First of all, what on earth is a Twestival?

A Twestival is a charity event organised by the Twitter community.

Twestival began back in September 2008 with one event in London to raise money for a homeless charity. I was lucky enough to be there and it was a great night. It was the first time I had met anyone I followed on Twitter in real life.

Less than six months later, Twestival went global! Events were held on the same night in over 200 cities all around the world and raised money for Charity Water.

Twestival happens every six months in aid of charity. Twestival is unique in that 100% of ticket sale money goes directly to the charity. Even booking and transaction fees have been waived. The cost of putting on the events themselves is funded entirely through sponsorship.

On 25th March 2010 Twestivals will be held in cities all over the world in aid of Concern.

Why Should My Recruitment Business Sponsor A Twestival?

Twestivals attract sociable local twitter users. These are usually the most tech-savvy, well-connected people in your local area. They are natural networkers and the people you want to have talking about you and your recruitment business.

Often, it doesn’t cost very much to sponsor a twestival and get your own Twitter Presence brought to the attention of lots of relevant people, your logo in front of all the attendees, on t-shirts and your name in the local printed press and radio. If you would preferr, most Twestivals run a raffle on the night and are also seeking the donation of raffle prizes.

Want the local twitter community to think of your recruitment services first? Sponsor your local Twestival

Find your nearest Twestival at http://twestival.com

I am on the organising team for Reading Twestival in the UK and would like to hear from any local business that might be interested in supporting our event.

This week I have been staying in London enjoying catching up with my recruitment buddies at #TruSource and #TruLondon.

I have still found time to tweet a few links though…

Sourcing and Recruitment

SourceCon Challenge #3
On Monday the third round of qualifying to find the Grand Master Sourcer of 2010 kicked off. I’ve not had a chance to look at this challenge. I expect it will be solved very soon.

Sourcing is about more than CVs or Resumes
Written by me on the UK Sourcers Network - @UKSourcers - following the #TruSource event in London on Wednesday this week.

Jim Stroud’s Sourcing Poem [Video]
My fellow Sourcer, Jim Stroud - @jimstroud - was so inspired by his trip to London this week for #TruLondon that he wrote and performed a poem.

The Social Web

Coca-Cola are clever, aren’t they? [Video]
“Happiness Machine” video from Coca-Cola.

Local (Berkshire, UK):

Put the Reading Twestival Donation widget on your blog or website
Get the code above and put the widget on your website too - all the donations will count towards Reading’s total.

This week I have been working a lot on the upcoming Reading Twestival, an event organised through Twitter in aid of charity. Keep a look out for more information or follow @RDGTwestival on Twitter.

Well, here are the things I have been linking to this week…

Sourcing and Recruitment

Join the Twub for TruLondon
Coming to the second Recruiting Unconference in London next week? Make sire you are a member of the #trulondon twub

The Social Web

The State of Social Media Around the World 2010
A great resource if you are looking to engage with people across the globe. By Brian Solis (aka @BrianSolis)

7 Ways to promote your offline event using Social Media
By Susan Payton (aka @eggmarketing) on Mashable (aka @Mashable)

Local (Berkshire, UK):

Newbury Tweetup
The website launched this week to coinside with the second Newbury Tweetup. You can follow @NBYTweetup on Twitter

Reading Blogs Chart - January 2010
By @Oranjepan on Reading list

Yes, We have that in Reading
A great post detailing all the great events happening in Reading. By Ben Nunney (aka @bennuk)

Other:

The Tweetmem Dress
I’m making progress, but having trouble finding the right colour wool for the button.

It’s been a light week for me on Twitter (a very rare thing). Here’s what I did find for you though…

Sourcing and Recruitment

Recruiters really care about your online reputation even if you don’t
By Neville Hobson (aka @jangles)

The Social Web

Organising an event? Why you should plant a Twitter garden
I’ve been thinking a lot about how twitter can be used to enhance real word events - this article by Dan Martin (@Dan_Martin) makes some great points.

4 Essential Traits for Social Media Success in Your Career
A post from Amybeth Hale (aka @researchgoddess) on Mashable

20+ mind-blowing social media statistics revisited
By Jake Hird on the Econsultancy blog

Local (Berkshire, UK):

Reading Twestival
A charity event in aid of Concern organised through Twitter. The first planning meeting was a great success - follow @RDGTwestival on Twitter for more info as it’s confirmed.

Newbury Tweetup II
The Second Newbury Tweetup (aka @NBYTweetup) will take place on Friday 12th February at Document House in Newbury

Cemetery Junction - Film Trailer
Set in 1970s Reading

Other:

Fun: Cheese or Font
Can you tell the difference?

This week has been more about Recruiting and Sourcing, with a little knitting thrown in for good measure

Sourcing and Recruitment

TruLondon II - Three Weeks To Go
A little shameless promotion of the second Recruitment Unconference in London that I am once again attending as a ‘track leader’.

What Social Recruiting is NOT
By Glen Cathey (aka @BooleanBlackBlt)

Real-Time Search advances - What is the impact on Recruiting and Sourcing?
By Glen Gutmatcher (aka @gutmach)on the Arbita Blog

A simple guide to RSS and how to uses it as part of your social recruiting strategy
By Andy Headworth (aka @andyheadworth)on his Sirona Says blog

The Social Web

The Wefollow Directory
Being listed in this directory helps others in your niche find and follow you. You can associate your account with a location and five tags. Very worth doing and keeping up to date.

MindMeiser
A nice mind-mapping tool. I haven’t quite got the hang of using mindmeiser yet, but it certainly helps get ideas down

Supermarket Tweets
This may have been included in last week’s round-up too, but interesting comments have continued to come in.

Music:

I keep an ever expanding playlist on Spotify of ‘Just Cool‘ songs, I add only the coolest of songs (in my opinion) as they occurr to me. I share some of this week’s highlights here.

[Spotify link]: Edwyn Collins - A Girl Like You

[Spotify link]: Cibo Matto - Sugar Water
Bonus point for anyone who can tell me which episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer this song features in

Knitting:

For my new nephew
Born last weekend, I’m sure he’s in need of plenty of cardigans!

A Tweetmeme Dress?
Following a brief exchange of tweets last week, sparked off by Sarah Blow (aka @girlygeekdom), I’ve been wondering if I should knit a Tweetmeme dress…

I first wrote about The Recruiting Unconference last autumn before TruLondon’s inaugural run at the Barclays Tower in Canary Warf, London. This first event was hugely fun, informative and filled with opportunities.

Bill Boorman (aka @BillBoorman) brings TruLondon back for its second outing on 17th/18th/19th February, this time at Twitter Job Search HQ in Soho.

Day 0 - TruSource: Myself and four Sourcing Super-Stars are putting on a training day prior to the unconference. TruSource takes place on 17th February, I believe there might still be a couple of spots left if you would like to attend. So register quick!

During the unconference all the attendees are speakers and there are absolutely no powerpoint slideshows (those are the only rules of unconferencing). There will be ‘tracks’ with some acknowledged experts taking part in the discussions, but myself and the other track leaders will be hoping to learn just as much over the two day unconference as the rest of the participants.

Once again I will be leading tracks on Sourcing over the two day unconference in conjunction with fellow sourcers Jim Stroud (from Atlanta in the USA) and Geoff Webb (from Toronto in Canada).

Day 1 - The aim is for Day 1 to be all about the technology. So, what do you want to learn about technology for recruitment? What are your thoughts on likely innovations? What is needed to drive the industry forward? Come along with your questions and your answers. There will be a white paper produced on future technology from our findings.

In the evening, when we are all in need of letting our hair down, there will be a curry tweetup!

Day 2 - This should be a much fluffier day, all about the people, the talent and the recruitment process. I am particularly looking forward to discussing online behaviour and how how we can best engage talent communities.

There is still time to register for the event, but be quick as it is almost completely sold out.

Follow the build up and the action on Twitter using the hashtag #trulondon.

The TruEvents go global in 2010 with more than 10 events taking place from New Zealand to Dublin!

Picture courtesy of Sara Headworth

This is cross-posted on RecruitingBlogs.com and TheTruConferences.com

Another week, another page of links to sink your teeth into!

Sourcing and Recruitment

Source UK
I appeared on Bill Boorman’s weekly recruitment radio show to talk about the adoption of Sourcing in the UK ahead of the TRUSource training event I am helping to run in February.

Make it easy for recruiters to find you
From The Guardian by Clare Whitmell - featuring recruiting expertise from @MervynDinnen, @AndyHeadworth and @WendyJacob

The Social Web

Cool or Not Cool: Foursquare Divides the Web
A post from Outspoken Media by Lisa Barone (@LisaBarone)

Supermarket Tweets
My take on Supermarkets using Twitter

Farcebook Groups - The most annoying feature ever
By James Marshall (@jamesbmarshall)

Local Links (Berkshire, UK)

Notes
A blog by Berkshire local Joanna S. It’s very cool

Reading Twestival
Well, it’s that time again. Twestival Global will take place on Thursday 25th March. Be sure to follow @RDGTwestival on Twitter to be kept in the loop. We’re looking for sponsors and donations again so please get in touch if you can help.

TVSMC: Thames Valley Social Media Cafe
A regular informal gathering of anyone interested in social media in the Thames Valley. I took a few photos at this week’s event.

Music:

I keep an ever expanding playlist on Spotify of ‘Just Cool‘ songs, I add only the coolest of songs (in my opinion) as they occurr to me. I share some of this week’s highlights here.

Classic: Alanis Morissette - Hand in My Pocket
[Spotify link]

Classic: Sailor - Glass of Champagne
[Spotify link]

Other

Writing: Write or Die
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? Try out this little tool - it’ll get the words out of you!

Fun: First Person Tetris
Love Tetris? You have to try this! But you can’t possibly love Tetris as much as me…

I discovered @sainsburys on Twitter yesterday morning when somone retweeted a competition they were running to win a £50 voucher.

Whether I like it or not, supermarkets are where a lot of my income ends up going. As much as I try to buy local and support smaller businesses, more often than not, it is just plain convenient to go to one place and be able to pick up lots of things I need all at once.

I decided to check out what the major names in the supermarket game were up to on Twitter. Here are their vital statistics and my thoughts…

Asda - @asda
Followers: 3,142
Following: 25
No. of tweets: 702
Joined Twitter: 5th February 2009 (1 year ago)
Followed me back? No
Asda have by far the most followers and appear to gear the account around broadcasting offers and deals, company appearances in the news and seasonal competitions. While they ReTweet good feedback from folks on twitter it doesn’t look like they reply or engage those people. Taking a look at their TweetStats tells me that Asda have been consistently increasing their tweeting level since June 2009, they tweet 7 days a week, mostly from Tweetdeck but also a variety of other tools. One concern I have is that they don’t seem to follow real people back. They follow a small selection of Grocery and retail related accounts, but none of their potential customers.

Co-operative - @CooperativeFood
Followers: 325
Following: 25
No. of tweets:46
Joined Twitter: 11th June 2009 (8 months ago)
Followed me back? No
The CoOp use their account to broadcast news and deals. TweetStats tells me that their rate of tweeting has steadily dropped off since they first tweeted back in September ‘09. Their tweets are broadcast Monday - Friday and all of them come via the web. They follow a small selection of news feeds and food related publications but none of their potential customers. It looks as though they sign in to the account to post news every so often but the rest of the time it is abandoned with no sign of joining the conversation.

Sainsburys - @sainsburys
Followers: 2131
Following: 1421
No. of tweets: 302
Joined Twitter: 7th October 2009 (4 months ago)
Followed me back? No
Sainsburys have been around on twitter for the shortest time but look to be engaging very well. Their stream is a good mix of conversation, news, deals and retweets. TweetStats tells me that they tweet consistently, primarily from HootSuite or TweetDeck and well outside traditional office hours. Their latest promotion using twitter - involving the hashtag #loveyourleftovers has seen them increase their follower numbers quite considerably in just a couple of days. Watch out Asda - they’re hot on your tale when it comes to the twitter statistics.

Tesco - @tescostores
Followers: 1,186
Following: 0
No. of tweets: 2
Joined Twitter: 3rd April 2009 (10 months ago)
Followed me back? No
This is clearly the poorest show of the bunch. Although it does illustrate that people will follow supermarkets no matter how inactive they are on twitter. In fact there is no way to tell if this is a genuine Tesco account or not. Tesco do seem to be broadcasting under a number of department twitter accounts though - such as @TescoWines and @TescoEntertain. The entertainment account follows people but the wine one does not, there seems to be no well thought out, clearly defined or integrated use of twitter by Tesco.

Waitrose - @WaitroseUK
Followers: 1193
Following: 783
No. of tweets: 70
Joined Twitter: 11th June 2009 (8 months ago)
Followed me back? Yes (within 24 hours)
Waitrose look to be engagine well. They don’t update much but their tweets are comprised of a mixture of news, job opportunities, conversation and offers. They tweet outside usual office hours, mainly from the web interface. They were the only supermarket to follow me back in the time it took to put this post together. I sent them a Direct Message asking if they would like to tell me what they get out of twitter for my post - they responded promptly:

Biggest benefit has been simply the ability to communicate 1:1 (or 1 : many) with our customers / followers in real time

It’s nice to see that it’s all about the communication for Waitrose - here’s to seeing a few more tweets from them! I suggest they set up a search for the company name and dive into the conversation - when it seems appropriate.

I could find no presence for Morrisons. Although the username @Morrisons has been registered it is impossible to tell if it is owned by the company or a squatter - it is so far unused. Marks & Spencer (@marksandspencer) have a very strong presence on Twitter but this covers their entire retail offering, not just food. For this reason I thought it would be unfair to draw a comparison.

I think Sainsbury’s and Waitrose have the right idea. Tesco on the other hand don’t seem to know if they are coming or going - are they using twitter or not?

Personally, I end up shopping at Tesco the most. This is simply because, out of the supermarkets in Newbury, they have the largest selection of products. I do however get the impression that if I were to experience a problem in Waitrose or Sainsbury’s, that I would get a response via twitter. That is something I see as valuable. I like for companies to communicate with me on my terms and I like the short, no nonsense, opt-in nature of twitter. There is a lot of goodwill to be found on social media channels and I think brands that ignore it or fail to put the effort in will miss out. I’d love to know your thoughts on this too…

I gathered this information using TweetStats and When Did You Join Twitter?.

I started doing this round up of interesting links a couple of weeks ago. I’m a day late with this one, hopefully no one will notice. I hope you find it interesting/useful. Do let me know if you discover a gem

Sourcing and Recruitment

#TRUSource - A Sourcing Training Day
I am part of an All-Star team of sourcers putting on a special training day before the second Recruiting Unclonference in London on 17th February. Check out the page above for some great deals.

The Social Web

The Shorty Awards
Looks like these are kicking off again - I’ve seen a lot of nominations for the Newbury Astronomical Society (aka @NewburyAS) - they deserve them.

FavStar
Ever wondered who has been favouriting your tweets? Well, this little tool will tell you, you don’t even need to sign in or anything like that.

Living with and without Twitter
By Zoe Kleinman (aka @zsk) on the BBC

Twiangulate
A review by Amybeth Hale (aka @researchgoddess) of this tool to help you find great people to follow on Twitter.

Local Links (Berkshire, UK)

#rdgtweetup - New Venue for 2010
Reading Tweetup is looking for a fresh venue - I’ve compiled a poll from the suggestions made on the blog.

Other

Grammar: They’re/their/there - What’s your score?
I’m allowed to link to this - I got 100%

Fun: Let Me Google That For You
Ever wish people would google something before bugging you with a question? This is a cheeky little way to make your point

I started doing this round up of interesting links last week. I hope you find it interesting/useful. Do let me know if you discover a gem

Sourcing and Recruitment

Day 3 of Bill Boorman’s #HRCarnival
Bill Boorman, the founder of The Recruiting Unconference, is running his HR Video Blog Carnival to mark the end of 2009 and the beginning of the new decade. He’s posting 10 videos a day from stars in the industry. My video can be found in Day 3.

I won SourceCon Challenge #2
Each year the Sourcing Conference (SourceCon) sets three challenges for sourcers. The winners of the three challenges get to go to the conference for free and compete to become the Grand Master Sourcer. This year’s second challenge began on 1st January and has taken up most of my week…

The Social Web

Can You Make It?
A great new event planning tool from my friend Daniel (@dtsn). Currently in Alpha. He’s also looking for feedback on this possible new design.

Social Networking in Plain English [Video]
These videos from Common Craft are fantastic. Go check out more of them.

Measurement Camp
Next event is on 26th January. They’re looking for a venue - can you help?

Chris Brogan’s Social Media Case Study Bookmarks on delicious
An incredible resource, tweeted by @scottgould on 2nd January and added to my Twitter Favourites.

How to say stupid thigs about Social Media
By Cory Doctorow on Guardian.co.uk

8 Things To Avoid When Building a Community
By Leah Betancourt on Mashable

Ning add Twitter integration to their social networks
I need to check this one out as I have recently started a network on Ning myself.

Local Links (Berkshire, UK)

Tragedy as The Hexagon Theatre fails to impress on Twitter
By Nigel Morgan (@Nigel_Morgan) of Morgan PR
I sent out one little tweet expressing my distaste at not being followed back by this local theatre and look what happened! Suffice to say, they now follow me and what looks like all their other real followers back and are seeming a little more chatty on Twitter. All’s well that ends well I hope.

Music

I keep an ever expanding playlist on Spotify of ‘Just Cool‘ songs, I add only the coolest of songs as they occurr to me. I share some of this week’s highlights here.

Classic: Jonny Cash - One
[Spotify link]

Classic: Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf
[Spotify link]

Other

Photos: #Project365
A tag worth following on Twitter. I’m hopeless with a camera but love looking at what others can produce with them. To take part in the #project365 folks are taking a photo for each day of the year.

Food: The quest for the ultimate cheese toasty
Anyone that has followed me on Twitter for long will know that I love cheese - people even tweet me great little links like this one from @homagedufromage

Fun: My Phycological Profile from TweetPsych
Apparently I’m anxious and want to be in control… no surprises there!

Time Lapse Video: Beer!
By Amy Kimber (@amykate)

#uksnow: My Snow Pictures