Twestival UK

Claire Thompson, Freelance PR Consultant, Waves PR

Loving, loving, loving this video produced in Cornwall covering some of the UK Twestivals. Especially as the backing track is from Sophie Stokes who played at the last Twestival in Cornwall and has the most amazing voice.

Twestival at Media 140

Claire Thompson, freelance PR Consultant, Waves PR

Don’t know how I’d missed this one! Elizabeth Varley talking about Twestival at Media140

Elizabeth Varley @ Media140 from Damien Austin-Walker on Vimeo.

Why Twestival?

Claire Thompson, Freelance PR Consultant, Waves PR

Twestival is a global fundraiser (this year on Thursday, March 25). It’s a terrific case study in social media for social good, bringing people (many of whom may only have met online) offline to work together and raise money for a good cause on a single day. This year’s beneficiary is Concern, an international development charity working in some of the poorest parts of the world, and the money will go directly to their education projects.

There are some awesome stats on the Twestival site about how little it costs them to provide basic education and the impact that even a small amount of money can have.

The benefits of Twestival go way beyond the money generated.  Volunteers extend their skills and contacts. New friendships are made. Old ones are cemented.

It works because it fulfils the question ‘what’s in it for me’ on so many levels.  Volunteers have any number of reasons for being involved. Businesses benefit from low cost exposure from sponsorship and donations. Venues benefit from being full of people who might not have been there before. Attendees benefit from low cost, fun packed entertainment.

They are fundraising events, organised by volunteers, so they vary hugely in size and style from talks and training through to full on back to back bands, from a few people in a pub to 800 people in a London club. In the UK we boast the highest number of events anywhere in the world.

It ‘s not too late to be involved: most places are crying out for extra pairs of hands. Some still need designers. Some need photographers. The odd one or two still need venues. All will happily find a space for new sponsors and good uses for raffle prizes.

And of course, the party’s waiting. You can find your local Twestival, and buy your ticket here: http://twestival.com

Twestival video on Reuters

Claire Thompson, freelance PR consultant, Waves PR

A bit about Twestival on Reuters – good summary:

http://www.reuters.com/news/video/story?videoId=55955767&videoChannel=6