The Tweeteasy thanks you for your help
Posted on: 1 April 2010 at 1255 - Comment
By @euzie
So as the Brightwest Tweeteasy packs up after the Feds shut us down for bootlegging, it’s time to look back and see what happened.
Back in February when we all first sat down this all seemed so far away.
The first question was venue. We had many great Brighton venues offering us space, From the Black Lion (home to previous Brightwets) to the local cricket club, The Terraces or The Basement. One that stood out was the newly opened Hifi lounge. No, none of us had heard of it either, but it sounded great: down a dirty back street, over two floors and still being done up.
So on that first night we thought about themes. Well the cricket club would be perfect for a cricket theme, Oh what’s that? It’s in Hove? Well who will go to Hove? (incidentally, it’s 500 yards from my front door, so I was happy).
Well how about some form of carnival? With games? Maybe we could have a fortune tweeter? Great, it’s on the list.
Well what about this Hifi lounge? it could be fun and sleazy? Hmmm, how about some form of speakeasy, or Tweeteasy? It writes itself!
And lo, the Tweeteasy was born.
But what makes a Tweeteasy? Simple - 1920s costumes, some illicit poker, gangster movies projected on the wall and a lot of tweets with the words “hey youse guys, it’s a Tweeteasy see” (yeah sorry about all those).
From that moment it was all go. Calling round for prizes, approaching people for sponsorship it never ended.
Week after week we met in the Hifi Lounge, planning the space, panicking that they were not going to have their ents license in time, worrying about whether we could pull all the threads together to make the night kick ass!
A week before we were worried, then fine, then worried, then fine. It was all go. While several off us traipsed the streets asking Brighton businesses for prizes, the rest of us updated the blog, or tweeted untill our eyes bled untill the day arrived.
We were in the venue from 2pm, moving tables, waiting for the drinks to arrive, checking the projector worked for the Twingo. (There was a rather hairy moment when @special_noodles was balanced precariously at the top of a ladder taping up a sheet while I stood at the bottom making “woooooaaaah” noises.) It all seemed like we had it nailed. Nothing could go wrong, doors open in 10 minutes. It’s all g … “What? the record decks from last week have gone missing? what do you mean ‘gone missing’? Ah crap.”
These moments are sent to test us, and an hour later two of our DJs and my wife walked in with decks borrowed from The Foragers Pub in Hove, a last minute loan. Couple together with @Rowstar’s CD mixer, we were all go.
We never looked back from there. The Twombola took a while to get going but in the end the prizes were flying off the table. The Twingo worked and was a massive success (though you have no idea just how glad I was when someone won, we only had a few slides left of the presentation). The poker attracted a few players and added character. And the numerous tweeps who dressed up in fancy dress made the whole thing come together in on amazing night.
And we smashed previous Brightwest fundraising records, almost coming in at £3,000! (just 40 quid short). Amazing!
We have so many people to thank. First up would be our major two sponsors:
Oban Multilingual, without whom we wouldn’t have had the required funds to get everything together
David Harris IP Lawyer, for funding “Fat Sams, coin slam, free drinky” (that was a lot of booze)
The hifi Lounge for the awesome venue
The Poker playing stars
All our DJs
The Foragers Pub for the last minute loan of the decks
Then, a massive thanks to all our prize givers, to those who donated the amazing artwork, courses and prints in the auction, to all the Twombola, fancy dress and early bird ticket prizes:
Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival
David Harris IP Lawyer
Nigel Planer
Paddy Personal Trainer
The Small Batch Coffee Company
Again, this was an amazing night, simply awesome, and in the words of Fat Sam: “We beat prohibition, had a swinging time, and made nearly three thousand clams for charity.”
Thanks to all of you, every single one of you, who came along and made the night such a blast. A very special thanks to the team who put the event together: @divydovy @brightonargusjo @euzie @rah_rah @robshepherd @special_noodles @dominickj and the @twestival team. Without you we could not have pulled this off.
Until the next one!
