Arrived for the Cake, Stayed for the Blood Drive

Fri 4 Jul 2008

Originally, I was going to step away from my computer and completely unplug for the long holiday weekend here in the U.S. By chance however, I stumbled across some links for the Austin Blood Drive Tweetup and felt compelled to write about it ASAP. OK, it was not totally by chance. During the event the group presented a birthday cake to Mike Chapman (@mikechapman) with a fail whale on it. So I was all over this as soon as the tags showed up on Flickr. Happy belated birthday to Mike Chapman by the way. Your cake looked both awesome and tasty. But that’s all I have to say about the fail whale cake, because that’s not why I’m writing about this.

Austin Blood Drive Tweetup (ABDT) was organized, announced, and executed all within about 72 hours. Based on a recent post by Michelle Greer, one of the organizers, ABDT effectively doubled the donation center’s typical volume, and may have set a record for the number of first time donors. This is an amazing result, and an exemplary case of what online social networking can and should be. It inspires the rest of us to do better and to use our online social connections to do good in our offline social lives.

The motto of this club (and blog) is to make light of the growing pains that we are all facing as we push online social communication to the next level. However, I can’t help but take time to highlight the good that is being accomplished as we advance. I look forward to reading more about events and movements just like the ABDT, where offline social activities are enhanced by their online compliments. This event appears to be a glowing success, with or without the fail whale cake. So the Fail Whale Fan Club tips its hat to the 501 Tech Club of Austin, The Austin Social Media Club, and all of the individuals who literally put blood sweat and tears into this event.

[Photos courtessy of Omar Gallaga (@omarg) and SummerTX]

Posted by seanosteen under Social Coolness 
 

 

5 Responses to “Arrived for the Cake, Stayed for the Blood Drive”

  1. Mike Chapman says, July 5th, 2008 at 3:15 am

    Yes indeed. @MichelleGreer and @Daveiam (David Neff) are Social Coolness personified. So are the many, many other Twitterers who showed up to give blood, support, some tears, and me a really wonderful birthday gift. @summerh had something to do with the artwork I’m told and everyone there proved the social good that can come from making real friends online and off.

  2. Michelle Greer says, July 5th, 2008 at 3:53 am

    I am glad we could add to the “social coolness” section of your blog. Always something to aspire to.

    Seriously though, I encourage others to mobilize to have their own blood drive tweetups. Everyone involved had a great time and the people at the blood center really appreciated it.

    Here are all the pics from the event:
    http://www.flickr.com/groups/austinblooddrivetweetup/

  3. David J. Neff says, July 5th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    Hey
    This is David (@daveiam) and I was a organizer and cake decorator for the event. Glad you liked the cake! I decorated it at about midnight and could not stop laughing as I made it. Also thanks for highlighting the event. Social Media for Social good is what we are all about.

  4. Dale Thompson says, July 7th, 2008 at 12:29 am

    Thanks for the great article and for everyone creating buzz around the Austin 501 Tech Club, too. David Neff - does he ever sleep?

  5. Social Media Club Austin - » Blood Drive Tweetup a Success says, July 7th, 2008 at 5:33 pm

    [...] out these other blog posts on the event: The Fail Whale Fan Club,  Every Dot Connects (@sheilas), Michelle’s Blog (@MichelleGreer), FI Space (@daveiam), and [...]