Last Friday, I had a small local Tweetup at SNOB (Sonoma, Napa or Beyond) in San Francisco that I organized to benefit my Hope Runs 777 Challenge. I created a Tweetup invite via Twtvite (a very simple event manager) and tweeted the event several times. It was RT’d a few times and next thing you know, I had about 40 people show up at SNOB. It could have been more, but I wasn’t really doing a headcount. Friends of friends, strangers and very nice Tweeps showed up to support my event. Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was meeting new people on Twitter or maybe it was to support the cause! I didn’t have high expectations on the fundraising part but still, I walked about with about $100 in donations. And, at the end of the night, I was touched and encouraged. Raising $40,000 is no small feat and every dollar counts. I also need all the exposure and free advertising I can get and I found Twitter and other social media outlets (like Facebook) have become an invaluable tool. Even a few days later, I received a donation from a guy who happened to be there and took my brochure promising he would donate. I didn’t think he would follow through… but he did! Wow. I didn’t take a lot of pictures, I wish I could have. In between explaining Hope Runs, shmoozing and having fun, I forgot to snap some shot on my iPhone. I did get a chance to take this one because it was towards the end of the night and well, it was too fun not too miss!

@mvbaybea @mcnitt @smellycents @TLM26

Also, I have to give a special shout to @stoweboyd and @gravity7, who gave some sound advice on fundraising and offered their support. Thank you for being my “Chair” and “Director of Marketing” respectively.

Of course, I have to thank my hubby @donutfan who’s my #1 fan, our favorite cousin @jyamasaki, who’s also so darn supportive and @ianryerson who showed up first.