF about one such campaign already tomorrow night, this debate should follow on nicely.  We’re lucky enough to have Steve Bridger on hand to expand on his point of view, as well Rob Dyson from Whizz-Kidz to tell us more about why the charity recently decided to focus on just one Twitter profile yet also opted to create a separate Facebook page for their just-launched Blue Peter Go Cardz appeal, so I think it should be a useful and enjoyable exploration of quite a contentious area and I’m hoping we can get right into the nitty gritty and have fun with it at the same time

So, see you tomorrow, if you’re coming to the event in London, or if you’re following on Twitter and choose to take part in the conversation.

@rachelbeer

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For our final blog post, we hear from Jonathan Waddingham with highlights from past NFPtweetup events.

With the seventh NFPtweetup upon us, you should be well on your way to knowing what to expect. But how did it come about, and what are the highlights you may have missed?

At the risk of navel-gazing, we’ve already done a “story so far” presentation (from November 2009) so you can see that to find out how it all started back in November 2008. But if you look at the first ever collaborative slideshow (we used to get everyone coming to send in a slide on a certain topic) it’s funny how some of the themes are still relevant today:

But that’s no surprise really – if you’re on Twitter then you’re communicating with people and are this involved in communications (to a greater or lesser degree). So you need to know who’s in control, what your message is, and what the goal is. The only thing that’s changed over the last couple of years is that there are more examples of charities doing these things well on Twitter (and other platforms).

This is what I find really interesting about the tweetups – hearing stories from the people who are actually making things happen, and them sharing their advice. There’s no self-promotion or agenda, no question is too simple or stupid, everyone’s very open and honest about their success and failures. And as much as we all like to communicate online, there’s no substitute for meeting people in real life (or IRL if you like) and putting a face to the avatar.

We’re proud at JustGiving to have supported the tweetup for the last two years, as I think so many people have taken away so much from all of the events. And they don’t happen by accident – it takes a lot of time and effort to organise the venue, speakers and agenda. So this time we’re even more excited than normal to support the event at our new office. I only hope it’s big enough for all you NFPtweeters!

But I’ll leave you with probably my favourite collaborative slideshow so far, on “finding your Twitter voice”. I think it’s the hardest thing to crack when you first join Twitter, and in these 18 slides, there are some fantastic examples of people, organisations and charities who manage to communicate their mission, calls to action and their personality in just 140 characters.

Looking forward to seeing everyone later today!

Jonathan Waddingham

@jon_bedford

@JustGiving

Originally posted:

June 10, 2010 on the beautiful world blog

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