Image by coldacid via Flickr

The Twitter meetup I planned, #APtweetup, went absolutely nowhere. Little buzz, and no attendees. Little surprise there, and a reminder that I shouldn't be allowed to organize things on my own. (It's been a while since I gave up on TIGC, after the other organizers all abandoned the effort.) I got some good ideas on why it was such a flop, though.

First, location sucked. As nice as it is, the Pickering Public Library's main branch is exactly the most central location in Durham Region, and there are probably more Twitter users on Oshawa alone than in all of Pickering, Ajax, and Whitby. Lesson learned: For events in Durham, it's best to hold them in Whitby or Oshawa, since Ajax and Pickering don't exist.

Second, I received complaints (from someone who doesn't even live in the area any more) that the PPL isn't a place where a person can drink. Despite the number of restaurants and bars within walking distance, it's possible that this had something to do with it. But seriously, who starts drinking at three in the afternoon? Lesson learned: People need alcohol to be able to socialize with strangers. Without alcohol, there is nothing.

Finally, there might not yet be enough Twitter users in Durham Region to provide critical mass for organizing meetups, yet. If this is true (and I fear it is), that means more work is needed in converting area residents into users of Twitter and other quality social media tools (Facebook and MySpace don't count, they suck). Lesson learned: Be more convincing when proselytizing about social media. And if you can't convince them on merits, convince them to join by promising to stop pestering people about Twitter if they just sign up and use it, already!

Pre-emptive reply: The "lessons learned" are incredibly tongue-in-cheek, and are my form of showing that I'm annoyed that nobody showed up, and that I failed in organizing the event. Things like that make me grumpy.