Ginny from the Blog

I’m not positively sure why I’m such a State Fair Geek. I think it started when I was a college intern for The State-Journal Register in Springfield, Illinois, about three hours from my hometown.

I had to cover several events at the sprawling fairgrounds, and it was the first time in my 21-years that I had been to the real State Fair.

You see in Illinois there are two state fairs: The Du Quoin State Fair in southern Illinois and the Illinois State Fair in the capital city, Springfield. I’d been to the Du Quoin State Fair (to see Hootie in the Blowfish), but it had nothing on the Illinois State Fair. It was at the Illinois State Fair where I first tried a weird fair food: alligator on a stick (ick) and threw back Bud Lights in the beer garden with my fellow interns (after the work day was over, of course).

So when I moved to the Triangle and had my first taste of the N.C. State Fair I was already a fan of the smells, people watching, animals, etc. But since then, I’ve become obsessed with the fair.

It might be because I had to spend time at the fair during the day as a reporter for The Herald-Sun and later as a blogger for NBC17.

It might be because I was so thrilled the PR folks behind the N.C. State Fair jumped on Twitter last year and started blogging, authentically engaging potential fairgoers with giveaways, anecdote sharing and near real-time answers to questions.

It might be because my boyfriend and I had our second date there last year. We shared chocolate-dipped cheesecake on a stick, and then, when we got up to wander the grounds, he gently took my hand for the first time.

Actually, there are probably dozens of reasons ranging from goats to deep-fried Snickers to pig races. At any rate, let there be no doubt: I am a #StateFairGeek. You may see me use that hashtag on Twitter several times between Thursday and Oct. 25.

In the meantime, follow @NCStateFair on Twitter and get behind-the-scenes access via the fair’s Deep Fried blog.

If you haven’t been to the fair lately, make this the year that you change that. You can buy discounted tickets online are at the fairgrounds between now and midnight Thursday. Order them here.

And if you’re on Twitter, don’t miss the Deep Fried Tweetup on Thursday, Oct. 22 at the Fair. It sounds like it’s going to be the best Triangle Tweetup yet, and that’s saying a lot because the Triangle has the best tweetups! Sign up here.

You can no longer doubt the power of Twitter to build meaningful communities (there weren’t any naysayers were there?). Last night, I was in a room filled with more than 100 Triangle residents who use Twitter, and so many sincere connections were quickly created. It was the first Triangle Tweetup (a meetup for people who use Twitter) of 2009 and the first Tweetup since “Twitter” has truly started to go mainstream. Triangle Tweetups have come a long way since the first one organized by @waynesutton in December 2007, when only five people showed up.

photo by @Dgtlpapercuts

Sincere Connections

It’s a fun rush to spy someone across a room and sort of recognize them from their Twitter avatar. If you’ve been following them for a while, you probably know a lot more about them than some of their close acquaintances and coworkers. When you approach your “tweep” (and you steal a glance at their nametag to confirm it’s the person whose life you’ve been digesting in 140-character bytes) and shake their hand it’s not like connecting with a stranger. Instead, it’s like meeting a pen pal or, in some cases, an old friend.

@jennafleur and @cammicam hang out with the Twitter bird. Photo by @dgtlpapercuts.

New Followers and Friends

Everyone who attends a tweetup is pretty much in agreement that Twitter is more awesome than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the crusts cut off made by your mom. So it’s easy to strike up a conversation with anyone you’re standing next to. All you have to say is: “Dude, what’s your Twitter name?” and follow-up with “Dude, when did you join Twitter?” or a “Dude, why did you join Twitter?” (You can omit the word Dude if it’s not part of your lingo). And from there it’s easy.

Here’s a roundup of the Tweetup that I made for 30THREADS.

Reconnecting with Tweeps

I love my tweeps, but we all lead busy lives, so we don’t get to see each other as often as we’d like. Luckily we have Twitter to keep up with each other, but there’s nothing like a hug, handshake or a knowing smile from an old Tweep. Tweetups are full of these.

Making a Difference

We decided to use our Twitter powers for good last night and turn the Tweetup into a food drive. We filled three boxes, a large Rubbermaid container and about a dozen plastic bags with cans and boxed goods. I’m going to drop the donations off next week at the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, and hope to get a tally on how many pounds we donated. (Photo to the right by @jreesnc).

Silliness Ensues

The clever and creative @ToastySnacks thought it would be fun to turn the Tweetup into a mock prom. She asked @InstantTaylor to be her date and then made gorgeous, detailed sashes declaring them the Tweetup King and Queen. And they decided to start their very own Triangle Tweetup Tradition and pass the sashes on, giving them to me and my boyfriend, @mammalpants. It’s now our responsibility to make them proud and select the King and Queen at the next Tweetup.

Photos by @Waynesutton and @abbyladybug, respectively.

Hopefully, Twitter won’t disapper anytime soon. I’m going to at least relish it as long as it’s around (or until it becomes the MySpace of the social web, whichever happens first). If you were at the Tweetup last night, fill me in on your favorite moment/connection.

And a special thank you to @waynesutton for doing an outstanding job of bringing us all together. It’s always a pleasure.