London Twestival can announce that this month’s event will take place at the Cable club in London Bridge. We hope the 25 March 2010 event will grow on the success of previous events and would like to thank Cable for accommodating London Twestival.

Cable’s promotions manager Kay said: “Cable is delighted to announce that it will be hosting one of the Twestival events. As a new and unique venue in London we want to encourage events with a difference and Twestival is certainly this! Also, being a new club a strong aspect of our marketing is social media and Twestival uses social media for social good raising money for charity. Cable is proud to be involved and help raise as much as possible for this cause [Concern Worldwide].”

You can still purchase tickets for London Twestival here and we look forward to meeting you there for what promises to be a great night.

How to get there:

Address: Cable, Bermondsey St Tunnel, London Bridge, SE1 3JW View Map

Nearest Tube: London Bridge (Jubilee and Northern lines)

Overland: London Bridge

Under the guise of the Smooth Tweetin’ Bar Stewards, iomart Hosting, headline sponsors of both the London and Glasgow Twestivals are giving Tweeps who attend both events the chance to get fresh and fruity. The company is providing a full blown smoothie bar at the London Twestival (Cable Club) and is offering a Twestival Fruit punch for revellers at the Glasgow Event (Lansdowne Bar).

The five Hosting themed smoothies on offer in London include the On Demand Orange, Cool Cranberry Cloud, Berry Burstin’ Bandwidth, Hot Hosting Hootch and the iSmoothie (made with Apple, naturally).

Party goers at both events will be able to get their fresh and fruity drink of choice – totally gratis -by simply tweeting their order to @iomarthosting during the event. A team of iomart Hosting Bar Stewards will be on hand at each venue – suitably adorned in their Bar Steward t-shirt – to dispense both the drink and some Twestival goodwill.

But that’s not all, the guys at iomart Hosting have produced a limited run of their t-shirts and have 40 available for both venues. If you’d like to really get into the fresh and fruity spirit and want to help our charity Concern at the same time. This is what you need to do:

Visit http://www.iomarthosting.com/twestival, complete the simple form and offer more than a £5 minimum donation. The shirt will be handed to you on the night in exchange for the donation you have offered. EVERY PENNY donated will be handed over to the London & Glasgow Twestival organisers on the night and donated to Concern Worldwide. But be quick – this is first come, first served! First 80 orders received and that’s it!

Finally, iomart Hosting is demonstrating its involvement with both events together by attempting the Twestival Traffic Cone Trek. iomart Hosting’s Marketing bod Phil will attend BOTH events on the same night (Flight delays/cancellations/body searches permitting).

Phil will bring messages of support from the @LDNtwestival Party to the @gtwestival venue, hand signed on a Traffic Cone – Glasgow’s unofficial iconic Logo and the official @gtwestival one!

You will be able to follow the Cone’s adventures (or lack of) and journey on the night via twitter #LGTcone.

The chances are you’re reading this blog because you’ve spotted the hashtag #tweacher on Twitter. Being a teacher and getting the best out of kids – or even getting their attention at all – is a tough, tough gig.

But in some places, kids are desperate for an education, but can’t afford to go to school or to have learning opportunities that would make a huge difference in their lives. This is something Concern Worldwide is working to change in some of the poorest communities in the world.

As organisers of London Twestival (you can get tickets to the 25th March event here) we want to highlight the real difference a good teacher can make to an individual by paying tribute to those who encouraged us to learn with all the distractions of youth around us and help mould us (hopefully) into well-rounded individuals.

In true Twitter style (i.e. sub-140 characters), here are our favourite #tweachers. Please tweet your favourite teacher now with the hashtag #tweacher:

Chris Lee - Mr Utting (history), without whom my perception of ‘the Diet of Worms’ would be wholly misplaced…

Jaz Cummins - Mr Starkie for reading Roald Dahl’s chocolate cake bit in Matilda aloud in the most amazing way to me and wearing a bow tie every day!

Poppy Dinsey - Prof Mickiewicz for being impossibly cute, having a sexy accent and making Emerging Market Economies all kinds of awesome

Sandy Matthews - Mrs Mulholland - enthusiastic, inspiring, History and Form Tutor keeping me on the straight and narrow and teaching me to write properly

Sarah Espiner - Mr Allen for helping me through Sociology A-Level with knowledge and humour, and teaching me to see both sides of an argument

Elizabeth Varley - Mr Cargill my International Studies teacher showed me that a different approach can really engage people

Ben Matthews - Mr Fouracre, for being the most entertaining ginger, Welsh, juggling English Teacher ever (and a massive inspiration!)

Alissa Barlow – Miss Concanon. For always going above and beyond, and teaching me that being bookish could be a very awesome thing #tweacher #twestival

Damien Austin-Walker - Mr Edmonson for demonstrating the power of static electricity by touching the Van Der Graff generator and being thrown flat on his back on the table from the shock

Tim Hoang - Mr Wilkinson, Tong School. Pushed me more than any other teacher and actually believed in his pupils. Now as much of a friend as a mentor.

Vikki Chowney - Mr Andrews, for making me laugh throughout that stressful ‘entrance exams’ period and encouraging me to take it all in my stride.

Jon Cartwright - Mr Brock, my A-level physics teacher, who knew he was fallible, never disguised it, and would learn along with us, proving it was possible

At the top of this page you can buy a ticket to London Twestival on 25th March and 100% of that money, and any money you donate on the night, or donate via the widget above, goes directly to the education projects of Concern Worldwide.

Have fun reminiscing about someone who taught you something important by tweeting your #tweacher today, and please give someone else the chance to look back and say ‘that person made a difference in my life’ by buying a ticket or making a donation now.

Thank you for your support.

We’re delighted to unveil wireless music systems provider Sonos as a sponsor of this month’s London Twestival.

Sonos is a company “created by music lovers, for music lovers”. We like the sound of that! The company is active in 60 countries and provides wireless music technology for whole-house coverage. Sonos’ technology “ensures synchronous music playback and avoids sources of wireless interference. Which means the music gets to all the right rooms — near or far — at exactly the right time.”

We welcome Sonos to the Twestival club and take this opportunity to thank the company for its support. Look out for a guest blog from Sonos next week. In the mean time, why not follow Sonos on Twitter?

One of the many beneficiaries of Concern Worldwide

On Thursday 25 March 2010, people in hundreds of cities around the world will come together to rally around the important cause of education by hosting events to have fun and create awareness.  Twestival™ (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good.  These live events are organised 100 per cent by volunteers and 100 per cent of all ticket sales and donations go direct to charity projects, and we’re looking for more sponsors!

We already have hosting specialists iomart announced as a sponsor and another announcement to follow, plus we are receiving valuable communications support from Borkowski PR, but extra sponsors can help us make even more of an impact for the event’s supported charity, Concern Worldwide.

In 2010, Twestival turns its focus to education and 72 million children in the world who don’t go to school. Concern Worldwide has been selected by the Twestival Global team and Twestival event leaders all around the world to be the recipient because of its comprehensive and well-respected approach to education.  This is an issue that involves many different elements; hunger, water, teacher training, building of schools and more.  We hope to use the power of our global event fundraising and social media influence as a vehicle to give people insight into this cause on a deeper level.

We’d love to have you on board for what is both a great cause and a great night. Do please contact Vikki Chowney if you’d like to get involved: vikki@vikkichowney.com

As the countdown continues to the London Twestival on 25 March 2010, we’re delight to welcome Karen Gallagher, Head of Concern Northern Ireland, to tell us more about what Twestival means for the charity:

“All of us at Concern Worldwide are very excited to be involved with the fourth annual Twestival and would like to thank everyone involved across the world for helping to raise vital funds and awareness for our education programmes. Twestival is such a fantastic example of the difference that can be made when individuals join together to volunteer and take action.

“Every child has a right to a free and good quality education. School helps children develop the skills they need to make themselves heard in the world, to make positive changes in their own lives and ultimately break free from poverty. Yet at least 72 million children across the world, many of whom are girls, are not enrolled in school.

“Concern Worldwide’s education programmes reach more than 500,000 people in 14 of the poorest counties across the world. These projects work within existing educational systems to make a real and lasting difference. By rebuilding and re-equipping primary schools; providing quality teacher training; supporting communities to take on the management of schools and ensuring schools are a clean and safe environment for children we are developing sustainable, quality education systems.

“Thanks to the support of Twestival we will be able to do so much more. Our education programmes will bring real, long-term improvements to local communities, helping thousands of children to get access to a primary education and the chance of a brighter future.”

Thank you to everyone taking part in London Twestival for your support and we look forward to seeing you on 25 March for a great night!

If you’re familiar with the film About Schmidt, you’ll know that the story: Jack Nicholas (Warren Schmidt) struggles to come to terms with retirement and sponsors a Tanzanian boy, Ndugu, to whom he writes rambling letters explaining his circumstances. Schmidt has many personal failings, both real and perceived. When he returns home from a long road trip which includes his daughter’s wedding (which he disapproves of) he reads a letter received from a nun on Ndugu’s mission. Ndugu can’t write, but is grateful for Schmidt’s financial help - which has helped save his sight. Enclosed is a cartoon drawn by the boy depicting two figures – one tall, one small – holding hands and smiling, which moves Schmidt to tears as he realises that his life has finally had a positive impact on someone.

The film reminds me a lot of my primary school in Kent when we sponsored a child from Guinea Bissau. Aged six or seven, it was my first exposure to the challenges that African children of the same age faced when it came to schooling compared to our own. It was all very surreal, having letters read out in assembly by your headmaster on the tough daily routine this child went through just to get an education. Walking miles to school in worn-out shoes (some of his friends didn’t have any at all), lugging water home, regular health risks, and the list went on. My greatest concerns at that age were whether rain would prevent football during lunch break and whether I could complete the Panini sticker book collection for that season.

That was in the early-mid eighties, just before Live Aid really put Africa on the map of social consciousness in the West. And parts of Africa still face similar challenges – possibly more than ever – a lot of which can be tackled over the long term with good sanitation combined with education. This is where Twestival’s supported partner Concern Worldwide comes in, which aims to improve the lives of the world’s poorest people.

But, as About Schmidt shows, we can all make a difference to someone, somewhere on an individual or collective basis. So please support Twestival to meet these ongoing challenges head on.

We’re delighted to announce that Borkowski PR, one of the UK’s most respected public relations consultancies, has come on board to help raise awareness of the upcoming London Twestival event on 25 March, 2010.

Mark Borkowski, founder and agency head at Borkowski PR, is a big fan of Twestival and believes that Twestival is “inspiring event and a real, positive social media success story”.

Borkowski adds: “Social media has become such a vital part how we interact and communicate with one another; it’s great to see the Twestival volunteers using this global platform for such a great cause. Social media’s ability to captivate audience on a global level within seconds shows how powerful it can be.”

As organisers of Twestival, it’s great to have such a well-respected PR firm on board to drive public awareness of the event and help us even further in supporting the education projects of Concern Worldwide, this year’s Twestival Global charity recipient.

If you’re a journalist or blogger and would like to know more about Twestival, please contact Louise or Laura at Borkowski on: twestival@borkowski.co.uk or call 0207 404 3000.

Very exciting news today, we’d like to welcome iomart Hosting as the headline sponsor of Twestival Global London in March. iomart are planning something really fun for the 25th March event, so keep your eyes on the blog here and @LDNTwestival for announcements. We’re so pleased to have the iomart Hosting team supporting Twestival London!

Phil Worms, Director Corporate Communications, iomart Hosting said:

“iomart Hosting is delighted to be associated with this year’s London Twestival as headline sponsor. Twestival perfectly demonstrates that when used effectively, the internet can be a great medium for highlighting important issues and harnessing goodwill on a global scale, in this case the use of social media for the social good. We are particularly pleased that the beneficiary of this year’s Twestival is Concern Worldwide and that the focus for funds raised in 2010 will be for education projects.

For those of us that cannot imagine life without the internet, we can all be guilty of assuming that everyone else must be as busy emailing, browsing, tweeting, as we are ourselves. We couldn’t be more wrong. For many of the world’s citizens, basic day-to-day survival is a struggle, and that without the help and support of organisations such as Concern Worldwide there would be little or no hope.

Let’s not deny anyone, particularly children, one of the greatest gifts that we can bestow: opportunity. We can’t ever hope to be a truly aspirational society if we do not open up the possibilities that education offers. I would therefore urge anyone who uses Twitter to get involved and support their local Twestival.”

So join with us in giving iomart Hosting some tweet love to say thanks for their support of Twestival Global London.

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Posted by @evarley, Twestival London Team Leader

Welcome to the relaunched Twestival Global London site!

We’re getting ready for a fantastic event on Thursday 25th March 2010 supporting the education projects of Concern Worldwide. London will be joining hundreds of cities around the world in raising money and awareness for the vital work Concern does in some of the poorest communities in the world, including right now in Haiti.

So, how can you get involved? In the next few days we’ll be calling for sponsors and volunteers to help make Twestival London a truly awesome experience. So if you’re keen to get help in that way, please get in touch.

You can also help by putting the date in your diary right now and tweet, tweet, tweet to let others know. You’ll be able to donate through your ticket purchase, online and on the night at the event.

Spread the word by following & retweeting @LDNTwestival. Let’s make it happen!

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Posted by @evarley, Twestival London Team Leader