Twestival Houston Details:

• WHEN: March 25, 2010 : 5:30pm-11:00pm
• WHERE: Caroline Collective : 4820 Caroline, Houston 77004 | http://carolinecollective.cc | @carolineco

For updates, please follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/twesth and become a fan on Facebook at http://facebook.com/twestivalhouston.

What is Twestival™?

On Thursday 25 March 2010, people in hundreds of cities around the world will come together offline to rally around the important cause of Education by hosting local events to have fun and create awareness.  Twestival™ (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good.  All of the local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects.  If you would like to get involved in Twestival Houston, please contact Grace Rodriguez (@gracerodriguez) for sponsorship/donor information or Candace Kizer (@candacitabonita) for volunteer information.

Twestival Houston has raised over $5000 for:

• Charity:Water
• Houston Area Women’s Center

The Impact of Twestival

On 12 February 2009, the first Twestival Global was held in 202 international cities to support @charitywater, who we saw doing incredible work to help the almost 1 billion or 1 in 6 people in the world that don’t have access to clean and safe drinking water.  Over 1,000 volunteers and 10,000 donors fundraised $250k+, which resulted in more than 55 wells in Uganda, Ethiopia and India having a direct impact for over 17,000 people. Watch the videos of the first Twestival well drilled in the village of Mai Nabri, Ethiopia.

In September last year, 130 cities participated in Twestival Local which invited organizers to host events and select local causes to support.  Collectively, these cities raised over $450k for 135 charities.

In 2010, we turn our focus to education and 72 million children in the world who don’t go to school. @Concern Worldwide has been selected by the Twestival global team and local organizers to be the recipient because of their comprehensive and well respected approach to education.  This is an issue that involves many different elements; hunger, water, teacher training, building of schools, etc.  We hope to use the power of our global event fundraising and social media influence as a vehicle to give people insight into this cause on a deeper level.

About Concern Worldwide

Concern Worldwide was founded in 1968 to meet the needs of people living in extreme poverty, for whom every day is a fight for survival. Concern is a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organization dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of poverty. Their mission is to help people living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives - improvements they can sustain without ongoing support. Concern meets the needs of these people in a caring and personalized manner, respecting their human and cultural dignity. They are committed to reaching the most vulnerable, even in the most difficult of circumstances.

Concern’s work is informed by a vision for change and their education programs target the poorest people in the poorest countries in the world, with particular emphasis on reaching out-of-school children such as girls, orphans, street children, working children, children affected by conflict, children affected by HIV and AIDS, and children with disabilities. Concern’s education programs currently reach over 700,000 people in 25 countries across the regions of Africa,  Asia, and the Caribbean.  Please follow @concern on Twitter to get a glimpse of their staff tweeting from around the world; including their efforts on the ground in Haiti.

Where the Twestival funds will go

For as little as $28USD they can provide the uniform, books, pencils, and paper a child needs to attend one year of school. Concern Worldwide are able to guarantee that 100% of Twestival funds will go direct to project costs.  This means that the money would be used for material purchases (curriculum, desks, pencils) as well as project activities such as construction of schools; rehabilitation of classrooms; teacher/management training; PTAs; HIV/AIDS school clubs; water and sanitation in schools; health education in schools; education advocacy; vocational/life-skills training for youth, farmers and women; and curriculum development for secondary school/university. Money will not be used for things like administration, overhead, reporting oversight, etc. Concern Worldwide requires all fields that receive money strictly adhere to a six- and 12-month formal reporting protocol in which the field details the specific activities it has undertaken and how the funds were utilized. This system provides a very tangible case studies, evidence and updates, and other detailed information about how programs have progressed and benefited program participants; including the financial allocation in field; the GPS locations of schools in receipt of funds; digital video clips and photos from the schools; and case studies/quotes from people who have benefitted from the projects.  As cities are confirmed and fundraising goals are set, we will work with the team at Concern Worldwide to identify specific projects we will be supporting.

THANK YOU to the following Sponsors for Twestival Houston 2009:

• Caroline Collective (venue) - @carolineco | http://www.carolinecollective.cc
• Saint Arnold (beverages: 2 kegs of beer) - @saintarnold | http://www.saintarnold.com
• Sweet Leaf Tea (tasty tea) - @sweetleaftea_1 | http://www.sweetleaftea.com
• Tacos A Go Go (food) - @tacosagogo | http://www.tacosagogo.com
• Culture Pilot (design & posters) - @culturepilot | http://www.culturepilot.com
• Royalty4Daniela (YNH sponsor) - http://www.royalty4daniela.org

Twestival Houston’s goal is to raise $3000 to help Houston Area Women’s Center in their mission to end domestic and sexual violence. Every dollar raised through Twestival Houston will support HAWC’s Children’s Court Services program, the advocacy service for children who have been victims of or witnesses to violent crimes. But we can’t do it without YOU! Please help us help HAWC:

• BECOME A SPONSOR ($100-$500) - Sign up to put “Your Name Here” - or “Everywhere!” - entitling you to provide marketing materials at the event and/or be featured in all Twestival promotions.
• DONATE & GET YOUR TICKET ($10/$20/$30) - Join us for good times and a good cause!

Our venue – Caroline Collective – also allows Sponsors the opportunity to project live footage onto the walls, where all logos will be featured. For more information, please download the Twestival Houston Sponsor Package (Twestival_SponsorPackage_HAWC.pdf) or contact Grace Rodriguez via Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/gracerodriguez) or email (grace [at] aynbrand.com). Thank you!

SPONSOR BENEFITS BACKGROUND:

The first Twestival occurred on September 25, 2008, at Doon Bar in London. Over 200 early adopters attended to raise money for The Connection at St Martins (http://www.connection-at-stmartins.org.uk/). The event developed viral buzz as the new media community blogged and tweeted extensively about it. The strength of this viral effect was demonstrated the day of the event, when “Twestival” became one of the most blogged-about terms worldwide. Mentions in the media and blogosphere included:

Mashable | New York Times | The GuardianTechCrunch UK | Current TV | Huddle

This viral buzz not only raised important awareness for the charity, but also for Twestival Sponsors, who received significant traffic through the Twestival promotions and website.

“As an early sponsor Huddle benefited tremendously from getting involved in Twestival. Apart from kudos and having our name associated with a fantastic and wonderfully organised event with a social conscience, we received more than 100+ visits directly from the Twestival site, not counting all traffic via Twitter. Twestival is a great initiative and we’re very happy to have been a part of it.”

- Zuzanna Pasierbinska-Wilson, Head of Marketing Communications, Huddle.net

Download the Twestival Houston Sponsor Package: Twestival_SponsorPackage_HAWC.pdf

Donate to Houston Area Women’s Center & get your tickets to Twestival Houston now!

Twestival Houston’s goal is to raise $3000 to help Houston Area Women’s Center in their mission to end domestic and sexual violence. Every dollar raised through Twestival Houston will support HAWC’s Children’s Court Services program, the advocacy service for children who have been victims of or witnesses to violent crimes. But we can’t do it without YOU! Please help us help HAWC by becoming a sponsor at http://amiando.com/twesth!

THANK YOU to our current sponsors:

You can also help us raise awareness by adding the following image to your Twitter page: