The Lawrence Twestival will be using Whrrl as another social media tool for recording tonight’s events.

A big thank you to @SuperJennBlogs for putting together this very easy to follow tutorial on using Whrrl. It’s a great tool, use it tonight, you’ll have fun with it!

There are so many people to meet and so many fun things to do at the Lawrence Twestival this Thursday…how will you ever get to experience it all?  How about by adding Whrrl to your list of social media explorations?  Whrrl is a way to share your “story” with the public, your friends and your family…and a way for your friends and family to join in!  Adding pictures, locations and text to a story as it happens…then instantly publishing it to Facebook and/or Twitter.

This gives many people the chance to see what is happening…from many different perspectives!  You simply “join” a story and start adding text and photos.  Don’t want to use your mobile for real time additions?  You can take pictures and add them online later!

We will be starting a Whrrl Story for the Twestival on Thursday night!  Want to join in?  Just go to Whrrl and register yourself for an account.  Add some “friends” to your list to get you started: A few local Whrrl users are Ben Smith (@benasmith), Jenn Hethcoat (@superjennblogs), Deb Johanning (@thesandbar or @debjohanning), Briana Saunders (@briana9), or Zack McDougall (@zackmcdougall).  If you turn your notification “on” … you will see when any one of us begins a story for the evening.  Simply click on it from your phone and “join the story”!  Whrrl has a great tutorial for building a story with friends that makes it simple to understand.  You can find that tutorial HERE .

There is a free app download for iPhone users that makes this a cinch! Either visit the Whrrl Homepage and enter your phone number in the iPhone widget to have an app sent to your phone…or search the app store for “Whrrl”.   You can find a tutorial HERE.  You can also find online tutorials for non- iPhone users HERE that will show you how to text your way into a story.  Thinking about adding some pictures after the event?  Simply view the tutorial found HERE.

Questions?  Find one of us at the Twestival and we will do our best to help you get going…once you do there will be no turning back.   You will want to share your life on Whrrl every day!

People have been asking what’s in the Lawrence Twestival Goody Bags…. So here’s what you get!

You buy your ticket for either $12 in advance or $15 at the door. As a thank you for your support you get a special goody bag.  Each bag includes:

FREE ticket for the Kanas City Renaissance Festival, to be used the weekend of Sept 12-13 or Sept 19-20. This ticket alone is a $17.95 value!

Drink coupon redeemable at the bar during the Twestival for a 16oz  Hoptoberfest beer from New Belgium Brewery (or a soda if you prefer);

One free ticket for the door prizes drawing (additional tickets can be purchased during the event). We have some amazing door prizes up for grabs and you could leave with some sweet swag;

Free cover coupon from the Barrel House

Free cover coupon from The Sandbar

Pet Alert Decal from Protection One

Stress toy from Merirust Credit Union

Mousepad from Sunflower Broadband

Comic from Astrokitty Comics

Coupons from Scooters Coffee

All that free with the ticket, plus a great night out, additional promo giveaways throughout the evening, and 100% of your ticket cost goes to the Humane Society.

Note: Goody bags limited to first 200 hundred attendees only.

The Lawrence and Kansas City Twestivals are pleased to join together for this special announcement.

The Lawrence Twestival takes place Thursday, September 10, at Jo Shmo’s in Downtown Lawrence. The Twestival benefits the Lawrence Humane Society.

The Kansas City Twestival takes place Friday, September 11, at the Brooksider Bar & Grill in Kansas City. The Twestival benefits Wayside Waifs.

We want you to support both events and we are going to reward those that do.

For those who attend both the Lawrence and Kansas City Twestivals, the organizers of each event have gotten together and will be giving you a private tweetup with a nice bar tab paid for you to enjoy.

This private tweetup will take place at Johnny’s off Hwy 10 on Ridgeview Road near Olathe, pretty much the half way point between Jo Shmo’s and The Brooksider.

I will take place during October on a date to be agreed. It will only be those who have attended both Twestivals who are invited to join us at our expense.

What a bonus, two great Twestivals, two great nights out, two great causes PLUS a bonus tweetup at Johnny’s with a bar tab credit to take advantage of!

We’ll also give you special recognition at both Twestival events and on Twitter.

Can you say win-win!

(Note: The event at Johnny’s is open only to those who have paid to attend both the Lawrence Twestival on Sept 10 and Kansas City Twestival on September 11. A total bar credit not to exceed $100 will be provided to be shared between those attending. These funds will not be deducted from any Twestival funds but will be paid by the Lawrence and KC Twestival organizers personally)

When you post about the Lawrence Twestival don’t forget to include the #Ltwest hashtag.

That will pull your tweet in to the live feed on this page as well as the live coverage of the Twestival that will take place on Scribble and on the Lawrence Tweetup site.

But just a reminder, if your Twitter account is set to private then none of your tweets will be pulled in to the feed.  If you want to participate and see your tweets displayed live during the Twestival Thursday evening, please make sure to turn off the privacy setting on your account for the duration of the Twestival event.

We want to recognize all those who have so far stepped up to support the Lawrence Twestival.

Presenting Sponsor:

Sunflower Broadband

Venue Sponsor:

Jo Shmo’s

Sponsors:

Scooters of Lawrence

Meritrust Credit Union

Lawrence on Rails

LangfordSevier

Advertising Sponsor:

LJWorld.com

Prize Sponsors:

Kansas City Renaissance Festival

Astrokitty Comics

Just Massage

Holy-Field Winery

Garmin

The Eldridge

The Oread

The Barrel House

The Granada

23rd Street Brewery

Protection One

Local Burger

Lawrence Best Buy

Best Buy Mobile 837

The Sandbar

Sandbar Subs

Anthony’s Beehive

Pawsh Wash

Joe College

Devil Dog Brew

Adidas

Event Support:

@DJSoap

@LittleScottie

Lawrence Twestival Committee:

@benasmith

@debjohanning

@philmartinez

@Joey96

Remember, it’s not too late, your business can still get involved with this amazing social media event!

This is a difficult post to write. Over the last few days we have just seen such overwhelming support of the Lawrence Twestival it’s been difficult to keep up. It’s a great problem to have. We are so fortunate to be part of an amazing community that time after time comes together to support worthy causes.

We have received three new cash sponsorships:

Meritrust Credit Union have stepped up as a Level One Sponsor.

Lawrence on Rails have stepped up as a Level Two Sponsor.

And Jesse and Jacinta of LangfordSevier have also stepped up as a Level Two Sponsor.

We have also added some great prize sponsors, adding even more value to the amazing goody bags we have put together for everyone attending and to the door prize drawing and silent auction.  Since you even get a free ticket for the door prize drawing just by attending, your $12 ticket could see you leave with some pretty sweet swag!  Additional prize sponsors:

Lawrence Best Buy

Best Buy Mobile 837

The Sandbar

Sandbar Subs

Anthony’s Beehive

Pawsh Wash

Astrokitty Comics (adding goody bag gifts to the great door prizes they already donated)

Sunflower Broadband (also adding goody bag gifts to their presenting sponsorship)

It’s not too late, your business can still get involved with this amazing social media event!

Thank you all for your support.

Your $12 ticket to the Lawrence Twestival includes a goody bag and freebies (first 200 people only).  It also includes a free ticket for the door prizes drawing. You can buy more tickets during the event.  We already have some great prizes up for grabs - see our earlier post.

Today we received some more great prizes.  Attend the Lawrence Twestival and you could win big while helping a great cause!

A big thank you to the 23rd Street Brewery for donating two $25 gift certificates!

Another big thank you to The Granada for donating a pair of tickets to three different shows- Jamey Johnson, Victor Wooten, and Shwayze.

Also a very big thank you to The Barrel House.  They have kindly donated free cover fliers for everyone attending the Twestival, giving you a chance to check out The Barrel House without paying the usual cover.  They have also donated a great prize worth some $300…

The Barrel House is proud to offer a night in our Blue Moon Lounge.  The Blue Moon Lounge offers availability for up to 50 people and has it’s own private bar with the ability to buy Blue Moon, Miller Lite or Coors Light kegs.  The view of the piano stage is remarkable, and all of your needs and wishes will be taken care of by our staff.  Included in this package is free cover charge for up to 50 guests and the Blue Moon Lounge from 8 pm until 1:45 am.  This offer is only valid on Thursdays and the reservation needs to be made at least a week in advance.  We look forward to hosting you for your special event.  Please contact The Barrel House at 785-856-3835 if you have any questions.

Finally for today, a special thank you to LJWorld.com for their in kind sponsorship.  They have generously donated online advertising on both lwjorld.com and lawrence.com.  Check out the times to see out very cool ad!

Thank you to all the businesses that are supporting the Lawrence Twestival, you are amazing! Great to see social media make a difference, with 100% of proceeds going direct to the Lawrence Humane Society!

Big news today, Lawrence Twestival tickets are officially on sale!

You can but them online at http://www.amiando.com/LtwupTwestival

Amiando are an official Twestival partner and have waived all fees for processing ticket sales, so the Lawrence Humane Society will still receive 100% of the ticket price.

We’ve been able to put together a great deal. Tickets are just $12 each in advance and not only give you a great night out in support of a great cause, but also get you freebies worth far more than the cost of the ticket.  It’s an absolute win-win! (Goody bags limited to first 200 ticket purchases).

Please get online and buy your tickets today.  Lets show the community how social media can be used in a practical way and make a positive difference.

We’ve got some great news to share today!

First, we just posted our brand new custom designed logo.  We’re excited to have a logo that reflects our chosen cause and helps give Lawrence a unique look among the Twestival Local events.

We’re also very pleased to announce that @ScootersLawrenc have stepped up as a corporate sponsor at the $250 level.  A big thank you to Scooters! Scooters join our other corporate sponsor, @SFBroadband.

Also, another great prize up for grabs at the Lawrence Twestival, this time thanks to @TheEldridge and @TheOread.  They have very kindly donated a night’s stay at the brand new The Oread when it opens in January 2010.  This joins the other great prizes we have up for grabs at the Lawrence Twestival.

Finally for this post, the Twestival is already going to be a great night out, but is now even better thanks to our special emcee for the evening.  We are pleased to announce that @LittleScottie of the always popular Smokie and the Bear show will act as our emcee for the night, joining forces with @DJSoap to lead us through the evening.

Lots more opportunities to get involved.  A great way for your business to be part of the Lawrence social media community, plus 100% of proceeds go direct to the Lawrence Humane Society.  We need cash sponsors (please see earlier post for sponsor levels), plus silent auction items and door prizes. Nothing is too small!

Please email bsmith@ljworld.com if you are interested in getting your business involved as a sponsor or donor. More deails will be posted soon.

We are pleased to reveal our new logo, designed exclusively for the Lawrence Twestival!

The logo keeps the Twestival Local look and feel while reflecting our chosen cause for 2009, the Lawrence Humane Society.

The logo was designed by Janella Williams, Senior Graphic Artist at the Lawrence Journal-World.

Great job Janella, thanks for your support!

Here are both tagged and untagged versions of the new logo: