February 12th - Twestival!

I've never thought I would find myself so plugged into the world of the Internet. I'm on Facebook, Myspace, Eons, Blackplanet and LinkedIn. I blog. (Duh!) I have a Gmail, YouTube and Hulu account. I receive email alerts from VegasEvibe, Las Vegas Weekly, The Executive Lounge, SpyonVegas, Vegas4Locals and NapkinNights. I go to The Daily Beast to keep on the pulse of current events. And yes, folks, I TWEET!! To facilitate Twitter useage, I've got Twhirl jamming on my desktop this minute although I'm considering switching to Tweetdeck.

I once thought the Internet would be a great divider. I believed that independently independent individuals would plug into their monitor instead of each other for all forms of education and information..... because they believed that fellow humans would prove to become more and more ominously untrustworthy. But we can't deny our intrinsic desire to form communities, to share and absorb information, to reach out to anyone willing to listen and perhaps make "friends." It's lovely to have daily conversations with my fellow Class of 96ers all over the nation. (GO APACHES! GO, GO APACHES!) It means so much to watch my college friends' children grow up even though I can't be on the other side of the country with them. It's amazing to come together and laugh with perfect strangers. To know that our neighbors aren't as scary as ADT commercials make them out to be... To understand that people in far off lands don't hate us and still believe in the American dream... To see the world from a much broader perspective.. That's a beautiful thing.

I was reminded of this at the LV Twestival which took place at The Beatles Revolution Lounge at Mirage Hotel and Casino. All around the world, 175 cities hosted their own event where tweeters could socialize offline, meet their followers and followees face-to-face, party and benefit a charitable cause. The LV Twestival managed to raise $1000 to benefit charity: water. charity:water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations by funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need. We partied our way to a well, ya'll!

This event touched me. It reiterated the idea that we can use our "special powers" for good. Some people have a knack for throwing a sweet party. Some people can mix up a pretty nice libation. Some people can network their butts off. Some people are technological whizzes. Some people really know how to match a pair of boots with a dress. When combined, this makes for good-looking, swingin' time that addresses a real need in our world.

I didn't see much of the inside of Revolution because I spent most of the evening welcoming attendees. However while enjoying a "Tweetini", I noticed the ultra lounge does feature many comfortable seats and cool tables with internet access and digital chalkboard capabilities. I especially loved the unisex bathroom. There was something about the large male and female symbols leading to the same destination that made me giggle. Oh, but what a terrible enticement for all sorts of public fornication. Sin City, you dirty little thing, you.