What is Twestival?
A Twestival or Twitter-Festival is a global series of events organized by volunteers around the world under short timescales, which bring people offline for a great cause. Twestival is run 100% by volunteers and independently from any not-for-profit; although the organizing teams do work closely to outline an achievable and measurable fundraising target. Twestival also sets out to identify key skills of volunteers and match these with the needs of the cause; particularly communications strategy, tech integration and social media training. Twestival Local takes place in cities around the world during September 10-15, 2009.

Twestival LA
Last February, Twestival LA raised close to $20,000 for charity:water in just one night and two weeks of planning! It was a night of music, comedy, fun, and meeting new friends, while raising money to help bring clean water to those who need it.

For the second Twestival, we focused on local charities — CHRYSALIS and LA Regional Foodbank.

CHRYSALIS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping economically disadvantaged and homeless individuals become self-sufficient through employment opportunities. It currently helps more than 2,000 individuals a year change their lives through jobs.

LA Regional Foodbank’s mission is to mobilize resources to fight hunger in our LA Community. Each dollar received by the food bank can actually provide four complete meals to those in need.

My Involvement
A week and a half before the event, I was contacted to help with the website and help to spread the word. I created a simple layout that used parts of the current Twestival graphics as well as give it a bit of Hollywood flare. The website was updated everyday, up to the event. A Twitter stream was added to give real-time tweets, as well as a rotating gallery to help spotlight our wonderful sponsors and talent.

Timeframe:
September 5, 2009 – September 13, 2009

Website: http://latwestival.com (First Design)

Screenshot:

Main page