PRESS RELEASE
Did you know that there are over 530 people on Twitter in the Comox Valley? Please join us for some ” Preseason Cheer! ” at the 4th Comox Valley TweetUp!
What is Twitter? In a nutshell, Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service which allows you to send short messages of 140 characters, called “Tweets.”
What is a TweetUp? A TweetUp is a FREE community event, where people who have met online and communicate via Twitter, meet in person, face to face, offline.
TweetUps are informal events, for people who want to take their online communications, offline … engaging while building social and business relationships. People, is what Social Media is all about.
Local Artist, Photographer and Social Media Consultant Brenda Johima (@brendajohima) has been on Twitter since about March of 2009 and is passionate about the power of Twitter, and it’s potential to connect people for Social Good. Johima has partnered with Michael Fountain, Manager of Marketing & Communications and Discovery Community College, which will be the host venue for the November 29th event.
Here are the details :
Date and Time: Tuesday, November 29th, 2011, from 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Venue: Discovery Community College (Courtenay Campus)
Where: 1025 Cliffe Avenue, Courtenay (upstairs)
Cost: FREE community event, although we encourage you to please bring a donation for the local Comox Valley FOOD Bank
Twitter Hashtag: #TweetUpCV
Sign Up (FREE) Page: http://tweetupcv4.eventbrite.com/
On Twitter Follow: @brendajohima and @DiscCommCollege
As we all know, December and January are times of the year when individuals and families have a greater need for food, so this is a Social Media TweetUp With A Cause!
We will use the power of Twitter and Social Media and Tweet for Food to help others in need. In addition, there will be refreshments for participants, door prizes, a live Twitter feed on a big screen, as well as educational Twitter tricks and tips throughout the evening. From “seasoned pro” to Twitter newcomer, there will be all levels, so everyone will fit in perfectly. If you choose, please bring your smart phones, cell phones and laptops for live tweeting on location. TweetUps are FUN!
What if you are not on Twitter yet but are curious? It’s OK to join us too! You will gain most value if you already have a Twitter account, but a TweetUp can be a tremendous start, to meet great people and to get some tips before you start launch your Twitter account.
This is a perfect opportunity for business owners to mix and mingle, connect in a new way, FREE of charge, and free from being flogged with business cards, brochures, sales and marketing pitches.
The Comox Valley Food Bank has been assisting our Valley communities for over 25 years. Parents with children, post-secondary students, persons with disabilities, the working poor and those who experience persistent poverty, immigrants and the elderly, all benefit from the FOOD Bank. It is estimated that at least 1,200 hampers are handed out on a monthly basis, in addition to hundreds of other individual and regular “mouths to feed.”
The event is FREE to attend but we encourage donation of non-perishable food items ( or cheques made out to the Comox Valley Food Bank Society ) at the November 29th TweetUp! which will be delivered to the local Comox Valley Food Bank the following morning.
Do you need some suggestions as to what to bring? The Food Bank really needs (at their request) items like peanut butter, coffee and sugar, which they don’t purchase regularly. For for children’s lunches, juice boxes (the healthy sugar-free ones) and raisins or other healthy choices are appreciated. When selecting food donations for children, please choose healthy options, low in sugar. In addition, non-food items such as toilet paper, toiletries, toothpaste, shampoos and soaps are needed for the homeless.
Johima says “People WILL be fed” and the Food Bank is a cause close to her heart, having worked in the helping professions previously. “Nobody should go hungry in the Comox Valley. We can all do something. We can all do ONE thing. This is my thing. I don’t make a penny from this TweetUp, and I do not receive any business from this one event either. With pure intent, we help others the most.”
When Johima asked Jeff Hampton, President of the Comox Valley Food Bank, which types of situations are the most difficult to deal with emotionally when working at the Food Bank, Hampton said “it happens every day” and that “people arrive in tears when they have exhausted all other sources of funding.” This includes single mothers, young mothers with children, situations such as separation and divorce … or injury, and he added that “those who experience sudden job loss and unexpected employment are hit hardest.”
Discovery Community College is “a fully accredited, professional private college in British Columbia with multiple locations on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. Programs are efficiently designed to equip graduates with all the knowledge and experience they need to achieve their career goals in short periods of time. We are committed to helping improve the communities of which we serve.”
If you have any other questions, would like to bring the entire team from your workplace, would like to donate in a big way, please phone Brenda Johima at (250) 335-1195 or email johima [at] gmail [dot] com or visit her website at brendajohima.com
Please join Brenda Johima and all of us, at the 4th Comox Valley TweetUp! Connect, Communicate, Build Relationships. Make a Difference. Feed Families.
Comox Valley Food Bank volunteer Larry,
helps with bagging and preparing food for distribution.