Part of my job as site manager for Mtbr.com is to go around to different booths at events like the Sea Otter Classic, and take photos and/or video of the latest and greatest new bikes and gear.
I talk to product managers, PR reps, marketing coordinators and sales people. And one topic that seemed to come up quite a bit was Twitter.
Now, for those of you who have been hiding under a rock, Twitter is: (according to Wikipedia.org) “a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users’ updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length…”
If you haven’t seen it, Mtbr is on twitter here: http://twitter.com/mtbr
I first heard about Twitter from Mtbr pro photographer and PhotographyReview Site Manager Photo-John (http://twitter.com/Photo_John ). At first I couldn’t understand why he was so excited about something that seemed so simple and almost…boring. I set up a Twitter account last year and made a half-hearted attempt to use it during Interbike last year. It was another thing I had to worry about and I just didn’t have time for it. I didn’t understand the benefit of using it.
But, the more you use it, the more you get drawn into it. It’s simple and basic design may seem like a huge limitation at first, but that simplicity is what makes it so special. Anyone can do it.
How twitter is used depends on who is using it. For Mtbr, we use it primarily to feed press and news articles, and during events like Sea Otter or Interbike, we use it to promote the event coverage articles.
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One of the fellow Twitterati that I talked to at Sea Otter was Denny from Manitou. Denny had actually posted on the ManitouMTB twitter that if you came to their booth and mentioned Twitter, you would get a free t-shirt! How could I pass that up, I’m always looking for extra swag for the Mtbr prize raffle! I thought that was a great way to use Twitter. I’ll have to follow up with Denny to see how many twitterati ended up coming by their booth. Denny expressed how he loved to use it to pass on information to all different kinds of viewers: racers, customers, fellow industry people etc…
You can follow ManitouMTB on Twitter here:
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Another Twitter user that I have communicated with online was Krien from Mountain Cycle. We had exchanged Tweets about meeting up at Sea Otter, so I stopped by the Mountain Cycle booth. But John from Mountain Cycle informed me that Krien had not been able to make the trip out to Monterey. John and I actually ended up talking more about motorcycles, but that’s probably because the Ducati girl stopped by their booth:
You can follow Mountain Cycle on Twitter here:
http://twitter.com/mountaincycle
More photos and info on page 2 (GT and Trek)>>
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