Since dipping my toes into the social media world, I’ve been to a few tweetups, both deep-fried and otherwise. Tuesday night in downtown Raleigh, I was able to meet some of the reporters, editors and bloggers of Raleigh’s News & Observer at the paper’s first social media meetup. (Relive the event by combing through the #nandotweetup hashtag archives.)
Along with the rest of us, newspapers are feeling their ways through the social media scene. It was exciting to chat with newsobserver.com managing editor Eric Frederick and Triangledotcom-er Mike Williams – and some of their fellow bloggers and tweeters Andrea Weigl, Sue Stock, Matthew Fortner and Brooke Cain – about how the newspaper’s online strategy has evolved. The N&O’s Twitter account has gone from strictly pushing (and, in some cases, dumping) newspaper content to engaging and interacting with followers, and it’s good to see them join the ranks of news outlets that “get it.”
And if anyone out there remains unconvinced of the value of meeting online tweeps in real life: I was one of the lucky winners of Carolina Hurricanes tickets to Saturday’s game, where I’ll get my very first taste of Raleigh hockey.
Thanks to Isaac Hunter’s Oak City Tavern and TriOut for making the event possible.
