From Los Angeles Tweetup to Good Capitalist Party

What started as a not-so-well-attended tweetup in Los Angeles in December 2009, only a few months later turned into a networker’s dream event of more than 700 social entrepreneurs, nonprofits and socially responsible businesses at the 2010 South by Southwest (SXSW) conference.  

For those of you asking, “What’s a tweetup?” – this was is an event where people who use Twitter came together and met each other face-to-face, generating many light bulb moments as nonprofit and for-profit leaders connected and recognized how they can learn from each other to better accomplish their goals.

When a December Changemakers tweetup in Los Angeles connected only a handful of people interested in social entrepreneurship, one energetic tweeter suggested trying it again in New York in January. This tweeter wanted to meet more people involved in the sector, as well as Changemakers staff.  Enter networker-extraordinaire, Martin Montero, the founder of City Hope and Ben Effect.  Not only was Montero there, but he proposed another Changemaker tweetup in Austin, during the March 2010 SXSW conference. SXSW is a unique convergence of original music, independent films, and emerging technologies, and is considered the place to be for learning about innovative technologies.

Montero, an Austin native, tapped into all of his networks. More than two thousand RSVPs later, the Austin tweetup clearly needed a formal venue and the Good Capitalist Party was born. Eight sponsors, including Changemakers, envisioned the Good Capitalist Party as a huge networking event for  nonprofits and traditional business people interested in social entrepreneurship.

For Changemakers staff  attending SXSW, the Good Capitalist Party and its 700 attendees validated their belief that connecting online is important, but in person connections provide a unique added value. Changemakers met people from different industries who learned lessons from the social entrepreneurship space and truly expressed interest in working for social good, beyond the bottom line.

So, mark your calendars for the 2011 SWSX event.   We’ll be there and we want to meet faces that we know from Changemakers.com. And if you can’t make it to Austin next year, get in touch with us now.   We’re here as a resource for the community. Get started -- tweet, email or let’s talk – we want to have a face-to-face Good Capitalist Party with you.