Delhi fetes spirit of Twitter at Cafe Morrison

NEW DELHI - More than 200 members of the capital’s twitter community gathered at music pub Cafe Morrison in South Extension Thursday evening to raise awareness against poverty and for spread of education.

The initiative was part of a seven-city “Twestival” - a celebration of tweeters’ culture and community spirit.

The proceeds generated from the 2010 Twestival will be donated to Concern Worldwide, a non-profit international humanitarian organisation that has dedicated itself to reducing suffering and eliminating poverty since 1968.

The Twestival Delhi comprised a rock concert, a stand-up comedy act and a party too. A live concert by the progressive-glam funk Indian underground band, Five 8, was the highlight of the evening.

Twestival - a global event - is simultaneously taking place in more than 175 cities around the world where tens of thousands of people are demonstrating the power of social media.

The event that has entered its second year is a worldwide fundraising initiative that uses social media, particularly Twitter, to focus participants talent and resources to benefit one cause for one day.

Seven cities in India are participating in the second global Twestival - Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Kolkata, and Mumbai.

Each of these cities will host particular events and raise funds for Concern, which is operating in India since 1999 with headquarters at Bhubaneswar.

Concerns work in India is focused in Orissa, one of the poorest states in the country. They also work for national level emergency relief in other states.

In 2009, Twestival India was able to raise over Rs.90,000. Considering the ever increasing number of Indians taking to the social media platform Twitter, the organisers expect to raise more than double this amount in 2010.

“The most special thing about Twestival apart from the non-profit group we support is the way we work. Twestival is 100 per cent volunteer-driven. All of us working for Twestival in India, and elsewhere too, are working professionals who believe they can use their free time for a global cause like this,” said Vaijayanthi K.M., regional co-ordinator for Twitter India.

“Organising online and gathering offline allows Twestival to harness the incredible communication power of Twitter to propel participation in real events around the world,” said Amanda Rose, the festival’s founder.

“There is no shortage of people who are passionate and want to help. The challenge is coordination, not participation. By using social media platforms such as Twitter, Twestival is able to connect hundreds of independent local events into a powerful global initiative,” she said

“At last years Twestival, more than 1,000 volunteers and 10,000 donors raised more than $250,000 to provide clean and safe drinking water for more than 17,000 people. We know this works - and we’re excited to make it work for every child in the world that deserves an education,” Rose said.

Brands such as Intel India and HP Imaging & Printing Group, Text 100 and others have come forward to help make the festival successful, she added.