Vine-up!

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Move over Tweet-up; there’s a new IRL meeting in town! And why not? Since Vine opened up the app to android users, they're exploding with fresh activity.

Thrilled to say I attended what could very well be the first Vine-up in my little corner of the world.  Oh, just a handful of us in attendance. Okay by me; this made it easy to converse and exchange ideas.

The app is so simple which makes it difficult. I had to ask someone how to begin making a video! After pressing the little movie camera icon, I couldn't find anything to press to get the video started; where IS that button?



Turns out there isn't one. Put your finger on the pic and Vine takes off! Keep it there for six seconds or try stop motion by lifting your finger up and putting it down again.

The hosts for this vine-up were promoting the shopping center where the Vine-up was held. We all made Vine vids about the center and added the shopping center’s hashtag cinematic creations before posting. Towards the end of the meeting we all reviewed each other’s videos and had some really good laughs! What a fun concept, right? There were prizes too. 
Our hosts also provided beverages (they brought them) and appetizers from one of the local restaurants. Nice!

Some of the folks there were already following each other on Twitter so it made the in real life experience all the more special.

A couple of things I've learned. The android app and the IOS app are not exactly the same. Therefore, friends of android, much of what is already written in blogs and articles on how to use Vine may not apply to you. Suggestion to those who have blogged about Vine prior to the android release; go back and make it clear that you are discussing IOS.

Was trying to figure out how to share a Vine post to Twitter after you've already shared the post only to Vine. For IOS, it’s crystal clear; tap on the three dots under the post and there is a share option. For android, that option isn't there! Sigh. Since I deleted my posts to Twitter that I made yesterday during the Vine-up I’m not able to share them here on the blog at the moment! However, in the meantime, here’s some flax blowing in the wind:



Explore people and have fun with Vine! Lene Lovich sang about new toys in this song over 30 years ago. We don’t play games with your social media strategy! Stop by our website, or say hello on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.   

It's a Small Twitter World, After All.

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Do you go to tweet-ups? I do. Hey, I’m a people person and I like to yadda yadda. For those of you who may not know, Tweet-ups are simply gatherings of people who Tweet. Some good souls like to organize them. Lots of times, they're at a restaurant. And perhaps better yet, sometimes the food and drink is free. But you don't have to be a tweep to go; anyone is welcome. However, if you don’t tweet the likelihood of your hearing about a tweet-up event goes way down.

For me, tweet-ups are fun. It’s great to meet those you’ve been tweeting with “in real life”; on the other hand, it’s an opportunity to meet those that you haven’t "met" on Twitter. This year I've been to four or five of these gatherings; not counting!

But I'd like to discuss one in particular. Back in February, I attended a tweet-up about 27 miles from my home. Many of the folks there were people I had met before at other gatherings. This particular tweet-up was small, maybe 50 to 60 people, held at a restaurant.

After purchasing some liquid refreshment, I chatted with a few folks. Was feeling rather hungry and a long table had been set up in that area of the establishment just for us. I continued to chat with one gent, and invited him to sit down with me. We talked some more, then ordered some food. Meanwhile, the seat to the right of me was now occupied. I said to my new friend on the left, “Let me say hello over there for a moment”.

Turning to the right, I introduced myself. We started talking about that area of Southern California in a broad sense. As the conversation continued, the geography narrowed; shrinking from Orange County to Central Orange County, to a city, and then parts of that city. Imagine both of our surprises when we discovered that we lived around the corner from each other! Sadly, it has taken me close to nine years to meet my neighbor!  And now, six plus months later, if we’re together at a tweet-up talking to someone, we both start blurting out the story.

Indeed, it’s a small world after all. And Twitter is but one medium that has made it smaller.

Post tweet-up. About a week after, we met for a friendly neighborhood walk where we paused twice to show off our homes. Bob* has also cheerfully helped me keep my kitchen stocked with Hass avocados, fresh from his backyard tree. And since then we’ve saved on gas by carpooling to tweet-ups. Thank you Twitter!










* not his real name