The talk of the town -- in the Twitterverse, that is -- is this Friday night's Phoenix Twestival 2009, a massive tweet-up (um, meet-up, in Twitter-speak) for charity.
From 6 to 9 p.m. on September 11, guests will get to meet, greet, tweet, and eat at Aloft Tempe in the name of compassion. And from the saturation of posts about it on the web's uber-popular microblogging site, it'll be a full-on scene for local foodies, techies, and other creative types.
So why get in on the action? Let us count the ways.
First off, like all the Twestivals held around the world, this is entirely volunteer-run, and benefits a local non-profit: St. Mary's Food Bank. It's good timing, too, since September is Hunger Action Month. The Twestival standard donation of $20 enables the deliver of 140 donated meals.
And yes, we said around the world -- from September 10 through 13, there will be similar Twestivals for charity in cities across the globe. Pretty cool to take part in the phenomenon, don't you think?
Another reason: food and drink. That's why you read Chow Bella, right? Some of our favorite local businesses are generously donating goodies for the event, including Fairytale Brownies, Butter & Me Cupcakery, Petit Fromage, Joe's Real BBQ, Sweet Republic, and Wildflower Bread Co. The hotel will offer happy hour specials on drinks from 5 to 7 p.m., and will accept drink tickets after 7 p.m.
Speaking of that hotel -- aren't you curious? Aloft Tempe is a spin-off of W Hotels, which generally ooze style no matter which property we're at. If you attend the event, you can get a room for only $99. Yeah. Go get a room . . .
Twestival also happens to be a good excuse to buy a cool t-shirt. Enough said.
There will be a silent auction and raffle to raise even more dough -- and lots of interesting things to consider, from signed original artwork to a signed Beanie Wells football donated by the Cardinals. And get this -- the Suns donated a signed Leandro Barbosa jersey and a $3500 suite (with 20 tickets) for a season game.
And did we mention it benefits St. Mary's Food Bank? Yeah, we did, but considering that's the whole point of Twestival, we thought we'd give 'em another nod.
