Stuart Foster is a marketing consultant in the Boston area. He specializes in brand management, social media, and blog outreach. He authors a blog at Thelostjacket.com.

Twitter meetups, or Tweetups as they're commonly called, are pretty much ubiquitous these days. You can't escape them. The @ nametags. The random awkward conversations that result when you have more than 140 characters to express yourself. Tweetups take an otherwise great service like Twitter and turn it into something much bigger.

Why? Because you are able to gather with online friends, meet new contacts to enhance your career, and have a few drinks. So here are a few quick tips for both the organization and managing of the actual event.

Have your own Tweetup planning dos and don'ts? Tell us about them in the comments.

Organizing the Tweetup: DO

1. Utilize your Twitter network as a way to drum up support, help and ideas. The number of PR and marketing people on Twitter now is astounding. Use their collective wisdom and networks to create buzz and support for your event.

2. Actually visit the venue. Seems incredibly simple right? But not everyone takes the time and effort to actually visit the bar, conference room, or park where the Tweetup will happen. I've never heard of anyone making a great business connection at a dark dive bar.

3. Plan for more people to show up than you think. It's Twitter. These people do know how to spread the word better than anyone. According to Sonny Gill: "Tweetups don't necessarily have to consist of avid Twitterers. However active, they are still a part of the community." Everyone should be welcome and thus you should plan to accommodate them.

4. Ensure a few core people/speakers are at the event. Trust me if @ChrisBrogan or @GregVerdino are at an event...it will draw a lot more buzz than @stuartcfoster.

5. Use Email. Even though it supposedly has fallen out of favor, having the contact information for a variety of individuals is beneficial for all involved. You can keep this core group informed of developments.







6. Use a service like Eventbrite, Amiando or meetup.com to organize your guests, collect donations and otherwise provide shareable content. It takes all the legwork out of the administrative work that a large Tweetup entails. If you are planning on a smaller gathering...this may not be necessary and you can use Facebook or your blog to organize.

Organizing the Tweetup: DON'T

7. Secure a venue with limited or no WiFi. At a minimum the CrackBerry/iPhone users should have good service. People like technology. But they won't like YOU if they can't use their tech at your event. (This is of course size/type of Tweetup dependent, if in a large conference room/venue: WiFi and cell phone reception should be working. However, if you are in smaller venue or bar Jeff Cutler of jeffcutler.com reports: "I have an iPhone, but anyone with mobile Web knows that when 200 people in one spot are on 3G/Edge it disintegrates." This negates the need for an elaborate setup in smaller venues.

8. Have an event in an inappropriate place. If you are having 200 people and you decide to squeeze them into a 20x20 room...it may not be a good idea. If you have a DJ at a networking event...it may not be a good idea. If you have an event where it is difficult to communicate in any way...it might be a bad idea. You get the idea?

9. Have a vague premise for the Tweetup. Most people want to know what they are here for so they can dress or plan accordingly. No one wants to be the guy that shows up in jeans to the black tie event. So ensure that this does not happen, have a clearly defined cause or purpose for the Tweetup.

10. Half ass it. If you spend the time, money and energy into putting together a Tweetup don't pull it together at the last minute. So plan accordingly and do your homework.

At the Tweetup: DO







11. Get to the event early. Simple manners. You want to make sure people come to the right place and will be able to enjoy themselves. "As the organizer, it's essential you come early especially if you are bringing/receiving food or materials. In the case of the SXSW Chicago Tweetup, I want to make sure to have all the schedule sheets at the event so when people arrive they have a topic to discuss," said Len Kendall from Critical Mass.

12. Collect business cards. Event dependent; most folks will be card carrying members of the business/technology world and will be at the Tweetup to network. If you have an electronic scanner this is even better. You can send a list of attendees to your email list, providing additional value.

13. Provide food. If you schedule a Tweetup around a meal...provide food. If you DON'T plan on providing food, definitely inform your attendees. Sometimes at these events I think my stomach does more networking than my mouth.

At the Tweetup: DON'T

14. Fade into the background. If it's your event...you’d better damn well be front and center to handle and address any concerns/problems that may arise. Daniel B. Honigman the lead social media strategist at Tribune Interactive urges "organizers to be sure to introduce new folks around. If you see someone coming out for their first Tweetup, be sure to spend extra time with them introduce them around and make them feel welcome."

15. Have bad name tags and pens. If I can't see your Twitter name. I'm not going to know who you are. The same is true for all people at your event.

16. Blow people off. Trust me. Nothing is worse than being snubbed. So if you want to have a great Tweetup, you have to talk to the 16 year old kid with the same respect that you would show Seth Godin. Just good business sense and karma.

17. Go open bar. Unless you want complete shenanigans (and to be broke), you don't want @JoeBusinessGuy to be completely tanked. Also it weeds out people just after the free booze.

Tweetups are fun, productive, and great for walking away with a lot of contacts and leads. So if you are feeling adventurous and don't mind doing a bit of hustling you can host/organize your own Tweetup. I'm looking forward to attending it :).

More Twitter resources from Mashable:

San Diego Tweetup imagery courtesy of @jimmyweee.