Twitterbugs are in for a blast as Twestival comes to town, this time with a global mission. If anything, Twestival Global is your chance to make a difference in the world.
Everyone can tweet, 140 characters at a time. But Twitter is no longer the focus; instead, the spotlight has shifted to what people are capable of doing with Twitter as a platform.
As users of the social networking site in Bangalore turn philanthropists and come together to organise Twestival, the big question being asked is if Twitter can be used to raise enough funds for the underprivileged across the globe. Vaijayanthi KM, regional co-ordinator for Twestival in India and a Bangalorean, definitely thinks it's possible. “The first Twestival Global was launched with a tweet on January 8, 2009, and barely a month later on February 12, there were 202 cities around the world hosting it. The total raised in one day was over $250,000 through these Twestivals,” she blogs.
“Twestival Local happened in September of last year with a local flavour; cities participated to raise money and awareness for a local non-profit organisation. In India, six cities participated and we raised over Rs87,000 for the NGOs we supported,” Vaijayanthi says.
However, with this year's festival, titled Twestival Global, the organisers have set the bar even higher by arranging multiple events to achieve the goal of collecting more funds. The money raised will be donated to various education projects.
The event will be organised at Opus on March 25. Performances by bands Repsychled, Galeej Gurus and Nakul Shenoy, a psychic entertainer, have been lined up to keep the audience hooked.
“We are also thinking of organising a corporate-level cricket match to raise money and awareness about the event in the city,” says Hrish Thota, one of the organisers.
According to Jason Alexander, manager of Bangalore-based rock band Galeej Gurus, they wanted to participate in Twestival last year too but could not. “When we came to know about the event this time, we contacted the organisers and offered to participate. We've been associated with education and performing at Twestival made sense. It's for a charity and we hope people turn up,” he says.
The organisers are expecting a better turnout this year because the event has been receiving publicity on Twitter for the last few weeks. The last event which was organised at Kyra had a turnout of 150; this year, the part-time organisers/ full-time Twitter-users are expecting more participation. Last year's event had a performance by city-based band Swarathma, apart from a few other acts.
Bangalore is not the only city which will organise the event. It is being arranged in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Cochin, Goa and Delhi with plans of holding Twestivals in more cities in the country. The event is also scheduled to happen in close to 200 cities around the world, including Dubai, Liverpool, Vancouver, Tel Aviv, and Barcelona, all on the same day.
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