#sgtweetup

I was at the first Tweetup in Singapore organized by Carl Griffith, and I was surprised at the turnout.

Here are my thoughts:

1) Location:

The location is not very easy to find, I had some friends who cannot locate it. However, it is not that far away from public transport, which is a bonus. The shape of the room, I fell is not very conducive for the event, small clusters of people, not really easy to get to. 

2) Food/Drinks:

The drinks there are ok, 1 for 1 for such an event is good, but beer selection is rather limited. Would love if they could provide more finger food like peanuts, or chips, then perhaps I would have drank more.

3) Event:

I felt like something was missing, and the event was somehow "hijacked" by the model presentation. I mean a tweetup? Should we get some tips on how to use twitter? I think there are some beginners who just joined, and may learn a thing or two from the veterans. I like the @ nametags, which was cool, but they can still be bigger and more obvious as I am wearing glasses and cannot see that well. The plus side is the models tweet, and why complain about models?

Although it was organized on facebook, I went through the attendees, and could not find a lot of people I met, and its also hard to find their twitter names if I did not get it down at the tweetup. 

There probably need a phone number to call if people are lost trying to get there.

4) Turnout:

Turnout was amazing for the first time this was held. I think we had close to 100 Singaporean tweeps at this sgtweetup. I expected maybe 40 to turn up, but it was great. 

5) Ambiance:

Like I said, it was not a very conducive place to meet. I think many tweeps who came are rather shy and I had to approach them to break the ice. The multiple chairs in the way did not help, and when people are standing with chairs around them, some may feel a little intimidated and do not approach.

The location felt small when everyone arrived, and it was a little too many people in a small room to mingle. In Singapore, I felt again that Singaporeans do not really have the culture to just socialize and network. I tried to have some conversation, but got smiles and nods instead. People don't seem to want to introduce themselves.

There were definitely some cool tweeps there. 

These are some cool tweeps I met:

@alightheart @stephietan @inrsoul @armchairdude @ctham @shaunmartin @illkagobius @callumlinden @belindaang @sgbrands @sm7catscan @aungtastic @armchairdude @BoltClock @gnoserif @halffinn @kensapp @chinyong @deliciatan @FoOie @iammyy @WeRecycleIT @micamonkey @trudinger 

Overall, there were many marketing people, and networking people, students, the usual geek... Luckily I did not meet insurance / fund managers / financial advisors / property agents / MLM people there.

I must say to those who refuse to come, this is a pretty cool event, you really missed out.

-- Iron Bowl