If you’re on Twitter, you may have heard about Twestival by now. if you haven’t here’s the low down. This past February, 200+ cities around the world hosted Twestivals on the same night to help raise money for Charity Water while having a lot of fun. It was a huge success around the world, and it was a lot of fun for me here in Phoenix. Over $250,000 was raised in one night just from those of us who live 140 characters at a time. Some time later, I was pleased to find in my email links to videos of wells being dug with the money raised. Given the large scale success, Twestival planning was again under way.

The event and sponsors
I’ve been wanting to get more involved with events locally and just getting out more and meeting people, so when the opportunity to volunteer was recognized, I jumped right in. Honestly, I didn’t really do all that much because there were so many other people just running with it and making things happen, but it was nice to pitch in where I could.

When I say people ran with it, I mean they really made this event great. The organizers and other volunteers brought in a ton of great raffle items and an almost unmanageable amount of silent auction items. They brought in some wonderful sponsors like the Phoenix Suns, CBS Outdoor, and Joe’s Real BBQ, just to name a few. When the sponsors gave, they really gave from the heart. Not only did some of them help cater the event, but they threw in some great give-aways on top of it. One of the big sponsors of the evening, Infusionsoft is no stranger to Twestival. After making a $1,000 donation to help with the event in February, they stepped up with another $1,000 again. And from what I understand, the aloft Hotel provided the space for free. The hotel was very nice, by the way.

The raffle and silent auction
For the event, I bought a Gold Donation package, which included 5 raffle tickets and I bought another 5 tickets just to make a nice even 10. During the second raffle, I won twice. The first time, I won a gift package from Oregano’s Pizza. In a (clean) pizza box, I found a $25 gift card, lots of coupons, and two Oregano’s t-shirts. I can always use t-shirts, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with a free meal. Next, I won two gift cards to Joe’s Real BBQ totaling $30. I hadn’t head of them before Twestival, and I have no idea why. They helped cater and when I tried the BBQ it was great, but the beans were phenomenal. I’m excited to make use of these prizes. Lots of other people also looked very pleased with their prizes from the raffle. After all, how often do you get to mingle with all these cool people for a small donation and then walk away with prizes, including bags of coffee, lots of gift cards, hats, and other fun stuff.

For some of us, the silent auction was just as exciting. Items included web services, photography, artwork, landscaping (which someone got a steal on big time), box seats, an autographed Leandro Barbosa jersey, and so much more I can’t even mention it all here. Before I even left the office, I had my sights set on that Barbosa jersey. I was the second bidder with an easy $70 bid. Later in the evening, it was announced that there was only a couple minutes left on the silent auctions, so I headed back and saw a few more bids after mine. I got my bid in at the last possible second and am now the proud owner of the jersey. It’ll look great framed up in my office.

The people
Although it may not seem like it online, I can be pretty shy in person until someone approaches and strikes up a conversation. It was pretty fortunate, then, that I wound up meeting and having good conversations with @cinimod, @nickhammond, and others. It was good to see again and meet anew people like @chrislee, @aussieheather (and her brother), @MsHerr, @JennyCarnie, @PHXated, @Georgie_Phx and anyone I might have missed. I had a blast and everyone I encountered helped that happen in some small way.

The charity
After a lot of thoughtful discussion and weighing all the factors, St Mary’s Food Bank was chosen as the charity we would all come together for tonight. They provide thousands of meals consistently throughout Phoenix and have been around for as long as I can remember. Can you imagine a single Twestival standard donation of $20 goes to provide 140 meals? I will never look at a $20 bill the same way again. It’s an amazing charity and I’m glad I could be there to help give.

So in summary, the night was awesome, the people were great, the charity is worthy and the event was a huge success. I’m excited to be a part of the next one early next year and hope to see some of you there.