Gatorworks

Meet the twitter community, learn about social media, celebrate and help raise money in a world-wide initiative to save lives.

Press Release-For immediate release

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On Thursday, February 12, 2009, for 24 hours, cities around the world will be hosting “Twestivals”, volunteer-run, fundraising events for people who know each other through the micro-blogging service twitter.com. Twitter communities are making plans to come together through the power of the internet. Twitter users from every continent will be forging local and global connections, to raise money for a good cause and in the spirit of fun, change, charity and communication.

The global event, described as “a ‘tweet-up’ with a social conscience”, will be raising money to support charity: water, a not-for-profit bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

There are currently over 185 cities officially signed up to participate, including London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Beijing, Sydney, Melbourne, and Lima. Meanwhile Twestival also offers a great opportunity for non-capital cities to host events, allowing for a wide spread of regional networking within countries, states and regions. City representatives keen to participate continue to come on board; so for the for the full and changing list of cities, or to get involved yourself, go to  www.twestival.com.

The event in Baton Rouge has found sponsorship from Gatorworks (www.gatorworks.net), a local web development and graphic design firm, who has completely organized the local Baton Rouge version of Twestival.

David Link, Creative Director at Gatorworks, brought the concept of a Tweet-Up to Baton Rouge, which is a meet-and-greet of local Twitter users. The first Tweet-Up was held last month at Chimes East, and it was a huge success. Following that idea, Link decided to head up the local efforts for Twestival.

In Baton Rouge, GatorWorks will play host at 600 Main, 600 Main St, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. Tickets will be available at the door. For more information visit http://batonrouge.twestival.com

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Quick Pitch:

Provide your audience with a primer in social media and encourage them to take part in a world-wide fundraiser.

Twestival Baton Rouge presents an evening of social media discussion, education and celebration for Baton Rouge’s Twitterati (twitter users, live) to meet up with each other face to face along with the social-media-curious. Join us to learn about social media, network, celebrate AND raise money for CHARITY:WATER to provide clean drinking water to impoverished communities.

WHEN: February 12, 6 pm

WHERE: 600 Main Bar
600 Main St., Baton Rouge, LA

WHAT: Charity event for CHARITY:WATER and learn more about
the power of social media. Tweetup, music, food and drinks

COST: $15 at the door (ALL proceeds go to Charity:Water)

To interview organizers David Link or Brian Rodriguez, contact Bryan Castillo at bryan.castillo@gatorworks.net

BACKGROUND

ABOUT TWESTIVAL
Last year, the first Twestival was orchestrated in London, England by twitter users to raise money for the homeless. Over the year, other similar initiatives have been observed in the twitter community. So this year, Twestival goes international and celebratory events are being organized in cities round the world. (see www.twestival.com for an event in the city nearest you) All of the work on this initiative is organized by volunteers and this year all of the proceeds from all of the events will go toward the work of CHARITY:WATER. More specifically, all of the proceeds will go directly towards the drilling of wells for water in communities around the world. Why?

ABOUT CHARITY:WATER
• Right now 1.1 billion people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. That’s one in six of us.
• Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
• Many communities in developing nations often have a plentiful supply of clean drinking water just below the ground, but no way to get to it.
• This is where CHARITY:WATER and their partner organizations come in. Drilling a well can cost from $4,000 – $12,000 USD and many living on less than $1 a day cannot afford one in their community, even if the money is combined.

ABOUT TWITTER
Twitter was founded in 2006 in San Francisco, CA and is used in countries all around the world. Twitter is a micro blogging service used to share information in 140 characters or less. It is simple to use and is available across multiple platforms (web, smart phones and sms).

Twitter users include the general public, governments, companies, non charitable organizations, and newspapers. Barack Obama used Twitter in his campaign in the US to connect with Americans; civilians used Twitter to update the world in real time about terrorists attacks in Mumbai; and Calgary Arts Development uses Twitter to notify people of updates on their website and create awareness about the arts.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS

DAVID LINK specializes in creating clean, friendly web sites and user interfaces by basing designs around the behavioral and emotional processes of the user.

David has 5 years of design experience, working in several design environments including time spent employed at both the Louisiana Department of Education and the Louisiana Department of Labor. He has worked as a freelance designer for clients across the country as well as the UK and Canada. David received a BFA with a concentration in Graphic Design from Louisiana State University. (via www.gatorworks.net)

BRIAN RODRIGUEZ career as an entrepreneur and web consultant began at an early age. He built his business throughout his time at LSU and managed websites for over 70 clients from 2002 to May 2006 while juggling the expected course load of a college student. Brian earned his B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Information Systems and Decision Sciences from the EJ Ourso College of Business at Louisiana State University.
Brian is an active member in several professional organizations such as the Better Business Bureau, Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Business Network International (BNI), Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), American Advertising Federation of Baton Rouge (AAFBR), and Partners One.

Brian also takes part in the Visiting Business Executive Lecture Series at LSU’s EJ Ourso College of Business where he often delivers speeches to business students on how to become successful entrepreneurs. (via www.gatorworks.net)

Filed in: News Tagged: Brian Rodriguez, GatorWorks, Twitter