Single in the City’s latest production, brought to market by Laura Bilotta the host and star of the show, Tweetsteria is a high tech way for single people to meet each other both online and in-person at the same live event. It’s a technology lifestyle story because it works to bring people together; web savvy professionals (geeks to some) hook up all over the host restaurant.
Laura Bilotta from Single in the City with Raymi the Minx running Tweetsteria at Cagney’s Steakhouse
On Wednesday the 24th of May 2017 at Cagney’s upscale steakhouse in Mississauga Ontario, Laura Bilotta from Single in the City debuted her new attraction. On that grand occasion, a full twenty-one question game of Tweetsteria happened for the very first time.
Tickets were $20 each and that’s the same amount of money each winner received from Raymi the Minx whose job it was to pay the players and then blog about Tweetsteria afterwards. Raymi wrote about May 24 Tweetsteria game in Streetsville highlighting the $420 dollars she dispensed, while Laura’s blog on Single in the City details how Tweetsteria turned singles into couples.
Tweetsteria is paid for by local businesses and that means some of the questions were advertorial. Seven of the twenty-one digital challenges asked players to research facts pertinent to the featured sponsor’s firms, and it was these local businesses that forked over the cash to reward the quick fingered players that night. This is where the storytelling aspect comes into play; Laura confirms the next Tweetsteria matches will strive to be more stylized and tell better stories.
How The First Tweetsteria Was Set-Up at Cagney’s
Co-produced by DRMG, Direct Response Media Group (direct mail company in Oakville Ontario) through their sister agency Surround Digital Marketing, the evening went exactly as planned with two laptops set to propel two separate display systems.
Wideshot of bar Playing Tweetsteria in Mississauga
The first computer commanded the TVs in the bar to show the questions, while the second system was programmed to show the #Tweetsteria tag Twitter feed.
Participants would read questions on one screen and research and race to answer on Twitter in hopes their tweet would appear first on the game screen. First correct to appear won a crisp $20 bill. The program grew more and more compelling as the evening progressed, and the big winners stacked all the money they had won on their tables.
The First Tweetsteria was all about Mississauga
The first Tweetsteria was set in Mississauga Ontario, and this ‘place’ was the theme of the show. The program began by asking about the population of the city as per the 2016 census, and what Hollywood movies were recently filmed there (2014 RoboCop).
Tweetsteria’s sponsored questions ranged in difficulty from the Latin name for Black Nightshade, sponsored by Weed-a-way local lawn care service business in Mississauga, to the name of the closest Master Mechanic. The program introduced personal injury lawyer Joseph Zayona and then asked the crowd to research which law school he attended.
Thermo Bilt Windows Asked Players to Research Argon
More in keeping with Singles trivia, Softron Tax asked players to find the RC number of the Marital Status Change tax form (RC65). The hardest sponsored question of the night asked participants to name the insulation material found inside most thermal insulated windows? Sponsored by Thermo-Bilt Windows and Doors, the answer ‘Argon’ was not easy to find on their site, and required people to Google and learn about thermal insulated windows. The absolute hardest task asked participants to find the longitude of Cagney’s wine bar.
The Restaurant Helped The Tweetsteria
The twenty one questions were broken into three rounds of seven questions each. One query every round asked players about specific menu items and the dispensed plates of food on top of the cash prizes. The plates adorned the team tables and promoted sharing and more conversations throughout the venue.
The reason Tweetsteria works is because there just isn’t enough time for one player to research and tweet the answers with the hashtag; a team of two players will always beat the singular competitor because they can subdivide the labour. One player will start composing the tweet while the second researches the correct answer. These combos ‘evolved’ at every table and in the breaks new arrangements would form as the questions grew progressively more difficult.
Stam and Ron the Winning Couple – Tweetsteria
The big winner that first night, @S_Tam confirmed she had read-up on the game in advance, including the Tweetsteria prep piece on Modern Mississauga magazine and had even clicked through the links in that story to research some of the sponsors. Tammy had come looking to win some money, and at Cagney’s she met Ron who became her partner and together they won $160 or eight of the twenty one questions. That made Tammy the big winner that night and if she got Ron’s digits which is more than likely then tweetsteria worked for her in every respect.
Photo Credits
All photos by Rob Campbell – All Rights Reserved
Feature image is Raymi the Minx with Heather Albion at the bar at Cagneys
Wow cool idea. Where can i sign up?