Networking is a fundamental part of business growth. Conferences, workshops, happy hours and luncheons have been a part of business as far back as business goes! Social media has allowed people to connect based on interests from their business niche to hobbies to styles of music and beyond. This growth in social media netwroking has grown into getting back into the physical world.

Here in Orlando we have been fortunate to have some awesome events based around social media. From BarCamp Orlando to Ignite Orlando and the now defunct Blog Orlando, there is plenty of culture for social media heads.

Then Twitter Mania erupted! The microblogging service got wind for these little social events and as is in the spirit of Twitter lingo, the Tweetup was born. According to the Urban Dictionary, a Tweetup is defined as

…a group of friends on Twitter (social network) that are planning to meet up. A request by a user to meet with friends via Twitter.

People, groups and companies have flocked to Tweetups over the past year and even mega events such as space shuttle launches have been promoted via Twitter.

I wanted to share with you some creative ideas for your business or your community to use the power of Twitter to hold live events. These events range from the crazy, to extremely spontaneous to strategically planned and promoted. No matter which approach you choose, hosting a successful Tweetup can bring social media attention to the organizer and allow for some hands on networking to occur.

The Traditional TweetUp

In Orlando we have Tweetups nearly every week. These events encompass day of promotions, and include major media events. The most popular is thrown by Etan Horowitz from the Orlando Sentinel. Over the 3 events they have thrown, there have been over 300 people in attendance, from marketing professionals to tv personalities to Sentinel staff writers to everyone in between. These events have had a great amount of success and bring out people you only previously knew through 140 character outbursts.

photo by missyward

The Eat Up

Here in Orlando, a local sushi restaurant, Orlando Ichiban took to Twitter early on and won fanfare from downtown employees and those looking for an entertaining way to eat lunch. Through Twitter they have organized a slew of TweetsUps that they have coined as EatUps. These have included helping charities as part of Twestival and then having 2 EatUps in the same day to appeal to the lunch and dinner crowds.

The Sweetup

The name implies exactly what the event entails – get a group of Twitter friends together and have some sweets! The Orlando Sweetup was held at an Orlando Wedding Chapel, there were a ton of candy, cake, cupcakes, chocolate and all types of other sweets to enjoy. This is just another way to get to know people in your community and have a great time supporting local businesses.

The Burritoup

Again, the name probably gives it away. Organized by Reid, the Social Media Manager at Pancheros, these events have taken a life of their own. From free burrito trivia to getting in front of their best customers, they know how to throw a great Twitter Party. One of the most important ROI stats from a Tweetup is all the Tweets that go out from the event. Pancheros does a great job of keeping track of these, replying to everyone that comes to these events and fostering relationships built at BurritoUps. Check out the Twitter Stream for #burritoup for proof of how these events travel.

photo by mrdallasjmoore

I hope I was able to show you some of the ways to take your Twitter connections offline. There are countless ways to do so and I am amazed at the creativity that exists between people who have never met in person.

Have you been to a Tweetup, or a themed Tweetup? Do you have an idea for a Tweetup? Let us know in the comments below.

This post was written by Greg Rollett. Greg writes about Lifestyle Design and Internet Marketing from Orlando, FL.

Tags: burritoup, eatup, sweetup, tweetup, Twitter