Twestival: The debrief

I don't want to say I told you so but the Bristol Twestival was amazing!

For those of you out there who have no idea what I'm talking about (and there can't be many!), the Twestival was a worldwide charity fundraising initiative in 185 cities last Thursday.

It was a single tweet on social network Twitter on 6 January that sparked all the fun. Entrepreneur Amanda Rose sought global interest in running an event similar to that which took place in London last September. The rest, as they say, is history!

It was pretty remarkable that in just five weeks, thousands of people around the world got together to organise major events from scratch. London alone raised in excess of £10,000 and attracted 1,000 people! The overall aim is to raise $1m. All the money hasn't yet been counted but I predict that we've smashed it!

So what went on in Bristol, the city where we organised a Twestival? Here's a photo slideshow to give you an idea:

Around 200 people turned up at The Lanes, a stylish bar, diner and bowling alley in central Bristol for the event. A good time was had by all and we raised £1,510 for charity: water in the process.

Three of the highlights were performances by leading Bristol bands Mango Factory and Fortune Drive and by two beatboxers who agreed to take part just a few hours before the event kicked off. Here are some videos:

Another memorable moment was our huge charity raffle in which 28 donated prizes including a bottle of House of Commons whisky signed by Gordon Brown and a week's stay in a French villa were up for grabs.

A great party I'm sure you're agree but that wasn't the only positive to come out of the event.

Twestival demonstrated the growing power of Twitter and sites like it to provoke social change. The immediacy of the service allowed groups of like-minded individuals to come together quickly for a common cause.

But there are also business benefits.

The vast majority of our partners at the Bristol Twestival were small businesses who I know got real value out of the event. Not only were they shown to be supporting a worthwhile cause but many of those who turned up also made usual contacts.

If you're not already using Twitter, I'd advise you to do so quickly. Ignore the criticism from some quarters that all that Twitter is about is celebrity tittle tattle and recognise its benefits. Big corporates are starting to get involved and you know that when that happens, something's worth doing!

I'll avoid going into the exact benefits but check out these two articles for more.

Roll on Twestival 2010!