If you’d like to bid on any items, feel free to drop me a line at mandrean AT gmail DOT com with the title and bid amount. Or Tweet it to @mandreano.
Note: Cash and Credit Card all accepted as winning bids. Payment is due at the conclusion of the auction. (9PM)
Night out in Allentown:
4 Tickle Me Tuesday Tickets
Cosmopolitan Restaurant Gift Card
Retail value: $45 Starting Bid: $20
Lehigh Valley Steel Hawks Arena Football Package #1
4 Tickets to May 21 Game, Stabler Arena
LV Steelhawks Collared Shirt
LV Steelhawks Program
Retail Value: $85 Starting Bid: $30
Lehigh Valley Steel Hawks Arena Football Package #2
4 Tickets to May 28 Game, Stabler Arena
LV Steelhawks Hooded Sweat Shirt
LV Steelhawks Program
Retail Value: $85 Starting Bid: $30
Two Tickets to Bobby Collins at the Easton State Theater
Saturday, June 18 – 8PM
Retail Value: $60 Starting Bid: $30
Lehigh Valley Ironpigs Tickets with Overnight Accomodations
2 Tickets to an Ironpigs Game of your Choice
1 Night at the Hilton Garden Inn, Airport Road, Allentown
Retail Value: $130 Starting Bid: $45
Lehigh Valley Rollergirls Prize Package 4 tickets to next bout – June 4th – 5PM
4 LVRG shot glasses
4 – $10.00 certificates for LVRG merchandise to claim at bout
4 – Glow in the dark beer cups
4 – LVRG beer koozies
1 – Framed and autographed league picture
4 – LVRG stickers
Retail Value: $140 Starting Bid: $40
Fashion and Food Fixation
$50 Gift Card to Shuze, Main Street Bethlehem, PA
$50 Gift Card to Starfish Brasserie, Broad Street, Bethlehem, PA
Retail Value: $100 Starting Bid: $50
HomeBase 610 Donate to Skate
$50 Gift Card to Homebase 610 Store, 4th Street, Bethlehem, PA
Retail value: $50 Starting Bid: $25
Laini’s Little Bundle of Prints
Bundle of photos from Laini Abraham
Easton Centre Square, 2 Prints from Lehigh Valley Sewer Cover Project
Retail value: Approx. $125 Starting Bid: $45
Tee Time for Two 2 Weekday Tee Times at Southmoore Golf Club, Bath, PA
$20 Gift Card to Dick’s Sporting Goods
Retail value: $85 Starting Bid: $35
What else is there to do this week than to crank out a Top 10 list about something. Social media has turned our world upside down and kept us one click or touch away from what is happening right now. Similar to last year (LINK), here are the top 10 stories of our own Lehigh Valley from 2010 which had a social media element to them. Thanks to all our followers and readers out there who suggested and nominated some of these items, you see below. Enjoy!
10 – Readers Choice awards for BFD and Hosfeld Insurance
In August, the Morning Call had a Readers Choice contest where nominations were accepted and top nominees were awarded Readers Choice awards. With the power of social media and momentum, two long time active participants in social media, Black Forest Deli and Hosfeld Insurance took home awards in their respective categories Best Deli in the Valley and Best Local Insurance Agency. Maybe you attended one of their parties to celebrate? Congrats ladies!
9 – More Local Businesses embrace Facebook and Twitter
The number of local businesses that now use Twitter and Facebook is abundant. While you can’t follow them all (effectively, that is), you can certainly find your favorites. Businesses are a lot more engaging since the start of 2010 than previously. Some that come to mind, (the non-award winning ones that is) are Shuze, Moravian Book Store, Brew Works, ArtsQuest, Sands Casino, Morning Call, and the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs. If any others come to mind, feel free to leave them in the comments section. My apologies in advance.
8 – CelticFest App
Mobile apps was where it was at in 2010. CelticFest was one of the first to get it out there and made the event jump up a notch. It kept you up-to-date on everything taking place at the festival and downloads and stored the information on your mobile phone, iPod Touch, or iPad so it works with or without an internet connection. More info on that app at http://www.celticfest.org/info. Well done.
7 – Lehigh Valley Hospital begins a No Texting While Driving Campaign raising awareness.
In one of the largest public awareness campaigns in the Lehigh Valley and nationwide, Lehigh Valley Health Network lauched http://www.celllimit0.com where they talk about the urgent call to action to stop texting and using mobile devices while driving. The website states: “Each year, 6,000 Americans die in car crashes caused by distracted driving—and cell phone use is by far the greatest distraction. Studies indicate that talking on a mobile device quadruples your risk for a crash (raising it to the same risk level as driving drunk). “If you’re text messaging, you are eight times more likely to crash,” says health network trauma surgeon Robert Barraco, M.D.”. As of last week, they have distributed 10,500 magnets and close to 500 lawn signs.
6 – laini’s little books go electronic
These books have been around for a few years now (since 2007, the launch of the 1st Easton guide). but 2010 saw the launch of a website, blog entries and weekly lists of “9” things to do each weekend. Not sure why 9, but it’s unique. Relevant and timely content get pushed to her Facebook fan pages and Twitter feeds for all to see (and share / retweet / etc.). It all mashes up nicely at http://www.littlepocketguide.com, which features a great way to end the year – laini’s list of 9 – New Year’s Weekend!
One social media intregrated app that exploded on the scene in 2010 is Foursquare. It’s (in my opinion) the market leader in geo-location based apps out there. When 50+ people are checked in to a location on Foursquare – it’s a foursquare flashmob! Not too many Lehigh Valley locations can get 50+ checkins at one location. We got about 30-some at the LVTweetups from time-to-time. Musikfest is just the event to make that happen though, and on Friday the 13th. That night of Musikfest saw the badge get unlocked. If you were one of the 50+ who did it, congrats! Here’s @thuk18045’s badge. http://foursquare.com/thuk18045/badges/4c65efefe1da1b8d3ed899c3
4 – Bethlehem Horses Tweet, Morning Call and NBC10 Philly covers the controversy
Back in April, we had our 1 year anniversary for LVTweetup. We even had a cake from Backdoor Bakeshop to go with our pint-glass giveaway. This year we went to Musikfest, CelticFest, and an IronPigs game as well as the local nightlife scene places. Look for more great places and event in the coming year. And thanks to our sponsors for all the great giveaways and promo items. All your support is appreciated by all!! Follow the Tweetup on Twitter at @lvtweetup along with the current 1,130 followers.
2 – Callahan and Dent (and Towne) for Congress
The battle for this seat in Congress made #7 in the Stories of 2010 by WFMZ. http://www.wfmz.com/lehighvalleynews/26304393/detail.html While the candidates did nothing out of the ordinary when it came to social media, it was the power of the people’s voice that kept the social media airwaves going through the fall leading up to Election Day. Social media is one way that the demographics of Americans that weren’t as active at the polls stay informed and stay motivated to get out and vote each election. This is where 1992 MTV called to say they are proud of you – back then it was called “Rock the Vote”.
1 – 2 Days in a Cube, 70,000 Text Messages
They said it couldn’t be done (well, maybe they didn’t, but still..) The Tweetup community picked one lucky fellow George Wacker (Facebook profile) to rally behind and vote their way to Mayfair’s Morning Call sponsored 2 Days in a Cube contest to win a 2010 Nissan Cube. Among the five contestants, George came out on top thanks to a large following of votes, tweets and facebook posts to remind us, and many ancillary viral marketing moments throughout the month of May.
Feel free to leave a comment below with thoughts, opinions, commentary, etc. After all, isn’t that what social media is for?? Happy 2011 all.. See you online!
What else is there to do this week than to crank out a Top 10 list about something. Social media has turned our world upside down and kept us one click or touch away from what is happening right now. Similar to last year’s list, here are the top 10 stories of our own Lehigh Valley from 2010 which had a social media element to them. Thanks to all our followers and readers out there who suggested and nominated some of these items, you see below. Enjoy!
10 – Readers Choice awards for Black Forest Deli and Hosfeld Insurance
In August, the Morning Call had a Readers Choice contest where nominations were accepted and top nominees were awarded Readers Choice awards. With the power of social media and momentum, two long time active participants in social media, Black Forest Deli and Hosfeld Insurance took home awards in their respective categories Best Deli in the Valley and Best Local Insurance Agency. Maybe you attended one of their parties to celebrate? Congrats ladies!
9 – More Local Businesses embrace Facebook and Twitter
The number of local businesses that now use Twitter and Facebook is abundant. While you can’t follow them all (effectively, that is), you can certainly find your favorites. Businesses are a lot more engaging since the start of 2010 than previously. Some that come to mind, (the non-award winning ones that is) are Shuze, Moravian Book Store, Brew Works, ArtsQuest, Sands Casino, Morning Call, Starfish Brasserie, and the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs. If any others come to mind, feel free to leave them in the comments section. My apologies in advance.
8 – CelticFest App
Mobile apps was where it was at in 2010. CelticFest was one of the first to get it out there and made the event jump up a notch. It kept you up-to-date on everything taking place at the festival and downloads and stored the information on your mobile phone, iPod Touch, or iPad so it works with or without an internet connection. More info on that app at http://www.celticfest.org/info. Well done.
7 – Lehigh Valley Hospital begins a No Texting While Driving Campaign raising awareness
In one of the largest public awareness campaigns in the Lehigh Valley and nationwide, Lehigh Valley Health Network lauched http://www.celllimit0.com where they talk about the urgent call to action to stop texting and using mobile devices while driving. The website states: “Each year, 6,000 Americans die in car crashes caused by distracted driving—and cell phone use is by far the greatest distraction. Studies indicate that talking on a mobile device quadruples your risk for a crash (raising it to the same risk level as driving drunk). “If you’re text messaging, you are eight times more likely to crash,” says health network trauma surgeon Robert Barraco, M.D.”. As of last week, they have distributed 10,500 magnets and close to 500 lawn signs.
6 – laini’s little books go electronic
These books have been around for a few years now (since 2007, the launch of the 1st Easton guide). but 2010 saw the launch of a website, blog entries and weekly lists of “9” things to do each weekend. Not sure why 9, but it’s unique. Relevant and timely content get pushed to her Facebook fan pages and Twitter feeds for all to see (and share / retweet / etc.). It all mashes up nicely at http://www.littlepocketguide.com, which features a great way to end the year – laini’s list of 9 – New Year’s Weekend!
5 – Foursquare SWARM badge unlocked at Musikfest
One social media intregrated app that exploded on the scene in 2010 is Foursquare. It’s (in my opinion) the market leader in geo-location based apps out there. When 50+ people are checked in to a location on Foursquare – it’s a foursquare flashmob! Not too many Lehigh Valley locations can get 50+ checkins at one location. We got about 30-some at the LVTweetups from time-to-time. Musikfest is just the event to make that happen though, and on Friday the 13th. That night of Musikfest saw the badge get unlocked. If you were one of the 50+ who did it, congrats! Here’s @thuk18045’s Swarm badge.
4 – Bethlehem Horses Tweet, Morning Call and NBC10 Philly covers the controversy
How TMZ missed this one, I am not sure. One staple at Musikfest are the mounted police patrol horses. Suddently, they started tweeting. As the profile states: “We are the horses who protect you during MUSIKFEST in Bethlehem! Horses can’t tweet, this is a parody. Idiot.” and links to Lehigh Valley with Love. This was covered by the Morning Call, and then NBC10 even came up for the story and interviewed official PR LVwithLove correspondent George Wacker (Facebook profile) about it. See the NBC10 clip about it.
3 – LVTweetup turns 1, storms the Valley monthly.
Our @LVTweetup birthday cake
Back in April, we had our 1 year anniversary for LVTweetup. We even had a cake from Backdoor Bakeshop to go with our pint-glass giveaway. This year we went to Musikfest, CelticFest, and an IronPigs game as well as the local nightlife scene places. Look for more great places and event in the coming year. And thanks to our sponsors for all the great giveaways and promo items. All your support is appreciated by all!! Follow the Tweetup on Twitter at @lvtweetup along with the current 1,130 followers.
2 – Callahan and Dent (and Towne) for Congress
The battle for this seat in Congress made #7 in the Stories of 2010 by WFMZ. While the candidates did nothing out of the ordinary when it came to social media, it was the power of the people’s voice that kept the social media airwaves going through the fall leading up to Election Day. Social media is one way that the demographics of Americans that weren’t as active at the polls stay informed and stay motivated to get out and vote each election. This is where 1992 MTV called to say they are proud of you – back then it was called “Rock the Vote”.
1 – Two Days in a Cube, 70,000 Text Messages, One Winner, One Wacker.
They said it couldn’t be done (well, maybe they didn’t, but still..) The Tweetup community picked one lucky fellow George Wacker (Facebook profile) to rally behind and vote their way to Mayfair’s Morning Call sponsored 2 Days in a Cube contest to win a 2010 Nissan Cube. Among the five contestants, George came out on top thanks to a large following of votes, tweets, a Facebook fan page, and facebook posts to remind us, and many ancillary viral marketing moments throughout the month of May.
Feel free to leave a comment below with thoughts, opinions, commentary, etc. After all, isn’t that what social media is for?? Happy 2011 all.. See you online!
It’s about that time again. Let’s blow off the doors and pack the SteelGaarden again for our Holiday Tweetup. Last year’s LVTweetup had over 100 attendees from across the Valley.
Join us Monday night December 6th 7-9pm at Bethlehem Brew Works SteelGaarden for the Lehigh Valley Tweetup holiday fundraiser. What’s a Tweetup? Well, the tweetup is where local twitter users get together to mingle, network, and socialize off-line.
The first 70 people to come will get a Lehigh Valley Tweetup Travel Mug FREE! Like last year, we will also be collecting canned goods for the Trinity Soup Kitchen as well as new and unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots. You have to give to get, so bring something to help others in the community.
For more information, follow us on Twitter at @LVTweetup.
Attention Lehigh Valley socialites and social media junkies – Discover Lehigh Valley, the area’s designated tourism bureau, would like to tweetup with YOU at Starters Riverport on Thursday, November 11 from 6-8pm to share and discuss the wonders of their new interactive website.
Located at www.DiscoverLehighValley.com, the site allows users to explore almost 500 Lehigh Valley destinations in incredible detail, share locations with friends and family via social media and build their own custom itinerary.
Representatives from Discover Lehigh Valley want to meet with you, get your take on the site and listen to any feedback you might have on future enhancements and other tools that would make the site more useful to locals and visitors alike. An added bonus – this will be a great opportunity to reconnect with all your twitter friends. Oh, and free hors d’oeuvres.
Here are the details:
Discover Lehigh Valley Tweetup – New Site, Old Friends Starters Riverport (Upstairs)
Thursday, November 11
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Free finger food, but drinks are on you. Bring a laptop if you’d like, Starters has WiFi.
Earlier this year, a few of us who know each other from the Lehigh Valley Tweetups started seeing advertisements for auditions for this “2 Days in the Cube” contest to take place Memorial Day weekend at the Mayfair Festival in Allentown, PA in which 5 contestants would live inside a 2010 Nissan Cube for 2 days, compete in some silly competitions, and be allowed periodic bathroom breaks in hopes of winning a 2 year lease on the car in the end. We came to the conclusion that we had to put our heads together and pick one person we could all get behind, support, and make sure they won that car. That person was George Wacker.
After several days of online harassing, peer pressure, and other coercive measures, he agreed to do it. He went to the auditions with his now-infamous taped up guitar and wooed the judges. The strategy was sheer volume. Heavy hitters if you will. Get a little more than a handful of people to just pound away at the texting on their phones for 2 weeks. But it was more than that. We harnessed the power of social media. We started a Vote for Wacker in 2 Days in The Cube! Facebook fan page with many administrators to add content, we created crazy momentum on Twitter, and got a catch phrase to keep it in the front of the masses – “Wack the Vote”. Every time people saw it, it made them vote. We would text each other and just say “Vote”, and it happened. We even launched a Facebook Ad campaign for 20 miles around. It got nearly 340,000 impressions for the cost of one tank of gas. We didn’t care about click-thrus (linked to the Facebook fan page if they did), we just wanted visibility. We kept the campaign light, funny, but visible and in front of the audience.
We posted pictures from Mayfair, we made sure people knew the number to text and send WACKER to, we pointed them to the live feed on UStream. We made silly but clever motivational posters to vote. We leveraged social media to stay in front of the people throughout the 2 weeks to keep momentum, raise awareness, have some fun, and oh yea – win a car!
I talked a lot about the #140conf at both the LVTweetups and our radio show. What a great time with some great people!! Here is a video summary of my overall thoughts, and while I was there, I won an iPad (thanks to @twitgift). How do the two relate?? You have to watch the video to find out!
I also met @GaryVee – Gary Vaynerchuk and he gave a HUGE shoutout to the Lehigh Valley. If you like wine, there will be a Tweetup opportunity with a road trip to his Wine Library store in NJ in the near future!
My other videos from #140conf are also on my YouTube channel.
It’s one for the record books. The 1 year anniversary @LVTweetup has come and gone and the 2nd year of Lehigh Valley Tweetups will no doubt have tough shoes to fill as this first year wraps up.
Below is the press release for the upcoming Lehigh Valley Tweetup. MS Word format is available here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Michael Andreano, (610) 628-1071
email: mandrean AT gmailDOTcom
LEHIGH VALLEY TWEET-UP TO CELEBRATE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Monthly get-together of local Twitterers returns to Allentown BrewWorks on Tuesday, April 13
ALLENTOWN – April 7, 2010– They said it wouldn’t last, but boy did it ever.
When the first Lehigh Valley Tweetup (@lvtweetup) was held on April 13, 2009 at the Allentown BrewWorks, a skeptical but excited group of 35 people showed up to meet face-to-face. Since the social media outlet Twitter encourages interaction via the Internet, many of them had never met in person before. But that all changed one year ago when what started as an experiment turned into a monthly get-together that has introduced more than 400 people.
The brainchild of Forks Township resident Michael Andreano (@mandreano), the Lehigh Valley Tweetup (a Twitter meetup) was created as part of a larger trend of Tweetups taking place across the country in major cities like Chicago and New York. He knew through his Be the Bee Social Media Coaching business (www.thebeesbuzz.com) that there was a core group of Twitterers in the region and figured that if the big cities could do it, why couldn’t the Lehigh Valley? He saw the Tweetup as a way to connect in-person the local people who were already getting to know each other through Twitter.
The success of the April 2009 Lehigh Valley Tweetup and a follow-up one in June of that year prompted Andreano to make it a monthly event which averages 35-45 attendees. One Tweetup had as many as 100 attendees.
Andreano created marketing opportunities for local businesses using Twitter to create awareness for their brand, product or service for a fee by offering to list their company’s name and Twitter “handle” on a logoed giveaway item at select Tweetups. Giveaway items have included logoed pint glasses, golf balls, beer mugs, t-shirts and sweatshirts. He also sells logoed Tweetup apparel hats, mugs and other items on a web site
The December 2009 Tweetup, the largest Lehigh Valley Tweetup to-date, added a charitable angle with Andreano encouraging attendees to bring a donated toy for the annual Toys for Tots toy drive, and boxed and canned food goods for the Trinity Church Soup Kitchen in Bethlehem. A related silent auction raised $400 in donations for charities as well.
But perhaps most importantly, the Lehigh Valley Tweetups have connected area residents that may not otherwise have gotten to know each other except for a few 140-character messages.
“People like to connect with like-minded people,” says Andreano. “The Tweetups give them a chance to meet and connect with people in the local community both personally and professionally. Many local Twitterers who met online first have since strengthened that relationship by meeting in person at our Tweetups, and vice-versa.”
Join us for the One Year Anniversary of the Lehigh Valley Tweetup on Tuesday, April 13 at Allentown BrewWorks from 7 – 9 p.m. Logoed pint glasses will be given away to the first 60 attendees. A birthday cake made by the Backdoor Bake Shop in Bethlehem will be served to attendees at 8 p.m. Christopher Elston Photography will also be doing free professional headshots that people can use for their social media accounts. Dan’s Camera City will also have their photo booth available for free use.
Sponsors include:
Allentown Economic Development Corp – @allentownedc
Backdoor Bakeshop – @backdoorbakeshp
Be the Bee Social Media – @mandreano
Bethlehem Brew Works – @thebrewworks
Blabbermouth Communications – @blabbermouthcom
Black Forest Deli – @blackforestdeli
Christopher Elston Photography – @celston
CounterMarch Systems – @scrittler
Dan’s Camera City – @danscameracity
G&L’s Sign Factory – @synguy3
Hosfeld Insurance – @HOSFELDinsuranc
Mayflower Luncheonette – @LVGrkGrl
Spark – @mldrabenstott
Ted Colegrove – @primerx24
We have been doing our BlogTalkRadio show for the past 6 months with growing success. This week is going to be no different and we have the guests and topics to back it up. The latest Internet craze has been for celebrities to call you out and “make you famous”.
In the last few weeks, we have seen some people’s lives changed, possibly forever, thanks to the Internet.
It all started with the most talked about late-night talk show politics ever when Conan O’Brien was given an early exit from NBC’s Tonight Show. So what does he do with his spare time now? He starts a twitter account that blows up with over a half million followers in just days.
How does he pay it forward? He decides to follow ONE LUCKY PERSON! Enter Sarah Killen. She went from an everyday person to one of the most talked about people to date in 2010. She was set to appear on Larry King and Good Morning America.. and now.. THIS THURSDAY – be a part of history as Sarah Killian calls in to TWEEPS TALK TECH.
But wait, there is more… since it’s the thing to do, This Week in Tech with Leo Laporte followed suit. Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg.com did a a random search for “I Hate Technology” on Twitter… Who tweeted it and was selected? Enter Lisa Etheridge. She got an iPad for FREE (and 23,000 followers to boot). Guess what – SHE WILL BE LIVE THIS THURSDAY TOO!! This is the first show to have both overnight sensations on the same show together.
Below is the press release for the upcoming Lehigh Valley Tweetup. MS Word format is available 
Create the Buzz... 