My thoughts now 3 days later on the Eve of the Controversial Event

http://www.nwitweetup.com/2010/04/12/the-great-tweetup-controversy-2010/

"Buying 15,000 followers does not an A-lister make ..."

When you edit your comments you like real transparency. However, I do do not blame you for doing so, but I would have never posted them. Noticed, I did not say "written", I may have have wrote something and never posted it. I am taking a new stance, most people expect me to the bear in the room, the nuclear bomb with the hair trigger, but I am now calling people to run it over before I react. Will this new system be flawless? NO, I am human after all, but I will stand behind my comments until I am proven wrong.

Wayne, I like and I would like to think that NWI and Michiana can work together soon, but don't spit on our head and tell us it is raining.

D

Wayne -

I was gonna stay out of this more, but I'll say this much:

THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN MAKING PASSIVE-AGRESSIVE COMMENTS IS GOING BACK AND EDITING THEM AFTER YOU'VE BEEN CRITIQUED!

UNBELIEVABLE. SIMPLY UN****INGBELIEVABLE.

I'm better.

Daver, why so polite to Wayne? No one owns a hashtag, and we are now even more committed to marketing and engaging into the #michianatweetup #tweetupmichiana and #nwitweetup tags. If Wayne had half a collaborative bone in his body he would have helped us promote the 13th event ... this frivolous theory that he needed to stay focused on his own event two weeks later is foolish. Wayne I'll say it again, come join us for a drink on the 13th!

Wayne, if you had been honest that there were two competing groups we could have reached out to that other group and included them on the 13th .. helping rather than further complicating your issues on confusing people with events. I've now reached out to them and they are more than willing to work together and feel very frustrated that no one told them of the event on the 13th. They have a very active ning social site, kinda like reconnect over here.

What we've all learned is that no one has ownership. Charging for a tweetup is dangerous territory, because it's a free market and anyone can do a tweetup for free. Wayne if you are charging those restaurants ... you better make sure that your attendees know that you're making money off of them attending these events. That thought arose over here and was summarily struck down immediately. Hosting companies and restaurants would do well do give stuff away, and be terrific hosts ... like Golden Technologies has done three times now ... but to charge them and put the money in our pockets, that isn't happening.

Hey Wayne, are you really charging area businesses to bring a tweetup in? I might have to start attending those. Ya know get to see who is dumb enough to pay for something they could have had for a plate of nachos. If I call the hosts and ask them what they paid for the tweetup I wonder what the answer would be. Hmmm. Wonder if they would be pissed to find out what it costs over here.

welcome to the party, Mr. Painter. Good to see one of Indy's finest!

Thanks Natt! Have a great weekend!!!!

OK, here goes, it is late and I am very tired.,,

I did attend the first and every #nwitweetup that I called home, I did not attend the one in put on by someone else, as it was on a Sunday. I did attend the first #michianatweetup. I, however, did not know it was a "business" formed for someone to make a living. When Nate, Kathy, Steve, myself or anyone else for that matter never sought compensation. I will admit when we did the one at Bdubs in January, they did pay for my meal, but I have known the owners for years. So, I am disclosing that now, I am willing to take my punishment at the next #nwitweetup.

My vision for the tweetups has always been a business/social networking event. I made sure that everyone got to meet everyone else. I think that falls in line with what Kathy, Nate, Steve and everyone else had thought. When I schedule a tweetup with a restaurant. I ask for discounts on food/drink and some sort of give away. As, we are bringing in 30 to 60 people on the given night.

I never cared that there were 3 other mortgage guys there or 10 design people or politicians or pizza parlor owners, I just wanted everyone to have a good time,

I did share with Wayne my concern with having competing tweetups, We have long heard rumors of Indy having some issues with dueling tweetups whether they be real or
perceived. I do not bristle when someone suggests a mini-#nwitweetup, because we all have become friends to some sort of degree. Well, most of us - LOL

I thought we could make some sort of arrangement to have the groups come together, but I think the reason it could not be done as there was not going to be any money exchanged other than when you buy a book from Kyle Lacy and I highly recommend the book.

I floated, scratch that, I RT'd a comment from someone that was charging for their tweetups and I thought I was going to run out of twitter town on a rail. I, even, this Hedges burned
me in effigy somewhere in Lake County. I can't prove it.

I think this skirmish just goes to prove how committed people are to the idea of a good tweetup and the community that is brings forth.

I am tired now. I just hope I did not stir up the hornets too much more, and I pray that I did not ramble.

The Daver

If you are the real @NotWayneClayton, tell me who you are to prove to me that you are not just someone creating havoc. I will put it in the vault, if you do not tell me who you are then I will assume the worse and therefore. I will FLAME you

@davewoodson - How was your Chicago trip with the family? I saw the picture of your daughter wearing the glasses... darling. What a great memory.

Being part of the Central #Indiana twitter scene, one sentence in your post really stuck in my head. You typed, "We have long heard rumors of Indy having some issues with dueling tweetups whether they be real or perceived." They are real, Dave, but most of the issues have not been handled out in the open like this one. When Wayne offered his phone number I CHEERED when Steve Dalton typed, "As for phone calls, we all like the transparency of this blog" If I had my druthers, the little snippy IndyTweetUp positioning discussion would take place on twitter in @replies NOT DMs.

To my knowledge Dr. Thomas Ho had the first TweetUp in Indianapolis and he created the @IndyTweetUp account. I KNOW Dr. Ho set up the account because a few months later I sent him the Two Red Cardinals Indy Tweet Up logo which appeared as the avatar for a long time.

Dr. Ho used some sort of magic when he set up that account because every time a DM was sent to @IndyTweetUp - it magically appeared in the public time-line as a regular post from that account. Once @IndyTweetUp reciprocated your friend request, it was available for ANYONE to use to set up a TweetUp on the fly. There was no discussion about creating a LLC and claiming dominion over the IndyTweetUp brand or staking a claim to a specific day.

Dr. Thomas Ho relinquished control of the @IndyTweetUp twitter account last year and sadly DMs are no longer automatically posted. Someone decides whether or not your tweetup is worthy to use the account. In my humble opinion, this goes against the very essence of SOCIAL media and it goes against the original intent from Dr. Ho.

Is this the dueling tweetUp issue to which you were referring, Dave?

I'm glad to get that off my chest in a fully transparent manner. Thank you so much, Wayne Clayton, for sparking this discussion.

I just read this whole thing. For the sake of community I would love to come to a combined event and meet new people. Of course if someone wants to "own" a corner of the TwitterVerse, count me out.

...I should have known your Twitter name/bio would have social media expert in it somewhere!!

Is this a real discussion, or has April Fools been extended?

Wayne, in my opinion, this was an amateur move!

Harrison

Another one of Indiana's own #IN_SM influentia Harrison Painter stops by to drop a few words in the region's skirmish today. Thanks Harrison.

Anybody object to me putting the Michigan City tweetup on Eventbrite? Or is it there already? Sorry I didn't check yet...

not at all, ma'am. :-) Not at all.

My only thought with that eventbrite stuff is to make sure people know that it is not required, but it's good to use to get a headcount!

150 NINDTweeps, here we come

I did put it on Event Brite, did not publicize very well still learning all the ins and outs and getting the timing just right on all of it

Oops, sorry. Now we've got two links. Probably can't hurt though, right? I just invited a boatload (or at least 1/2 a boatload) of people so I better not delete mine...

Go for it Kath, good thought

I'm sorry I've been tied up with appointments today and not much time to follow this thread. I'll admit I've read only 70% or so, but hopefully enough to write a meaningful response...

I haven't been to tweetups outside Northwest Indiana. I'd like to--I've just been busy and lately have had trouble committing to the ones happening right in my own backyard. I was told by someone last summer, "You have to be at the #nwitweetup--you're the organizer!!" Part of that made me feel important, but part of it made me feel weighed upon. I felt that if the success of the event relied on me being there every single time it wouldn't be long before I would burn out and the whole thing would fall apart.

The good news was that in my heart, I knew I didn't "have" to be there for #nwitweetup to be a success. I organized the first one (or did I?) in February of 2009. I ask "or did I?" because after I planned it and tweeted about it, I stumbled upon a blog by Steve Dalton (@daltonsbriefs) that chronicled an event he planned several months before hosted at Golden Technologies; that one was geared more toward bloggers, but also targeted Twitter people. When I found out about that one, I contacted Steve, apologized for having stepped on any toes, etc. and was met with only enthusiasm and appreciation from him for me taking up the cause.

I was soon joined by several other people who helped organize the next few tweetups--Amanda Thomsen (@kissmyaster), Tia Hoffman (@lipcharmer) and James Barath (@mycmps.) We got into a rhythm, choosing to keep it consistent--always on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. That worked well...until...

Someone else posted on Twitter that they were hosting #nwitweetup! And it was on a Sunday. And in the afternoon! And in Lake County! OMG!!! Did the sky fall in? No, I told Corrin Rene (@corrinrene) thanks and great job--way to spread the Twitter love around the region. Note: I was unable to attend that particular tweetup, but heard it was great--Corrin had the idea to make it into a fund raiser to help shelter animals because that was her passion. I thought that was great that the same medium could be used to help for business networking as well as calling attention to a cause.

Later James Barath took #nwitweetup in a similar direction that Corrin was drawn to. He organized several #nwitweetups that helped a variety of area non-profits. That’s how he’s wired and it’s his passion. That’s great. I like to help non-profits as well (and attended several that James organized, but not all.) Even though I like to help, I liked networking more than just straight fund raising—I felt like there were other venues to get that done and nowhere else where I could get quality time to converse face-to-face with other Twitter enthusiasts. People who liked the fund raising oriented #nwitweetups went to them; those who wanted more networking dug in and organized their own flavor of #nwitweetup that was heavier on the networking (and dare I say the drinking? Not that there’s anything wrong with that…)

Nat Finn (@natfinn) and Dave Woodson (@davewoodson) have done the lion’s share of organizing the past few month’s worth of #nwitweetups and Golden Technologies (@goldentech) has been a very generous sponsor for several. Steve Dalton and I continue to be involved, but as Steve stated recently, “It’s good to spread it around so no one gets burned out.”

I don’t claim to have all the answers. (And I certainly didn’t claim an LLC or a domain name.) I like sharing the credit and the responsibility for #nwitweetup and am awfully glad to share the rewarding experience of organizing it with like-minded people who all seem to want the same thing—to help connect people around the region, put a face to a name (or Twitter ID), have some fun and help each other with questions about emerging technologies.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am in the social media business. My business name is My Social Media Coach (waaay too long for a Twitter ID, unfortunately.) I benefit indirectly from more people understanding how to use the technology. I work primarily with businesses and non-profits, showing them how to use not just Twitter, but also Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs and more. I like playing fairy godmother and suggesting people for newly minted tweeters to follow—I like introducing people with similar interests. I often help beyond what I get paid to do. I love my job. I know that makes me very lucky.

Everyone needs to make a living. There’s nothing wrong with having a business model and charging for a service. I can’t say I’m an expert on how tweetups are handled in other area, but I am very, very grateful that in our area it is conducted in a very cooperative, open, collaborative manner.

Amy Stark (@amystark) I will totally donate to your trophy/hotel fund. You rock! I will gift you my tiara as well (but not my own trophy—sorry!)

Wayne, I don’t know you, but I wish you success and peace in your social media efforts. I envision a day where everyone will hold hands and sing Kum bah Ya. (Love that song!!)

I am very grateful for all the friendships I have formed because of Twitter and all the information shared with me via these Twitter friends that I otherwise probably would not have learned. Thanks to all who have made the past year+ a very special one.

Peace out.

Kathy Sipple (@kathysipple)
aka Indiana Influentia Social Media Dame of 2009, and I have a trophy to prove it!

You are so sweet, Kathy, but I would NEVER think of taking your 59 cent tiara from you. That's yours to keep forever as a memento of your tremendous achievement. =)

Awesome job Dave! Please count me in.

I wrote it :-p

Nice job writing the post. I knew this post was written by someone of extraordinary caliber!

again, Nate wrote it, you seem to be missing that. :)

Tat got it. I wrote the post, but Daver did the leg work.

Community. Something some people on the other side of the time line are learning the hard way :-)

lol

okay. yeah. Dave got the tweetup. True that

Hi to all who replied... before you make any negative comments, you might consider what has happened.

When I looked and saw no one had started..not planned...not imagained, but started a #michianatweetup, I met with three others in the area to see what it would take to start one up. We agreed on the name MichianaTweetUP. The URL had already been taken and was basically forwarded to a security site. I sent an email to the woman, and a DM since she followed me on another twitter name, I asked to meet with her. We did.

I was very transparent with her on what I wanted to do, what our vision was...the vision from the first meeting. I shared what and how we were going to promote it, and invited her to join in. She asked what did I want her to do. I stated that if she had no desire to start the group, we were and asked if she would sell me the domain. She agreed that it would probably be best to sell it. I asked her how much, shew replied for me to make an offer.

We left that meeting. I did research on the site to make sure I gave her a fair offer. It had no traffic, no backlinks, no site put together period. She emailed me back a week later asking if I was still interested in giving her an offer. I replied back that I thought $35 was a fair price for the domain. She declined it, saying that NOW she had plans for the domain. Little did I know that she had alrady started planning another tweetup.

We had a great success with the first MichianaTweetUP. A number of people approached me about doing them in their area. We saw this as being a great way to dovetail one successful tweetup into another. So we laid out plans to do them in each area that expressed interest.

What caused me to start to protect then name is when I started getting emails and DM's with people confused about this new tweetup using the same MichianaTweetUP name. In fact, this lady was sending emails teeling people she came to the event (she did not) and loved meeting them and wanted to invite them to another MichianaTweetUP. Huh? Anyone can have a tweetup they want...just not the name we picked -use your own creativity and pick another name.

There are a number of people associated with this other group that ever since I've "met" them, they've done nothing but be deceptive. Frankly it gets frustrating explaining to people that its not the same group, although it uses the same name. So after meeting with a few people who came to the meeting, it was thought to be best to protect the name. We had three events already planned out and really feel its not smart business to confuse the marketplace. I've been totally open on all I do...so to make fun of my openness with listing the other sites...well frankly I just dont get. I list my name, my phone number, my website...which is MUCH more than many others do.

It hilarious to make fun of me (which I can handle) but we had a great event, which the attendee's can attest. No one was pitched on products or services that night (unlike what will happen at the other one from what I understand). My goal was to have an open event. I will move to do more events and obviously it takes time and money to do these. I make no apologies for wanting this to be a business success. If someone here does...then feel free to send me money from your back account to support my family LOL. I prefer to do this right and felt protecting what time, energy, effortd and money I put into this... is good business. I dont have deep pockets nor investors to waste, I am a small business. I want this to be successful. If that's bad, then that's one person's opinion.

For some who are telling me not to be proprietary, maybe they should disclose that their company has interest in starting their own program. It may never happen, but it amazes me how no one was doing this and all of the sudden after the intitial success, people want to jump on this like it was theirs already.

I made the decision to start... actually start, and with some great folks put on a phenominal event. There is nothing wrong in protecting something good from others with suspicious intentions.

If someone wants to talk on the phone about it versus just spouting opinions online, my cell phone number is 574-514-5095. Be aware tho' that I have caller ID and can see where the call is coming from :)

Thanks for the interest.

THE REAL Wayne Clayton

No one should be taking sides or getting mad that someone else might be organizing another tweetup in Michiana on a completely different date. Instead of changing business names and pointing fingers, why not encourage Michiana residents to attend both events? Or why not join groups and organize one kick-A event together? This should not be a competition. In fact, this whole debacle creates much discord in the community, achieving the exact opposite of what you set out to accomplish.

Wasn't Dave Woodson at the first Michiana event? If Tweetups were designed to be exclusive, why would he come? Why would NWIndiana invite Michiana to join together? Why would Josh Walker attend both Tweetups? Wayne, you were not appointed as the "Protector" of Michiana Tweetups. If the other group has ulterior motives, the adults in attendance are more than capable to decide that for themselves. Instead, you cast a shadow over your own motives. By corporately denying the invitation to the NWIndiana Tweetup, which will take place more than 2 weeks’ prior to your event, you also alienated the support of a well-established group that could’ve helped solidify the longevity and success of your future events. In the future, let’s all try to work together!

Wishing for the success and merriment of ALL tweetups around the world,

Amy

"Do you really think most of today's art came about because of the Beatles
? I don't believe you're that insane. Didn't we always say we were part of the movement, not all of it? Get off your gold disc and fly." - John Lennon to Paul McCartney

it's one of the things I think about when I consider social media strategies: being part of the movement.

for we all shine on. Like the moon, and the stars, and the sun...

Wayne, Wayne, Wayne -- Do you see the disconnect in your logic? <shaking and="" back="" forth="" head="" my="">

What is the mission of your small business? If the mission of your small business is to build a community of tweeters who get together over coffee, lunch or a drink and pay YOU and your company to do so, you're doomed to #FAIL

I can't help but care deeply about the success of your small business, Clayton, because I want ALL #Indiana businesses to thrive -- just ask anyone. So my advice would be to re-consider @DaltonsBriefs ' sage advice, and go have a drink with the #NWIndiana folk. I have first hand knowledge that they're good peeps.

When you step back to take a look at the big picture, no single section of #Indiana can make a difference on its own. In all things Social Media we should work together to keep #Indiana relevant in the 21st century's information-based economy.

I am adept at the soprano part for the Kum bah Ya sing-along, by the way.


- A house divided against itself cannot stand. - Abe Lincoln </shaking>

$35? For a domain that would be the exact name of your business? I know I'm bypassing the other controversy on this page, but I just get stuck on this point.

Hello All:

If you guys want to hear the real story - come to Michiana Tweetup Launch Party on 4/13/10, 6-8 pm at Villa Macri's. ( Just kidding - it's not worth even talking about as this whole thing is pretty silly).

If I had known that Dave's group was planning a Tweetup on the same night, I would've gotten a different date for our tweetup. I would love to meet Kyle since I'm connected with him on Smaller Indiana.

And Wayne I did not decline the FAIR offer of $35 - I just never responded back!! Maybe you took that as a decline.

Cheryl Watterson
www.MichianaTweetup.com

The good news is that 6pm-8pm y'alls time is 5pm-7pm our time so when people are done with that Michiana Tweetup, then can come celebrate the success jointly at the boat! since our starts at 8pm y'alls time. See y'all 'round 9pm???? Maybe we can get a few to go that way too!

Cheryl. What's your twitter ID?

You actually could make both if you really wanted to, since you guys are in the Eastern time zone. Your tweetup would end 7 our time, which is when the Blue Chip party begins! And I'm sure it will be going on way later than 9 pm give the location and all.

Come out and join us! Even if the story is silly, I would still love to hear it.

If not, maybe we can meet another time. :)

We just may plan that event!! It sounds like a lot of FUN!!

Um, just because you can't accept the facts that doesn't make it your opinion. They said they were going to do it and didn't want to sell, so you change your business name to try to claim rightful ownership to something someone else owned.

If they wouldn't sell you pick a different name and use that, you did for the domain and should have stuck with it for the rest. Don't try to pretend to have a legal right to something you can never have.

And I agree with Steve, keep it here, don't try to hide behind a phone. Very Glen Beck of you. :)

You're trying to monetize calling a meeting? Really? Even though millions of others manage to pull it off on there own? I was wrong to call you a douche, I'm sorry. You are in fact a giant throbbing rectum.

Wayne, as a so called social media expert, with your token 15,000 gamed followers on twitter ... you may have missed the entire point of social media. You bet we are all in business, but social media requires collaboration, giving rather than taking, engaging rather than telling. I'm sorry if we all assumed you knew this as an expert.

The "other" group has just as much reason to use #michianatweetup as you do. And if you had been more open when Dave Woodson talked to you, they and you would have known that there was an event with Kyle Lacy attending at the Blue Chip on April 13th. You should have been the one most excited to have Kyle at your tweetup. Many of our attendees have been excited to see your group give it a go, you'll see above in comments they are quite surprised to see you did so in a way to grab control.

Your attempt to take ownership of a hashtag was amateurism at best, and the "other" group may well have a case against you since they had the name first. You would do well to join us all at Blue Chip, toss back a few drinks and laugh and socialize a bit.

As for phone calls, we all like the transparency of this blog ... the #michianatweetup thought stream on twitter and other public platforms.

Hey guys,
Thought I'd do a little addressing of statements made and other opinions made here:
As far as the Kyle Lacy thing. Thats a bit unfair frankly. When Kyle was going to be in town, I spent hours working on getting his team a hotel room and food and media coverage. In fact, Nate if you remember, when I did succeed in getting them, I tried to get your money back for the hotel room and just use the room donated by a local hotel chain. Unfortunately, Kyles groups had other plans and cancelled the room. We did not advertise what we did to others for a pat on the back, we just tried to help.
I was very open with Dave on the 13th. I did not tell him we would be able to join, I knew we had other things planned and wanted to look more at what was seriously going to happen first. I've never told people to NOT attend your event, it was just not in our timing to do it.
As far as the State of Indiana showing the date on the incorporation, that is their doing by default not mine. We just renamed an existing LLC, and there is nothing deceptive in that. I am not allowed to change the original date.
I dont care if this lady decides to do an event in our area, just dont use the same name. I have gotten enough emails, phone calls showing me this other event is causing people confusion. I'm not certain how you resolve that. Obviously its not by making fun of me or calling me names. If you've got a better idea, then shoot me an email.
I do social media for a living. I love what community does, and thought we did a good job with our first event. Our goals are to do more throughout the area, which we have planned now. I run this like it is a business because it is a business. How can anyone make apologies for that? If I spent the amount of hours planning, and implementing the event and promotion of the event, and feel I'd like to protect my work, I do not see whats wrong. Much of what is being thrown around are assumptions about me or what my intentions are. When I started this, NO ONE was doing or had publicized a tweetup. If they did I would've gladly worked with them. Thats when the 4 of us had the original meeting and decided to move forward with this.
On a personal level, I called someone a copycat, which is very tame compared to what you are allowing here. Social media gives people the ability to use a name other than their own, and make all kinds of statements. I am certain that the flames by some are justified in their minds, but they are not. It doesnt help the conversation, period. But thats why everyones entitled to their opinion, just like I am. Why flame me for mine?

But, when you scheduled your event for the 30th and you did tell me that you were not interested in a joint venture, I did say in my original tweet that is was not a joint venture, but I invite everyone over. I am pretty sure that I never used the words "michianatweetup" again. Really, you should have hooked with us instead of fighting with us as we would have taken a lot of people away from TweetupMichiana, but your actions I see may have driven people away from you to her.

We planned on the 13th some weeks ago, when we heard Kyle was going to be in the area for another event. Several of us know Kyle and he agreed to stay over and meet with us all. This is a community driven networking event, I have heard more than a few people say that there is more business done at one of "our" events than any bni or other type of tip groups.

I am really sorry that is played out this way, but I think there is a time and a place for things to be said and on this blog was not one of them. You asked me not to make it a joint venture and I did not. We invited people over, I think you are upset that we may be giving the milk away for free, but I think the karma is priceless.

Any place would kill to have rabid fans like we have in the #nwitweetup, to have 30, 40, 50, 60, people talking about your place in a positive note is unreal. We do not charge for our services, but if you want to learn more about social media there are 2 or 3 of us that can teach it,and 9 times out of 10 I am telling them to call Kathy and not anyone else. Karma is a train and it will run you over.

I think I got rambling here, but this is not a joint venture, but anyone from #michiana is welcome to come over and have fun with the best damn twits in the world.

Dave

I am officially creating a LLC to promote NotWayneClayton. Stated goals are. 1. Promote his non-douche bag status.2.Get him more followers on twitter than the other one.3. Create an official NotWayneClayton drink, button and T-shirt for the ( dare I say it?) Tweetup.4.Help the whole world realize that crossing the border between Indiana and Michigan is indeed harder than crossing into Iraq.5.Lead a group session of Kum Ba Ya at the main entrance of the Blue Chip.

Duke I'd buy a NotWayneClayton Hat. I just don't want one of those cheap ass trucker hats with the foam and plastic mesh like I'm sure the original douche wayne clayton wears

we should talk to @gossersales about merchandising

Great Idea. Again nice hats though. Darker color, 4 color embroidery and a sandwich bill. I will by a crappy shirt though if your concerned about price point

I think you're going to need a bigger boat.

Delete me :)

I've been recently trying to promote the #michianatweetup. I went to the first #michianatweetup. I live in Michiana and have been going to the #NWItweetups for some time now. I was actually approached to start a tweetup in the area and had started putting some thought into it. Naturally, I was excited when I found out that someone else had taken the helm and put one together (and did a great job, by the way). However, I didn't realize until today that I had attended an event hosted by a business and that the name of the event was in fact the name of that business. I was under the impression that I was attending a social event that was community driven and organized by members of that community, one that was simply labeled a "tweetup" with ties to its geographical location. This is how all of the other succesful tweetups that I've attended have been. And people keep coming back. #nwitweetup is not a business. It is not a corporation. It is a gathering of people that want to meet others and benefit each other through relationships. Someone please correct me if I am mistaken, though.

I've never once heard anyone in Northwest Indiana claim rights to the #nwitweetup. It has been organized and hosted by many different people. The event isn't there for the benefit of any sole person or entity, but for the community in general.

Unfortunately I will no longer be promoting or attending the #michianatweetup as I don't feel the need to ask permission for rights to it. Since the #michianatweetup wasn't until April 30th, I was planning on attending both. I don't think that that would have been an issue, Wayne. I also don't think it's a great idea to speak on the behalf other #michianatweetup attendees who may have had no problem attending both. As for me, I will see the Daver, Steve, Finn, and everyone else at the boat. I'll also be bringing along the five other first-time tweetup attendees that were going to go to the future #michianatweetups.

Hopefully someone will organize a tweetup in the Michiana area that is more of a community-wide effort and not controlled by a business entity. That is the kind of tweetup that I'm looking for. If anyone knows of one, I'd love to hear more about it.

Heh Josh - We're having a Michiana Tweetup in Michiana --please come and have fun and hang with us!! This is supposed to be a great way to learn, share, and connect with our online friends - offline!! I had the same thought as you about 8-9 months ago of starting a Tweetup here in Michiana. In fact I grabbed the URL name thinking that I would blog about it similar to how NWITweetup does. In fact I connected with Dave Woodson back then.

Just as my partner and I were ready to go forward and we'd already tentatively scheduled our 1st tweetup - I found out someone else had grabbed the Twitter name. Dummy me for procrastinating. My recommendation to anyone who is getting a domain name - grab the Twitter/Facebook name at that time. Of course I thought - who around would have the same idea?? I didn't realize there were to many tweeps in the area. Love it!!

Anyway - this is not my business - this is just a fun thing to do in the Michiana area where we can help each other pursue social media strategies that maybe can help us build stronger biz/friendships and grow our businesses.

Our site is http://www.MichianaTweetup.com and we're @tweetupmichiana. We're having our first tweetup Tuesday, 4-13-10 (same nite as NWITweetup - sorry) at Villa Macri's, Granger, IN. Deets are on the website.

I feel there is plenty of room in Michiana for lots of tweetups. If you start one, I'll come!! We need to get some jazz going around Michiana anyway

Cheryl

what time?

Unfortunately it's the same time as NWITweetup - but we'll get coordinated next time. Tuesday 4-13-10, 6-8:00 pm - Villa Macri's Granger, IN. Here's the link for deets - http://bit.ly/c2G3C.

we all set on the times (curse that timeline that divides us :-)) ?

Well, Josh, you didn't. He changed the name of his business to Michiana Tweetup LLC on 4/6 so when you went to the first one it wasn't the business name. Or even the domain name of the event organizer as obviously someone else had thought about it being a good idea before then. I'm just glad he outed himself so I didn't have to worry about both events :)

I have faith the actual #michianatweetup will try to work with the NWI peeps to help make sure there isn't a conflict in the future.

we'll do are darndest. Especially now that we know the contact people

I'm glad I stumbled upon this thread 'cause I own Fort Wayne TweetUP LLC. (and have for almost two years) and it looks like a company called Michiana TweetUP LLC. is trying to infringe on my business. McDonald's would go after a MacDonalds's. . . It looks like I have no choice. . . I'd hate to have my international network be confused by a copycat company. . .

@CPollittIU

now you're infringing on our turf :-p @notcpolittlU

:):):):):):):) You guys are killing me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Duke, can I get that dog bone from the infamous NAR video? I think it will make a good video for this new problem we're having Lol

Methinks this short posting is relevant to the situation --> "Abundance vs. Scarcity Mentality" -- http://www.dailyblogtips.com/abundance-vs-scarcity-mentality/

Yes, we should give credit and thanks where credit is due (for one's efforts in organizing a tweetup), but let's not be so proprietary that we can't all share in this new community.

"As if the Internet had a fixed number of tweeters (twitterers) and one more Tweetup for someone else would automatically mean one less Tweetup for you. Forget it!"

Lookin forward to the TweetUP, Dave. NWI tweetups rock. So worth the drive in the bizzard type weather last time... not to mention being barefoot in the snow... uphill both ways... and even lard sandwiches to boot! (Well.... fried food.... lol)

It will be fun to meet up with all the #nwindiana tweeps again. Once wasn't enough. :)

So glad you got such a grand location. I've never been to the Blue Chip, but have always been very curious. I'll bring a few peeps with me!

Hey Wayne your a douche. You're trying to claim legal privileges for an idea that wasn't even yours to begin with. Your piggybacking off twitter you stroke. Come up with your own original idea before you start getting offended. Your like these asshole socialists that are squatting in foreclosed houses and bitching when the bank wants them out. No your more like the skank we all new in High School who kept claiming she was technically still a virgin.

@Wayne You don't get it. Tying social media gatherings up into neat little trademarked events will stifle growth. You really should check out Creative Commons Licenses, and embrace a more de-centralized approach if you want to grow a grassroots social-media presence for Michiana. <free advice="" and="" every="" penny.="" worth=""></free>

I hope this gives you the reason to get up here on tuesday!

Can't make it Tuesday, but why don't you invite me as a Key-Note Speaker for the next #NWIndiana gathering. I put on a helluva show, and I have very few requirements:
1) I want to be introduced as the "High Priestess of the Indiana Influentia" OR "Twitter Empress for the State of #Indiana"
2) If you pick a local hotel maybe you could finagle a free room for the night (I wouldn't be comfortable driving back late in the evening)
3) How about making it a big room so I can bring my daughter and one of her friends then call it a summer vacation.
4) I want a large and impressive trophy that rivals the quality of Kathy Sipple's Most Influential Dame piece. ($4 on ebay)

Hey Dave,
I appreciated the offer, as did all Michiana peeps to join you at the boat. As I mentioned, we were in the meidst of planning another event very close so we'd have to take a raincheck on this one.
br>Best of success on your outting. I hope you hit your 100 plus more.

Wayne Clayton
MichianaTweetup LLC
P574-514-5095

If you're gonna edit tweets, you might as well spellcheck!

M I D S T - not "meidst."

and remove the breaks (@ripsup can show you hat those are if you're not sure)

Okay, I have 2 issues with what you are saying. First we will get into how stupid you are for thinking that just because you changed your business name to something that you automatically own it over anyone else. I would start getting into the fact they are common words and something people were using to describe events before you, but I don't even have to get into that because of the facts I'm about to point out. If you were so worried about protecting YOUR name why didn't you register michianatweetup.com instead of michianameetup.com? Maybe that's because

domain: michianatweetup.com
created: 03-Aug-2009

Domain Name: MICHIANAMEETUP.COM
Created on: 07-Mar-10

Oh yeah it wasn't available because someone else already had it. So then this next juicy bit makes it even worse. Search for Tweetup over at the state to see when Michiana Tweetup LLC was created that my justify that they took your name.

https://secure.in.gov/sos/bus_service/online_corps/name_search_results.aspx?search_name=tweetup&search_type=partial&client_id=&submit.x=42&submit.y=6&submit=submit&search_mode=search

And what do we find?

4/6/2010 MICHIANA SHOPPER LLC (Former)

You changed the name of your company on 4/6 to something that someone else already had because you wanted to act like you had some kind of legal claim towards it. I hope the michianaTweetup peeps have a lawyer in their group that will help them out for free in getting this corrected.

SECONDLY, this is an even more idiotic move in not supporting the NWItweetup event, your event is later in the month where theirs is the same day. This would have been your chance to help fight the growth of this group but instead you don't support the NWI group (and by posting what you did here I know you have made enemies with a few.) I know I'm going to support the other group over you because of this and I bet many others will do that same.

But thanks for clearing up the confusion for me that your 2 groups caused and helping me see which I should ignore.

I don't think anyone would feel the way you do if someone in our area started promoting a so-called "copycat named event". We would be thrilled! As it is, we have been trying to get more people involved and excited about holding other networking tweetup events in NW Indiana, especially within Lake County.

I'm curious what the goals are of Michiana TweetUp LLC. Are you trying to be a community driven organization, wanting to bring together other people and professionals to network and get to know one another, and thus maybe strengthening our economy closer to home? If so, I think you're doing it all wrong.

Like daltonsbriefs said, no one owns hashtags. C'mon. We're trying to get people in the Michiana and NWI area together to network and laugh and have fun. We're not stealing your "business" or your contacts. Jeez. Chill out. Have a drink. And take the ants out of your pants.

Hey Wayne,

Thanks for your cumments. I want to let you know I'm starting a company by the name of WayneClayTON LLC. With it goes all the legal privileges and protection associated with it. WayneClayTON LLC is very serious about organizing and promoting douchebag badge hunts for Foursquare throughout the area, and do not want anyone to cause any confusion. Please note that by publicizing your "events" by using my corporate name is causing confusion to my corporate relationships and clients. Consumers of our business are likely to be confused by the copycat named event, and on that basis there is very likely infringement.

Sorry to start spouting legalese, but you'd due the same if someone else started being a total douchebag like what we're trying to do.

L right OL

Wayne, did you happen to trademark #michianatweetup and if so does that mean that when it is RT'd on twitter that's also a legal dispute? Come on this is bogus. No one owns hashtags on twitter and we all know that. I don't own #tcot, #redin, #indiana, #nwitweetup, #nwindiana or any of the other hashtags that i use regularly to promote events and to push out information.

I also don't own #gm or #chrysler, but have used those as well when they took government bailouts and although they couldn't enjoy my comments they can't even begin to sue for trademark infringement.

Here's my take, we let you know that we were planning an event. We asked you to joint promote with us. Since you are attempting to control the hashtag and idea of a tweetup, you didn't want to co-operate. Sorry that's how I see it.

As for NWI tweetup the term is used all the time for casual events, for birthdays, for people who just want to meet for a cup of coffee. We don't own the term any more than you own yours. You may own a website and an LLC, congrats ... that may seem a bit self serving though to the twitter users who didn't know you owned their thought streams and searches in your area. Sorry but the Chinese are trying the same thing and it's not working anymore.

Trademark is to protect something that you are known for (ie your trade and your specific mark). Tweetups are pretty generic and I think a lot of Michiana residents refer have referred to themselves as such for a long time. I am pretty sure that michianatweetup would not cut the mustard as a trademark -not just sayin.

@Dalton - I knew there was a reason I always recommend you to new tweeters. -- By the way, I own #Indiana! hahaha

My wife and father-in-law will be at the #nwitweetup long enough to sign in, then they are off to give money to the Blue Chip, so the casino's a winner on this deal.

Well done announcement! Daver is up to this challenge, and even more so because we've invited those from #michianatweetup to join us ... Ok it's not an official joint event ... but why would they go anywhere else?

if i remember right, their event is 6-8 which is 5-7 out here which means NINDTweeps can go to BOTH!

We had a dozen tweetUps on March 25th for #IndyTwestival The first one began at 8:30am and last one ended around 9:00pm - I hit 3 of 'em.

Two tweetUps in one day is child's play.