The Free State Social, a social media conference presented by the World Company, was held in Lawrence on Thursday, April 29. A community wide tweetup took place that night downtown, with several bars and restaurants offering specials.
I've mentioned already how busy we were that night and how much fun it was. Now, I've compiled some of our favorite tweets, pictures, and videos from that night into a story on Whrrl, one of my favorite location-based social networking applications. I like Whrrl because it allows you to check in to a location, add pictures, add text, or join other people who are in the same location. Essentially, you can create a digital story of an event.
The story I created is below; click on the image to view it.
Last Thursday the Sandbar participated in the Free State Social community tweetup. We were packed that night with social media types from not only Lawrence, but all over Kansas and even from a few other states.
Every night at 10 p.m. (and other times at the bartender's discretion or the paying public's request) we run our Indoor Hurricane extravaganza. It's a cheesy live show full of mermaids, wind, rain, lightning, music, and dancing on the bar. Thursday night was no exception, and several hurricanes blew through the bar that night.
Three of the keynote speakers at Free State Social agreed (were coerced?) to jump on the bar and pretend to be mermaids: Sarah Evans, Chris Brogan, and Shawna Coronado. Thanks to the handy Christmas present Dave got last year (a Kodak zi8) I was able to record the festivities.
This isn't the only video of the night, and it's definitely not the best- there's more to come. I'm working on putting together a type of "digital scrapbook" with pictures, videos, and comments from the Sandbar tweetup. It will be posted here when it's finished.
That quote from doorguy/bartender Tyler's Twitter account sums up last night pretty well. He's pretty new to Twitter, and I think the size of the Free State Social tweetup crowd surprised him just a little.
We've had a busy week. And it's not over. Here's a quick run-down, with more to follow very soon.
Free State Social Tweetup
Yesterday was the inaugural Free State Social, a social media conference held in Lawrence and put on by the World Company. It drew folks from all over Kansas and some from out of state who wanted to hear nationally known speakers like Chris Brogan, Jeremiah Owyang, Sarah Evans, and Shawna Coronado.
The evening event was a community tweetup open to all, and The Sandbar was one of the six participating locations offering specials. It was a hot spot all night.
Heather's Wedding
Friday bartender Heather is getting married tomorrow! Her rehearsal dinner is tonight along with an after-party at our neighbor, the Barrel House. Tomorrow's the big day, and we're excited for her!
Pictures and stories to follow next week, as whenever the Sandbar crew is involved, there are shenanigans to share.
Hearts of Gold Ball
This biennial (is that the right word? every two years?) fundraiser for the Lawrence Memorial Hospital is Lawrence's premier black-tie event. The Sandbar has catered the liquor for every ball since its inception. As luck would have it, the ball is scheduled for….tomorrow night.
Our staff will be busy working at the Sandbar, Hearts of Gold, or participating in Heather's wedding.
