Why should non Twitter users be left out when it comes to tweetup badges. They shouldn’t be of course. That’s why we introduced the non Twitter user tweetup badge.
They may get a little chiding but hey, that’s part of the fun, right?
You can order the non Twitter user badges on the same page as the regular tweetup badges
Here are a few places you may have seen or heard about Tweetup Badges.
NY Times bestselling author Joel Comm. Author of Twitter Power and Google AdSense Secrets plus many more.
“Thanks for the badge @tweetupbadges and @trutter! [PIC]http://twitpic.com/qa2km “
You can follow Joel on Twitter at @joelcomm
Entrepreneur and strategist Wayne Sutton is an all around great guy and was the first to order Tweetup Badges and has done a lot to help spread the word.
“my new @tweetupbadges arrived just in time for #triangletweetup & they are hot too! see”
You can follow Wayne on Twitter at @waynesutton
Robert Scoble Wikipedia describes Scoble as “an American blogger, technical evangelist, and author.” I think I would add photographer and social media guru to that, but that’s just me.
Nate Heinrich posted this photo and tweeted:
“@scobleizer wearing @tweetupbadges so he had to take a call, hope he was calling @richdrake to order!”
Me too Nate, me too.
Local entrepreneur Daniel Shipton CEO of BitMethod and operations director at Impromptu Studio and all around Juggernaut and some other guy.
Seriously though Dan has been a great inspiration and friend to me the last couple of years.
The other guy is of course is US Senator from Iowa Chuck Grassley.
You can follow Daniel Shipton on Twitter at @danielshipton and Senator Grassley is @chuckgrassley
I did an interview on Blog Talk Radio at SXSW 2009 that can be found here.
I also did a video interview with Kipp Bodnar at SXSW Kipp is on Twitter at @kbodnar32
Discussion on Tweetup Badges and QR Codes from Kipp Bodnar on Vimeo.
I know I have left out a ton of notable people. If you have a photo of someone who you think should have been included please leave a comment with a link to it.
The first 50 people who sign up at twtvite get into the Balloon Classic for free. If you are not one of the first 50 to sign up, you can still join us. Admission at the balloon field is only $3.00 each or $10.00 per car load.
A friend of mine, Marla Wilkinson, owner of Welcome Home in Indianola, has graciously agreed to let attendees pick up their tickets at her store. Take the opportunity to look around her store she has some beautiful items. Welcome Home is at 106 North Howard Street in Indianola on the east side of the square.
Once you have your tickets meet us at the balloon field east of town on highway 92. We will have a couple of tables and chairs set up for our group so we have a place to congregate. There are games for kids as well as food and beer vendors and live music. Everything we need to have a great time.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Warren County Night sponsored by Warren County Economic Development Corporation
6:30 a.m. Balloon Flight
5:15 p.m. Captured in the Spotlight, the Dance Factory, Two Rivers Martial Arts, Tall Guys With Guitars performing on the Farmers Insurance Stage
6:30 p.m. Balloon Flight
7:30 – 9:00 p.m. Tall Guys with Guitars performing on the Farmers Insurance Stage
Dusk FIRE IN THE SKY – Midwest Largest Nite-Glow Extravaganza
sponsored by Downing Construction
The QR code on the back of the tweetup badges is meant to be a time saver (and it’s cool). The concept is simple. With a phone equipped with a camera and a QR code reader, you simply scan the code on the back of the tweetup badge and the phone takes you to the badge holders page on Twitter. For example, if you scanned the back of my tweetup badge it will take you to http://twitter.com/tweetupbadges. That way if you meet someone at a tweetup and would like to follow them, you simply scan the back of their tweetup badge. There are QR code readers available for most “smart” phones, and most of them are free. There are several resources out there to find out more about QR codes and readers. One of the resources I use is mobile-barcodes.com. There you will find all the information you need on QR codes as well as lists of supported phones and links to readers you can download. For the i-Phone go to the app store and search for QR code reader.
I currently have a moto-Q and use the reader by i-nigma and like it a lot. Like a lot of readers it automatically captures the code when it is recognized.
I would love to hear about other phones and readers. If you have a reader loaded on your phone tell us about it.
Well it’s 12:45 in the morning and I am heading to Austin for SXSW in a few hours. I wanted to get something posted about the new Tweetup Badges I will be showing off while I’m there. I will be adding QR bar codes to the back of the Tweetup Badges. What is the code and what is it good for you ask. Well, a QR Code is a 2D bar code that displays data in a machine readable format just like any other bar code. What makes it cool is that a lot of smart phones these days can download an app that will allow you to scan the code with your phones camera. The really cool part is that you can format the QR code so that the phone knows what to do with it when it is scanned. What I am doing with the Tweetup Badges is putting a code on the back that, when scanned, decodes as the URL twitter.com/”username”. When a person scans the back of your badge it will take them to your profile on twitter with out having to enter anything manually. It’s very cool.
Well its getting late and I have to start a 14 hour drive in a few hours. I’ll post more info soon.
I’ll leave you with a video I found on youtube that demonstrates the QR Code.
Please let me know if you have questions or leave a comment.
We do love Twitter and all the good tweeps we have connected with. I just wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that as part of VR ID Cards, Tweetupbadges can do a lot more than just tweetup badges. We also produce high quality event badges, photo ID cards for small business, and key tags. Here are a couple examples of other badges we have produced lately.
Whether you have an organization that would like to have membership cards, own a company and need photo IDs for your employees or would like to have custom key tags to promote your business or organization I hope you will give us a look.
This post from @Kathy_L’s blog caught my attention and I had to share it with the Tweetup Badges crowd.
Admit you have a Twitter problem (a twoblem?).By the way, Kathy_L is definitely a twoubled tweep in our book. At least she has her Tweetup Badge to keep her smiling.
When I walked out to the patio at Raccoon River Brewing Co. on the first night of August, I was surprised by the small number of tweeps in attendance. I assumed there would be many more considering we were hosting Sarah Lacy (@sarahcuda), Silicon Valley reporter and author of Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good, and her husband, Geoffrey Ellis (@sadkids).
I walked in, sat down and handed Sarah the #dmtweetup badge I had made for her to help her feel like part of the crew. She gave me a User Generated Book Tour t-shirt in recognition of the lacyjump video I had made to help promote her new book. I found both of them to be very pleasant and genuine. You would hardly guess they weren’t from the Midwest. In minutes we were chatting and laughing like they were a normal part of the tweetup crew.
Sarah was very gracious and did a couple of video interviews with members of our local group, including Nathan Wright and Hillary Brown. She made a special point to bring up the Tweetup Badge I had made for her 
during both interviews, which I thought was very cool. I appreciate the exposure very much. I have to confess that I have not yet read Sarah’s new book yet, but after meeting her in person I’m sure I will.
Michael Ferrari (@mferrari), cofounder of SmartyPig (@SmartyPig), was also in attendance (his first I believe). SmartyPig is a very interesting concept, using direct deposit transactions, an online bank account and social tools to promote savings. Everyone should check them out.
Raccoon River Brewing is a big place as far as microbreweries go. They have a nice menu and a variety of beers on tap. I can recommend the wheat beer and hot wings personally.
See the rest of the photos from this #dmtweetup on Flickr.
The #dmtweetup at Hessen Haus on July 29 brought out several new faces. Hillary Brown (@hillabean), back in Des Moines fresh from California, was a pleasure to meet and definitely a great addition to the crew. She is happy to be back in the Midwest and working with Nathan Wright (@nathantwright) at Lava Row. We’ll see how she feels about her decision when the first snow flies this year.
Other first timers in attendance were Jon Palestini (@youwithoutme), who owns his own clothing company called Nightmare City Apparel and works at Sacred Skin, and Neil Roberts (@pottedmeat), a JavaScript dev for Dojo Toolkit and SitePen. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Neil much, but he seems like a cool guy. Some of the regulars in attendance were Kathy Landen (@kathy_L), Daniel (@danielshipton) and Abbie Shipton (@abbieshipton), Brett Trout (@bretttrout), Jeremy Bingaman (@iowaradioguy) and Troy Rutter (@trutter). I know there were others I have left out and I’m sure I’ll hear about it.
One of the best things about our crew is it is such a diverse group. Where else can you sit and chat with a lawyer, a radio personality, web and software developers, a video producer, social media gurus, etc. all in one place? With such a wide range of personalities there is always something interesting to talk about.
The building that now houses the Hessen Haus has a long and varied past. Formerly an old train station it has undergone numerous transformations over the years – playing host to a variety of restaurants, bars and dance halls – and nearly facing condemnation and destruction at one point. Early in its history, it even served as an open-air structure for housing horses. It has a large open feel with plenty of room for a group.
I had a couple German beers I couldn’t pronounce and a burger that I’m not sure was German, but was tasty none the less. I may not speak German, but I do speak beer. Pass that boot.
See the rest of the photos from this #dmtweetup on Flickr.
To celebrate our site launch and the public availability of Tweetup Badges for the masses, we are hosting a special on all badges purchased from now until the end of August.
Individual badges can be had for just $2.15 each, including a lanyard. This means you can get your own personal Tweetup Badge, in the colors you want, with your real name and Twitter username, plus a hashtag of your choice.
Wear the badge at your next tweetup or at any social function. It’s sure to spark some conversation and may even help you meet a few new people.
Check out the photos page (or our Flickr group) to see what color combinations have been popular so far and then head over to the order page when you’re ready to go.
If you belong to a tweetup group that you think might be interested in bulk ordering badges for everyone, we can do that to. Just use our slick order form, upload all of your details and off you go, still at the special price of $2.15 each (with lanyard).
And remember, this deal is only good through the end of August, so get your Tweetup Badge ordered today and take advantage of our site launch special offer.
