This time, Twestival will be going local

A micro-blogging site may let you post only 140 character-sized tit-bit thoughts on the web, but there is a limit to the impact it can create. The power of the site to promote a cause was first exhibited through Twestival (see box for info) which was first organised in February this year — it raised $250,000 plus for charitable purposes. The money thus raised was used to provide drinking water to 55 villages in Africa.

However successful the event might have been financially, a lot of people felt distanced from the actual cause. But the next edition of twestival, titled Twestival Local, is trying to change just that.

This time around, every city will organise a Twestival but not for a cause supporting people elsewhere, but for people in their neighbourhood. Like many other cities across the globe, Bangalore too will organise one and twitter users are already busy trying to get the ball rolling.

Hrish Thotha, one of the organisers in Bangalore, says the money generated from the Twestival will be sent to Dream A Dream, a city-based initiative supporting NGOs that take care of underprivileged children. “It was started eight years back.They have been organising life-skills workshops, taking the children to movies etc. So we thought they were a good choice,” says Thotha.

The first Twestival in India was held in February this year. “Last time, Twestival was held  at Opus. Though we had fun, there wasn’t much talk about the cause. This time we will be concentrating on volunteering without letting off on raising money. People who come here will have a chance to interact with the kids and see to it that they have fun, rather than merely having a get together,” he adds.

“Another thing we plan to do this year is to get more non-twitter users to the event. Yes, technology like twitter is a tool to spread awareness and not just a qualification to attend the event,” he says.

The previous Twestival was held in a hurry with a heads up of only 10 days and hence the turn out was much lower than expected. This time around, Thotha and his friends are expecting a bigger crowd.

An event of such a scale as Twestival requires a lot of co-ordination. The fact that it happens around the same time across the globe makes it a tad complicated.
Vijayanthi KM, a sales professional, will be the one co-ordinating Twestivals in India, the Middle East and Bangladesh.

According to her, Twestivals in most other parts of the world, including India have an informal nature, but in Abu Dhabi they have gone on a different route to raise as much funds as they can for the cause. They have switched to a formal conference model and are calling for silver and gold sponsors.

“Such a model will, sadly, not work in this country. We have to depend more on personal relations to spread the word and to raise funds. Other Indian metropolises, such as Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi will also be organising Twestivals, but not all of them have decided on a cause yet,” says Vijayanthi.