Despite our undeserved reputation induced by staged "reality" shows, Orange County is chock full of REAL people who freely give of their time, money, and knowledge. In the last few weeks I have had the privilege of getting to know some awesome Orange County Social Media Rock-stars. They may not be gifted musicians, but they are gifted with words and community.
Just Spotted, an Orange County website, hosted the OC Blog Awards at Wowzville in August. Much to my surprise, I was privileged to be nominated for a Micro-Blogging award (Twitter). The place was packed with OC locals blogging about everything from crafting (@thisiscarrie), fashion (@boutiquing), food (@fastfoodmaven) and everything in between. There were wonderful goodies donated by Dippen'Dots Fountain Valley, Daddy Cakes (pancakes extraordinaire), and BabyCakes cupcakes. Colleen and Kelly of Just Spotted organized this event to celebrate our powerful online community: http://www.just-spotted.com/2009/08/youve-just-been-spotted-oc-blog-award_20.html
A week later in Irvine another phenomenal event was hosted by Social Media Club of Orange County, Tweet Up Orange County, Style Week OC and sisters Rochelle, Haley and Chelsey Veturisa. The Irvine Peppino's bar was bursting at the seams as online personalities forged new offline relationships with fellow business owners, students, hobbyists, and plain old social media addicts. There were close to 90 Twitter "Tweeps" elbow to elbow with camera's flashing and video interviews being shot. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/twitter-networking-social-2541296-orange-county
The first OC Twestival will be held at Orange Hill Restaurant September 15th and will be raising money for Orangewood Children's Foundation. Entertainment is being donated by musicians and comics to benefit this very worthy cause. Hundreds of OC Social Media users will be there to support our local children. http://orangecounty.twestival.com/2009/09/02/move-over-america-twestival-ocs-got-talent/
Orange County has a rich pool of people who genuinely care about their community. If you need to know how to start a wordpress blog, or, simply, who has the best tacos in OC, there is a local online community anxious to share their knowledge.
I am proud to be a part of the REAL OC Tweeps!
