JustGiving might have been to Twestival (or Twitter Festival) events already, but before last night I was a Twestival virgin, so it falls to me to record my impressions of this great night out, which is all about using social media for social good.
Twestival Global, as the name would suggest, is a global event. Last year it was held in 202 cities, with local events organised 100% by volunteers, with 100% of ticket sales going to support @charitywater, an organisation that works to reduce the astonishingly high number of people – almost 1 billion – throughout the world who still don’t have access to clean drinking water. The event raised over $250,000 for Charity Water and helped them to become the only non profit organisation with over 1 million followers on Twitter.
This year, although the exact numbers of cities that took part and funds raised are still coming in, proceeds are going to Concern Worldwide, the humanitarian aid agency the Twestival organisers chose for their comprehensive approach to the problem of the world’s 72 million children who don’t have access to education.
We were at the London edition of the event at the Cable Club, which is under the arches of London Bridge station, so it was very atmospheric. In fact, it was too dark for our iPhones, but here’s a great Flickr slideshow of some of the more professional shots from the evening:
Various companies donated their wares to the evening, which guests could then buy for a small donation to Concern Worldwide. Our highlights were the excellent burritos from @Chilango_UK and mini cupcakes from @Crumbsandollies, donated by word-of-mouth specialists @1000heads.
There were also a number of great bands, all of whom owe some of their success to Twitter. Check out our Digital Strategist Jonno’s video of She Makes War (@warriorgirl):
Throw in giant Jenga and a graphic that had tweets with the #ldntwestival hash tag falling down a projector screen as Tetris shapes, and all in all the JustGiving team had a real good time.
Did you attend your local Twestival Global 2010 event? Or if you’ve set up your own micro-festival to help your fundraising, let us know in the comments below.
Tags: Charity Water, flickr, she makes war, Twestival, twitter