* UPDATED TO ADD: The Tweetvite link to RSVP for Tweetsgiving San Antonio is not working consistently. To RSVP please click here and click on “open ticket” to reserve your space at the party. *

Do you remember your school days? The readin’, writin’, arithmetic? Learning your ABCs and, eventually, fractions and maybe even quadratic equations (yikes!)? Who was your favorite teacher? How did attending school guide you to your current profession? How did it shape the person you’ve become?

Did you drop your kids at school today? What are they learning this month? My daughter’s learning to write the alphabet and starting to read. My son is singing his ABCs and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. When they return home from school each day I’m amazed by, and very grateful for, all they’ve learned.

For children in the United States attending school is a given. We all contribute to the costs of their education with our tax dollars. We often take for granted the fact that children in our country have the right to an education. But that’s not the case in every country.

In a small village in Tanzania one woman had a dream. Mama Lucy Kamptoni (@MamaLucy) decided to give her hard-earned income as a poultry farmer to help build a school for local children. She wanted to help raise the next leaders of Tanzania.

Mama Lucy Kamptoni and the #Tweetsgiving kids

The first Tweetsgiving took place in November 2008 when six volunteers came together over six days to launch a fundraising effort over Twitter to help Mama Lucy build a classroom for the Shepherd’s Junior school which now serves over 300 children in Arusha. Just two days before Thanksgiving 2008, “Tweetsgiving” became the #1 trending topic on Twitter as people on Twitter flooded the stream sharing that for which they were most grateful. People made contributions too and their donations were used to build a classroom; the Twitter IDs of those donors were painted on the walls of that classroom.

Join us for Tweetsgiving San Antonio on November 24, 2009, @BrasseriePavil from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.!

This Tweetsgiving we’re hoping to spread the gratitude across Twitter again. Funds raised will again be invested to expand Kamptoni’s efforts at Shepherd’s Junior, where an orphanage, cafeteria, library and more classrooms are greatly needed, and to fund future Epic Change fellows like her across the globe.

This Tuesday, November 24th, San Antonio’s incredibly active, always impressive social media community will gather at @BrasseriePavil to eat, drink, and be merry and to give thanks for the abundance we enjoy in our lives. But we’ll also be channeling our social media efforts for good.

Alice, one of the children who attend Shepherd's Junior

You can be a part of this generous effort by tweeting and blogging about Tweetsgiving on November 24-26, 2009 and about all for which you are grateful. And, if you feel so moved, please consider donating (either online here – see “Additional Donation” near the end of the page or when you attend one of the Tweetsgiving gratitude parties around the globe) to help Epic Change and @MamaLucy continue to help the children of Arusha, Tanzania get the education that our children already enjoy.

@BrasseriePavil will provide complimentary appetizers and free beer and liquor samples from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Happy hour prices will run all night. And, those who donate will be entered into a drawing to win

Those who donate at Tweetsgiving San Antonio will be entered into a drawing to win one of the following great prizes from our generous donors:

- a cooking demo for 10 people from @BrasseriePavil that will take place tonight.

- a one-night stay @WestinLaCantera Resort.

- dinner for two at Francesca’s at Sunset (@WestinLaCantera Resort).

- one of two sets of vouchers each good for 2 tickets to any San Antonio Symphony Pops or Classics concert in the 09-10 season.

(Must be present to win.)

Join us for Tweetsgiving San Antonio @BrasseriePavil or online (on Twitter w/ hashtag #Tweetsgiving, in blog posts, and/or via online donations) or at a location near you to express your gratitude, to have fun and to help others. Social media is a powerful thing and it’s even more impressive when we use our powers for good!

Thank you to all of our Tweetsgiving San Antonio sponsors: @BrasseriePavil, @WestinLaCantera, @SASym (San Antonio Symphony) and your generous donations!

This post was created as part of a global groundswell of gratitude called TweetsGiving. The celebration, created by US nonprofit Epic Change, is an experiment in social innovation that seeks to change the world through the power of gratitude. I hope you’ll visit the TweetsGiving site to learn more, and to bring your grateful heart to the party by sharing your gratitude, and giving in honor of that for which you’re most thankful.

[credit for all photos: Tim Llewellyn]

Take a popular local restaurant (part of a larger, national chain operation) that was smart enough to put “Follow us on Twitter!” at the bottom of their guest checks. Pretty smart, right? Only problem was they failed to give their Twitter handle. So they want me to follow them on Twitter–heck, I even had my iPhone with me so I could’ve followed them on the spot–but they didn’t give me their Twitter name. If I wanted to follow them on Twitter I was going to have to spend my precious time trying to find them.

So, did I? Sure. But that’s because I live and breathe social media and I became insanely curious to see if I could find them and identify exactly why they were so elusive in providing me with that incredibly important information. Imagine investing valuable time and resources to create a successful social media campaign and then not telling anyone where you are or how to connect with you?

Would most people in my situation have tried to find the restaurant’s Twitter handle? No! The average person would leave the restaurant, get caught up in living their life again and never give the restaurant’s Twitter name a second thought. Opportunity? Lost. In a big way.

What can you do to make it easy for others to find you in the broad world of social media?

Be consistent
When creating social media strategies that include tools like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, etc. use your company name or as close to a reasonable variation of it as you can get and use the same name whenever possible across all social networks.

Be simple
Don’t use a name or handle that, while seemingly related to who you are and what you do, still doesn’t spell out, quite simply, who you are. If you’re a hospital, use your hospital’s name or a close and easily-guessed facsimile. Don’t use generic names or terms like “HealthCares” unless it’s part of your company’s recognizable slogan or tagline that people would use to find you. (After some investigation I found that the restaurant in question above used the following Twitter handle: @restaurantnameSanAn, not at all something I would have easily guessed or found–I had to dig deeper with several Google searches to find them, something others won’t take the time to do).

Be everywhere
Adding “Follow us on Twitter!” to your guest checks is a great idea. But if you don’t include your Twitter handle, your Facebook fan page name, your blog’s URL, or your other social network names, don’t bother wasting your time. Customers and prospects certainly won’t waste theirs trying to find you. Including your social network handles in invoices, email signatures, newsletters, stationery, business cards, guest checks – absolutely everywhere you can – is an easy way to spread the word that you’re active on social networks and it’ll help you build your follower/fan base too.

Don’t let the hard work and effort you’ve put into your social media strategy be for nothing. Make it easy for people to find you online.

1. San Antonio’s Social Media scene grows bigger every day and it’s reaching far beyond our 1604 border.

We had nearly 150 people attend TweetCampSA, the largest gathering at any camp ever in San Antonio, according to Jennifer Navarrete, TweetCampSA co-organizer and local camp maven. People new to Twitter as well as Twitter vets were hungry to share, learn and grow and it showed. People arrived early and stayed late. Sessions were packed and filled with people willing to ask questions and contribute their expertise and points of view. And it wasn’t just people from San Antonio who were hot for more social media info. Tweeps drove in from Dallas, Houston, Austin, and Corpus Christi to take part in the first camp of its kind held in Texas. San Antonio is blazing new social media trails and with TweetCampSA we’re just getting started!

2. To build a sense of community: invite the community.

TweetCampSA was an educational event to which the community of San Antonio, and beyond, was invited to attend for free. People from all walks of life and all levels of Twitter experience attended TweetCampSA. And, just like at tweetups, TweetCampSA was a great place to meet, in real life, with those people we’re tweeting with online as well as those we weren’t following on Twitter up until that point. Shrieks of, “Oh my God! It’s so great to finally meet you in person!” filled the air almost as often as the quieter revelations of, “I’m so glad I met you. We need to start following each other.”

And, for those who couldn’t attend in person, streaming video of all TweetCampSA sessions was provided so people at home could attend and ask questions via chat. You didn’t even have to be onsite to be a part of the community!

3. How to be a part of the “in” crowd.

Many of us who’ve been on Twitter for a while have had opportunities to meet in person at tweetups. Those face-to-face meetings tend to make our online conversations that much more familiar, more casual, and more fun. But there are lots of people on Twitter who witness these conversations every day and wonder why they’re not part of the “in” crowd or the “cool” group. Here’s a hint: We’re ALL the “in” crowd (yes, you too!) because we love Twitter and we want to learn more about it. Don’t be shy about jumping into Twitter conversations. That’s how we get to know each other. And, while not mandatory, meeting in person does help build the community. So, even if you weren’t able to attend TweetCampSA, make it a point to attend an upcoming tweetup to chat with your fellow tweeps in person. This is *social* media after all.

4. Working for free pays off.

As a co-organizer of TweetCampSA I was a volunteer. But my hard work was returned to me in spades by the caliber of social media information I heard and by the amazing people I met at the event. I made many new friends and potential business connections.

Sure, organizing an event like TweetCampSA takes work. But sometimes, when you come up with a great idea, you can’t sit around hoping and wishing that someone else will execute it. Be willing to be the person who takes the reigns and steers an idea to fruition. You may not find yourself cashing a paycheck from your efforts, but you will be paid back in ways you never imagined.

5. Volunteers and attendees make the best tour guides.

Andi, Jennifer and I drove the TweetCampSA bus but our amazing volunteers (they showed up at 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday!) and our brilliant attendees (seriously, Facebook connect and the API!) showed us which direction to drive. Without the help of volunteers the event wouldn’t have run smoothly or been documented so thoughtfully. And without the attendees TweetCampSA wouldn’t have had sessions or speakers or contributors or anyone to spark interesting and thought-provoking conversations (Branding, anyone?). TweetCampSA was about YOU and delivered by YOU. You not only showed up. You put up. TweetCampSA’s success is *your* success.

6. There’s no rest for the weary.

TweetCampSA not only satisfied our thirst for knowledge about all things Twitter. It also sparked our hunger for more—more education on social media, more time to meet new people who share similar interests, more time to make business connections, more laughing our heads off about Tweeting Too Hard (Oh. Maybe that’s just me.). Rest assured that TweetCampSA is not the last chance you’ll have to grow your social media knowledge. There are ongoing events around San Antonio (Social Media Breakfast, Social Media Club, San Antonio Media/PR/Business Tweetup, San Antonio Healthcare Tweetup) to keep you on your social media toes. And, Jennifer and I have a few ideas in the works that I think you’re going to like (stay tuned…).

*photo of TweetCampSA attendees that accompanies this post on the homepage courtesy of Nick Mistry.

One of the best opportunities afforded to businesses on Twitter is the ability to form and foster genuine relationships with customers and prospects. This doesn’t happen just by signing up for a Twitter account. Businesses successfully using Twitter spend time talking with the people who follow them and they make the effort to follow them back. They encourage a two-way dialog and listen to what their customers have to say whether it’s good or bad.

I’ve worked closely with BrasseriePavil to learn about their business and then discuss with them the various ways they can use Twitter to connect with their customers and prospects. Over the last few months they’ve worked hard to engage people on Twitter. They enjoy the ability to converse with their customers and prospects. They communicate regularly with followers about new menu items. They love offering specials that only their loyal Twitter followers know about. They take reservations via Twitter. And, yes, they address customer dissatisfaction on Twitter.

Some businesses might be afraid to come out and say, for all to see, “We hear you. You weren’t happy. What can we do to make your experience with us better?” Not all businesses want to admit that they’re not perfect. But Brasserie Pavil isn’t just any business. After five months on Twitter and with over 900 followers, they’ve learned to use the power of Twitter to help them turn dissatisfied customers around. And they’re savvy enough to appreciate that customers–especially those on Twitter–want to be heard.

By monitoring Twitter and other social media sites for mention of their brand (for both positive and negative discussions); by making contact with unhappy patrons right away; by asking about the problems the customer encountered; and by doing what it takes to make the customer happy; they are opening up the conversation and, if all goes well, steering it back into a positive direction.

Are you harnessing the power of Twitter to help your business achieve customer service goals? Why or why not?

Here’s another take on Brasserie Pavil’s customer service win on Twitter by Liana Evans at SearchEngineWatch.com

San Antonio businesses on Twitter

Updated to add: The most current list of San Antonio businesses on Twitter can now be found on my Twitter List.

Lately I’ve come across more and more San Antonio businesses on Twitter. Hooray! It’s great to see San Antonio businesses take advantage of social media tools so they can reach out to the community at large as well as to their customers and prospects. Twitter is a free, fantastic way to keep people updated on what your business is doing.

This post features a list of businesses in San Antonio who are on Twitter. This list is a living, breathing thing that will be revised often. If you don’t see your business listed here, just send me an email, reply to me on Twitter @colleenpence or DM me on Twitter and I’ll add you. My only request is that you are a business in San Antonio, Texas that is actively using Twitter to be listed.

There’s also a new group in town on Twitter, MadeinSATX, whose goal is to support San Antonio businesses so that dollars earned here are spent here. They’re launching their web site in early July. Stay tuned on how they can help you and your local business.

San Antonio Businesses on Twitter:

@1337wine

@210SA

@Airchecknews

@alamoheli (Alamo Helicopter Tours)

@alanweinkrantz

@babypotential

@BeerAcrossTx

@BigaontheBanks

@bjornsav (Bjorn’s Audio Video)

@blancaaldaco

@blellow

@BloomMaternity

@Brandstack

@BrasseriePavil

@Browncoffeeco

@bwhWebDesigns

@C4workspace

@CampusScooters

@ChristineHuff1 (Creative Touch)

@CreativeNoggin

@CRMLarry (Lentz Computer Services)

@cszsanantonio (Comedy Sportz San Antonio)

@DoughPizzeria

@erch (Ecumenical Center)

@facelogic

@firecatsue (Firecat Studio)

@FlicksandFood

@fostercreative

@FunPearls

@GameTownPizza

@GDCinspires (Guerra DeBerry Coody)

@ghff (Gordon Hartman)

@hope4children (Southwest Mental Health Center)

@ideagin

@iGoSA

@jamietxc (Texas Creative)

@JWSanAntonio (JWMarriott San Antonio)

@Kellymorrispr

@KGBTexas

@kmarvel (child support enforcement lawyer)

@Ksatnews

@lafogata

@lane24 (LTM Medical Marketing)

@luminaries

@maegg (Heritage Bookkeeping and Tax)

@matt_scherer (Scherer Communications)

@McGuireDesign

@MDNewsSATX

@mediarichllc

@Mosso

@museoalameda

@MySA

@mySA_beading (Strung Out in SA)

@NTJ (Neven Jones Design)

@papajohnssa

@privateasset (at Jefferson Bank)

@PromoGeorge (PROMOtivations Advertising Specialties)

@rackcloud

@RO2108 (Rochelle’s Gift Baskets)

@robertdominguez (The Restaurant Mentor)

@Rudysbbq

@SA_PULSE

@SABizJournal

@SACurrent

@sadogwalker

@SAFatLossExpert

@SAFreshCatering

@Sahomes

@SAISD (San Antonio Independent School District – also see @misigirl)

@Salesby5

@SamsBurgerJoint

@satx_randy

@Seaworldcomm

@shopblondesa

@Silorestaurant

@spiceoflifesa

@SwankEventSA

@tacogarage

@TheCandyLounge

@TheFairmount

@txconflictcoach (Conflict Connections, Inc)

@TxDomesticG (Texas Domestic Goddess cleaning/organizing)

@UltraMagazineSA

@VideoPublishing

@Web_Head_Group

Come out, come out, wherever you are!

It wasn’t until I started replying to other people’s tweets and joining the conversation that I learned the value of Twitter. Since I started actively participating on Twitter I’ve met amazing people, both online and in person, who I probably would never have met otherwise. I’ve found new clients on Twitter in addition to new business opportunities. I’ve made some wonderful new friends on Twitter. I’ve found great places to eat. I’ve found tons of educational resources on Twitter. And, I’ve learned new things about my city.

I don’t know if Tim Walker was the first person to compare Twitter to a cocktail party (he’s so wise, witty and savvy that it totally could have been him who said it first) but when I heard him describe it that way, I thought it was the perfect analogy. Would  you have fun at a party if all you did was lurk in the background and listen to other people talk? Of course not. How boring! You’d want to dive in to the conversation – probably several conversations -to express your opinion and meet other people during some (hopefully) lively chats.

Hanging out on Twitter is very much like that cocktail party.

If you don’t get involved in the conversations on Twitter, you’re missing out. Sure, you might pick up a neat tip or trick or two related to whatever it is that interests you. But you won’t be building anything. You won’t be meeting anyone or forging powerful personal and professional relationships. You won’t be creating your network before you need it (OK. That wise bit of info was said by either Luis Sandoval or Luis quoting Connie Reece…two more wonderfully helpful people you should follow on Twitter).

Dipping your toes into the Twitter stream.

According to Hubspot’s 2009 State of the Twitterspere  Report, a whopping 54.88% of the people with accounts on Twitter have never tweeted. I suspect it’s at partly because people don’t understand Twitter or how to use it once they sign up. For others it’s because they’re following people and lurking but are timid about leaping into the deep, fast-moving current that is the Twitter stream of tweets.

Start out slowly. Don’t get intimidated. Follow the advice of a few pros to get going:

Twitter 101 by Charlotte Anne Lucas is a great place to learn what Twitter is (news, crowdsourcing, broadcast, community) and how to use it.

Twitter 101 by Shéa Bennett, aka Twittercism, is a helpful collection of articles gathered to advise Twitter newbies on their path to happy tweeting.

Of course there are bazillions more Twitter 101 articles and posts available to guide you. But no matter who’s advice you follow to learn the nuances and etiquette of Twitter, the most important thing to remember is: join the conversation!

There are lots of fantastic Twitter clients available for Mac. I’m covering the five I’ve spent the most time with: Tweetie, Twhirl, TweetDeck, Nambu, and Seesmic Desktop.

Over the last few months I’ve become a big Tweetie fan, first on the iPhone and then Tweetie for Mac when it was released in April. I tried TweetDeck but even with all of its bells and whistles it doesn’t support multiple accounts—a must-have feature for me. Recently I’d heard lots of praise for Seesmic Desktop (developed by the company who purchased Twhirl in April 2008) and, after using it for a while now, I may have to switch alliances from Tweetie–it’s just that GOOD. Seesmic definitely gives TweetDeck a run for its money (or freeware as the case may be) at least until TweetDeck starts supporting multiple accounts. Nambu’s another new kid on the Mac block offering lots of attractive features (multiple accounts, FriendFeed integration, threaded conversations) for rabid Twitter users.

Each of these five Twitter clients has its pros and cons. Seesmic handles multiple accounts beautifully,  integrates Facebook and will integrate FriendFeed, and appears to be fast and (so far) not buggy. Twhirl isn’t as fully featured as Seesmic but it offers support for multiple accounts and it’s been around longer so it’s probably more stable. TweetDeck does a great job making it easy to add people to groups, includes Facebook integration too, and it does a great job covering trending topics via TwitScoop. Tweetie doesn’t have columns, groups or trending topics but it allows for multiple accounts, it’s fast and user-friendly and it’s unparalleled among Twitter clients for the iPhone (vs. Twitterfon, Twittelator, and Nambu). Nambu has a tree-like structure for viewing/accessing multiple accounts and it seems like it would work well, but I had lots of trouble with it (although, to be fair, it might have been my internet connection at the time that gave me trouble, so I’ll definitely check out Nambu again).

Comparing features of Five Twitter clients for Mac:

Here’s a comprehensive chart comparing the five clients.

The Quick ‘n’ Dirty on Five Twitter clients for Mac

Tweetie for Mac – It’s Big Bird to Tweetie’s smaller and original iPhone client and now the foundation for the next version of Tweetie for iPhone.
Deets / Get it: http://www.atebits.com/tweetie-mac

Twhirl – Twhirl was purchased by Seesmic in April 2008. Seesmic says it will continue development but since they’ve released Seesmic Desktop my guess is that Twhirl will be phased out at some point.
Deets / Get it: http://twhirl.org

Tweetdeck – The most popular Twitter desktop client (across Macs and PCs), Tweetdeck offers powerful features but gets dinged repeatedly with complaints that it doesn’t handle multiple accounts (yet) and for the fact that it’s a memory hog.
Deets / Get it: http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta

Nambu – Often faster than Tweetdeck and comparable in nearly every way with it, Nambu’s a compelling new Twitter client that allows use of multiple accounts. It’s climbing the chart among Twitter clients. But I had a hard time getting it going. I also didn’t find it to be very user friendly and found it to be SLOW to load tweets (and it only holds up to 200 unread tweets). I plan to give Nambu another try soon.
Deets / Get it: http://nambu.com

Seesmic Desktop – The Tweetdeck Killer, Seesmic Desktop seems to be gaining ground on the other major Twitter clients for Mac at #13 (as of the writing of this post). The key, currently, is its ability to handle multiple Twitter accounts. Once Tweetdeck rolls that feature out, all bets are off.
Deets / Get it: http://desktop.seesmic.com

A few web Twitter clients that handle multiple accounts and allow you to schedule tweets:

HootSuite

TweetLater

TwitterHawk

More Twitter client resources:

Micro-blogging: 26 Twitter Desktop Clients for Mac

The most up-to-date info on which Twitter clients are popular

Mashable’s Head to Head: TweetDeck vs. Seesmic Desktop

San Antonio River's Museum Reach Expansion

Wow. Words escape me (and the fact that it’s past 1:00 a.m. isn’t helping either), but luckily I have pictures of the San Antonio River’s Museum Reach Expansion preview tour as do many others. We also had tweets, lots and lots of tweets about the Museum Reach of San Antonio’s River Walk Expansion. And, thanks to Charlotte Anne and Willie Lucas, we also have video footage of tonight’s San Antonio River Tour!

I thoroughly enjoyed the preview tour of the San Antonio River Walk Expansion this evening. Who wouldn’t love a leisurely, informative stroll along a pretty new stretch of the River Walk with some of San Antonio’s leading social media experts? Social Media Club San Antonio members and other social media enthusiasts gathered at the Brooklyn Avenue Bridge to get an early glimpse into another beautiful feather in our fair city’s cap: the Museum Reach Expansion of the San Antonio River.

San Antonio Museum of Art

Social Media Maven and KGBTexas public relations account coordinator Andi Narvaez came up with the idea for a social media preview of the river expansion project after viewing Social Media Club San Antonio’s incredibly successful coverage of the mayoral election earlier this month. She organized the tour along with Steven Schauer of the San Antonio River Authority and together they led our excited group of social media mavens up and down the new extension of the San Antonio River for two fun-filled, tweet-filled hours.

The grand opening of this stretch of the San Antonio River Walk will be celebrated all weekend long. Visit sanantonioriver.org’s Museum Reach page for details.

And, be sure to check out Trinity University Dean David Tuttle’s blog post about the Museum Reach preview tour. I’m sure the only reason he beat me to a blog post (and one that’s WAY more thorough than mine) was because he didn’t join the River Gang for margaritas at Tomatillos afterward. Darn that tequila. It gets me every time.

Traveling to San Antonio soon? Don’t miss the expanded San Antonio River Walk. And, don’t miss these other historical/cultural things to do in San Antonio courtesy of Uptake.com.