All Hail! The Power of Twitter!

...especially when it concerns 3-Day'ers!


This is a tale about the power of Twitter in my 3-Day landscape.

I've been on Twitter for a while...like long enough to accumulate a total of 1,149 tweets.  But while I've followed @the3day for well over a year, I hadn't really gotten into the throng of following and followers until a few months ago, when my fundraising and excitement really started to get going.  @JennyKOBrien was the first 3-Day Tweep I followed, then came @60milegirl, @MadameMommy, and @kscincotta.  There's a lot more to my list, so I won't go into them all, but a great many have become very important to me, and I'm so glad that I decided to really jump in.

You remember Heidi and Kristen, right?

Early on the joy was all in learning about each other.  "Where are you from? Where are you walking? Is this your first walk? I love your blog!!"  And then around the time Val and I hosted the Pottery for the Cure, things changed.  Because a couple 3-Day Tweeps...well, they made the trek to Alpharetta to come out to our little fundraiser.  I was in awe.  Because Heidi and Kristen don't live in Alpharetta...they live way NOT in Alpharetta, and both drove an hour or more to come out.  That's big.

Hi.  I'm Mug

And then, about a week after Pottery for the Cure...the next big Twitter happening happened. That's right.  Mug. Who, after about 6 hours of photos and Tweets, became known as @3DayMug and also garnered her own blog:  the adventures of Mug.

A lot started happening about the time of Mug.  My magnet design got noticed and a couple tweeps asked for re-designs (@fatgirlwalkin) and advice on creating their own (@60milegirl).  Then I designed another magnet to take advantage of ATL traffic and a few more tweeps (@lilshadetree @myarmer and others) asked for their own versions.  And because we're all in this thing together, I gladly helped them all. Because the 3 Day isn't a competition.  There's no race to be won.  No prizes for reaching your fundraising minimum first.  The 3-Day is a community, and this is what we do.

Tweep Walk v1.0

And it doesn't stop there!These Twitter connections have even led to a Training Walk!  Yup, four complete strangers decided to meet in a place relatively central to all of us and walk 9 miles.  That picture over there shows us all...@kscincotta with @3DayMug, of course,  @lilshadetree, @gphigirl and me (@knittingbagel).  And what a great walk!  Nine miles provides a lot of time to talk about what we've been up to for fundraising, share blister-prevention tips, talk packing and teams, and share some stories of our individual 3-Day adventures.

But even after all this, why am I bringing up the Twitter thing now?  Because something really big happened today.


It all started because a few of us we chatting about teams...should we be on one? Should we go solo? And do you ever really go solo on a 3-Day?  And then someone (either @AthenasArmoury @fatgirlwalkin or @abby3dayatlanta) said: "feel like Twitter is my 3-Day team".  And that's when the floodgates broke loose.  Shirts were mentioned, corporate sponsorship was tossed out, and now the list of Tweeps on the un-official Team Twitter is pretty darn big.  (I'm not exactly sure how big because ...ummm... IshouldhavebeenworkingandnotonmyphoneorTwitter... but you can ask Cat about the list.  She's the official list-keeper for Team Twitter.)  


So yeah.  Now I get to contact Twitter trademark folks and beg them to use some part of their name or logo (without any implied support of the cause, of course) so that we can knock out some fabu shirts and other things on Cafe Press.  (All money from the sale of items will be donated straight to Susan G Komen for the Cure.) But oh man, am I excited! I cannot wait to meet these people in Tampa, or walker-stalk them in Atlanta. And who knows about next year, or years beyond.  I can't wait to read about their triumphs and struggles and about their individual reflections on the 3-Day.  But I really can not WAIT to Cure Breast Cancer with them.  Because that's what we're all really here for.  


Go Team Twitter!!


Until next time, 
Julie


p.s. I know that I left out some folks in this here line-up.  I did not intentionally omit anyone.  I just have a really bad memory and until I can get out of the habit of posting after my bed-time (a.k.a. practically brain-dead) I will unfortunately miss a thing or two.  I really have a lot of love and am so thankful for all of my 3-Day Tweeps.