There have been several things brewing for the forthcoming Twestival Global and a few more exciting announcements lined up (all in good time folks!). Keep your eyes peeled out for them by following @DubaiTwestival so you’re constantly clued in!

Meanwhile, as there are no ‘tickets’ for Twestival Global 2010, we urge you to confirm your attendance by filling out our registration form in order for us to have a fix on numbers.

Last year, we’ve had an amazing response in Dubai to both our Twestivals: Twestival Global in February 2009 and Twestival Local in September 2009. Together, 202 cities participated in Twestival Global 2009 and raised over US $250,000 for Charity: Water leading to 55 wells built in Ethiopia, India and Uganda. Meanwhile, 130 cities joined in Twestival Local to support causes that were closer to home - in our case, Dubai Autism Centre. Collectively, more than US $450,000 was raised worldwide to support 135 charities.

It’s time to kick things into gear for the next Twestival Global on Thursday, 25 March 2010. This year, Twestival Global supports @Concern Worldwide to focus on education and 72 million children in the world who don’t go to school.

We need your help demonstrating the power of social media and are canvassing for sponsors to support Dubai Twestival Global 2010. If you know of any sponsors keen to harness this opportunity and contribute in any way (venue, support, food!) to a great cause, please get in touch with us at (dubaitwestival at gmail.com) – we’d love to hear from you! 

Dubai Twestival Local was the ideal opportunity and event to connect with online fans. Shop&Ship - powered by Aramex, has a dynamic culture, always thirsty for new technology (a great fit with new media!). We’ve been keen to explore the social media arena and the Twestival will serve as a great venue to build up on this.

Our quest for innovative solutions, to serve our customers better, is something we always aspire to and push! @shopnship has been live officially for one month now and this dynamic communication channel is being used as another customer support contact point for our members. We are venturing into unchartered territory, but we’re enjoying the ride and learning from this very ‘live’ one-on-one social channel.

@shopnship is also using Twitter to inform our followers about interesting sites that we think could be of relevance to them. The greatest thing about Dubai Twestival Local is its association with a ‘do good’ cause – the Dubai Autism Center (@DubaiAutism). Aramex has been an early driving force of CSR in our region and participating in such a great event reinforces our dedication to helping the community and contributing to a good cause. We look forward participating further in future Twestivals across our region. Good luck!

See you all at both Twestivals soon!
@hmikail, Regional Marketing Manager-Shopping Services-Aramex.

Dubai – you know *your* Twestival Local cause - @DubaiAutism. But do you really know what difference you could possibly make to your own community?

Learn straight from the folks at Dubai Autism Centre why your contribution and presence at Dubai Twestival Local 2009 matters.

See you on Saturday to Meet, Tweet & Give. And we know you’ll probably hear this a lot but THANK YOU!

While it’s a wonderful thing we have the Twestival to raise funds for a great cause, our efforts should not stop at simply showing up at Twestival Local (although we do love you all for planning to make an appearance!). We thought we’d take it a lot further by helping DAC in every way we possibly can. So it’s simply splendid that one of our sponsors, Nahel, have stepped up with this exclusive ‘Volunteer & Help’ pledge form.

For every hour you pledge to help out the folks at Dubai Autism Centre (@DubaiAutism) in any capacity you can, Nahel will match your pledge!

As you probably already know, for organizations like DAC, every hour counts and every one hour you spend, DAC gets two hours of much needed help. How fabulous is that? Once again, many thanks to Nahel for stepping forward and helping out.

If you’re unable to make it to the Twestival (or even if you can), this is an amazing way of contributing to a good cause and the only investments required are your time and your effort.

 Well, what are you waiting for, tweeps? Pledge away!

We owe a big bunch of thanks to Dubai Metro and Dubai RTA who offered us a chance of a lifetime. Thanks to the enterprising efforts of @wildpeeta and @peymanparham, RTA stepped up to give us the ‘Golden Pass’ which is a chance to experience the first ride at the launch Dubai Metro on 09.09.09. This Golden Pass was auctioned live on Twitter and all proceeds will be donated to our supported charity, Dubai Autism Center (@DubaiAutism).

The live auction took place on Twitter on Monday, 7 September 2009 with several of Dubai’s twitteratis bidding for this remarkable chance. Going by the frenzied DMs and RTs flying back and forth, the interest was immense. Bids were quickly being topped up with the final bid at AED 1,000 for the Golden Pass.

The winner of the Golden Pass auction is Samer Constantini (@scostantini) – huge thanks for supporting Dubai Twestival Local and Congratulations! We hope you enjoy the ride tomorrow and we look forward to meeting you as well as reading your tweets about this exclusive lifetime opportunity.

Thanks a heap to the rest of you for taking part with your enthusiastic bids. We can’t wait to see you on Saturday!

We are delighted to announce that Jam Jar (@thejamjar) will be the venue for Twestival Local on Saturday, 12 September 2009 from 8pm – 11pm.

For directions and location map to Jam Jar, please click http://is.gd/2PblT

We hope you can join us and support our community and local charity through twitter, blogging, word-of-mouth and community service!

In the Meet.Tweet.Give. spirit, we are still looking for volunteers to lend a helping hand at the event – every bit helps including your time! 

We are also seeking food sponsors for Twestival Local. If you are in the catering/restaurant business (or know someone who does), please let us know if you’d like to support the Twestival with some scrumptious grub.

If you have any ideas/suggestions, please do pipe in (DubaiTwestival@gmail.com) – we’d love to hear from you!

It would be a bit remiss not to introduce you to the Twestival Local organizers who are working to make this happen - @PKGulati @DrBaher @CarringtonMalin @MissGoogle @Wookim @esperanca

There’s more exciting news we can’t wait to announce - for frequent updates, please follow @DubaiTwestival.

It’s that time of the year again where we rally around a good cause. After a great Twestival in February this year, we are back with Twestival Dubai on Saturday, 12 September 2009!

Back in February, Twestival Global highlighted one global cause – Charity Water. However, Twestival Local is a global event with over 200 cities taking part to support a local cause in their own cities. All money raised at Twestival Local will be donated to a specific charity organization in Dubai. This is a fantastic opportunity for Dubai twitterers (or tweeps, if you prefer) to support the Dubai community.

Twestival volunteers are working to finalize the venue has still to be finalized so watch this space! Do clear your calendars for Saturday, 12 September 2009 and follow @dubaitwestival for future updates so you’re in the loop. And don’t forget to tweet and spread the word – the more, the merrier, and all for a marvellous cause!

We are actively looking for sponsors so if you want to help support or sponsor the Twestival Local Dubai, please get in touch! (email Dubaitwestival@gmail.com or reply to @DubaiTwestival).

As you’re aware, with limited space, we had to restrict the number of tweeps so those who were quick to register get preference. We’ve also received copious messages/emails from non-twitterers who’d like to be part of the event. Again, for reasons already mentioned (and as much as we’d love to meet with potential tweeps), we have to be partial to twitterers tonight.

While there is merriment scheduled for tonight, do remember the reason behind the Twestival. We’d love it if you could participate somehow by donating to charity : water - http://tipjoy.com/twestival/

Let’s cross fingers that the good weather holds. See you fine tweeps tonight!