This month's Social Media Club South Florida was a massive tweetup to wish Social Fresh Cruise guests a warm bon voyage, Miami style. The event took place November 11 at the Doubletree Grand Hotel on Biscayne Bay.
Joining the well-wishers were local organizations Refresh Miami, the Association for Women in Communications, the Public Relations Society of America, and the Digital Media Alliance Florida.
The first two hours were devoted to the monthly mixer for the Greater Miami Visitors and Convention Bureau (@miamiandbeaches). Few had @ signs on their name tags, until the local twitterati began arriving about an hour into the evening.
After the mixer, the tweetup kicked in, with more than 200 people trickling in and out over the course of the evening. Complimentary red and white wine flowed like Niagara Falls, and passed hors d'oeuvres (sponsored by David T. Caserta from Government Relations, Inc., and Digital Media Alliance Florida) kept mouths full when people weren't yapping.
"This is probably the biggest social media tweetup we've ever had in Miami," said Yvette Ferry (@yvetteferry), one of several people who helped make the tweetup happen.
The Social Fresh Cruise will take place this weekend, with a stop in Cozumel. An exclusive, invite-only cruise, it brings together a who's who of social media professionals from around the country for shoptalk, which apparently they never get to do because they're always too busy talking to others instead of among themselves. Chris Brogan's flight was delayed, so he never made it to the tweetup. But the other social media speakers did mingle with the South Florida crew, including Amber Naslund (@ambercadabra), Jason Keath (@jakrose), and Greg Cangialosi (@blueskyfactory).
Richard Tucker (@cruisesource), cruise organizer, was totally wowed by the South Florida social media community. Based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, Tucker is business
development specialist for Cruise Deals. He knows his cruise business. "I picked Miami because the social media community here is so strong," he said. "It wasn't just about the
convenience of the itinerary or the proximity to Mexico."
"We got an overwhelming response from the local social media community," he
added. "No other port city in the country would've had such a great bon voyage event. Guaranteed."
South Florida hospitality didn't stop at the tweetup. Afterward, the local diehards took some of the out-of-town guests to Tobacco Road for late supper and drinks. The whole night felt like a holiday party. It'll be hard to top this one, but no doubt it'll be even better next time.
"I'm definitely thinking about doing this again in Miami," Tucker said.
