| 23 Mar 2010 |
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Dubai joins largest global Twitter event
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Dubai Twestival to take place on Thursday March 25th; part of a global fund raising initiative in support of education for disadvantaged children
Dubai will join hundreds of other cities worldwide later this month when it hosts Dubai Twestival Global, part of a global fund raising campaign to help millions of children around the world who don't have the opportunity to go to school. Based around the social media service Twitter, the Twestival™ (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good. Dubai Twestival will take place on Thursday March 25th at the SKYYline lounge, InterContinental Hotel Dubai Festival City and is sponsored by UAE telecom service provider du.
"This is the second time that Dubai takes part in Twestival Global and gets the chance to demonstrate how powerful 140 character Twitter messages can be," said PK Gulati (@PKGulati on Twitter), one of the co-organisers of the Dubai Twestival. "Whilst last year's event was held in support of Charity:Water, 2010's Twestival Global turns its focus to education and the 72 million children in the world who are not able to attend school due to extreme poverty. And so we're very proud to be organising this year's event in support of Concern Worldwide."
Concern Worldwide (@Concern on Twitter) was selected by the Twestival global team and local organisers around the world to be this year's charity because of its comprehensive and well respected approach to education. Education in areas of extreme poverty is an issue complicated by many different elements including hunger, clean water, teacher training, building of schools. Twestival Global hopes to use the power of Twitter and social media influence as a vehicle to give people insight into this cause on a deeper level. All donations to Concern Worldwide are being made directly by individuals and organisations online via twestival.com.
Twitter is the online service that allows people to share short messages of under 140 characters. Usage of Twitter grew 579% last year from a total of 2.7 million unique visitors at the start of 2008 to 18.9 million unique visitors worldwide at the end of 2009. The UAE's Twitter community now numbers about 15,000 at present, out of an estimated 40,000 Twitter users across the Middle East and North Africa.
"du has seen the growing power of social media in the UAE and Twitter is an important and fast-growing social media platform. We already talk to customers via our @dutweets Twitter account and so have a particular interest in supporting Twestival Global Dubai and the work of the Twitter community in bringing people together to raise funds and promote global education for disadvantaged communities," said du Spokesperson name and job title.
The first Twestival Global was held in 202 international cities last year to support Charity:Water, a charity helping people across the world that don't have access to clean and safe drinking water. Over 1,000 volunteers and 10,000 donors fundraised $250,000 in just a few weeks, which resulted in more than 55 wells in Uganda, Ethiopia and India having a direct impact for over 17,000 people. Organisers hope that 2010's Twestival Global will raise even more funds for this year's worthy cause.
"Twitter and other social media have provided brands, such as our hotel (@InterConDFC) with an exciting new platform to engage with their customers," said Rob Singleton, Online Marketing Executive for the InterContinental Hotels Group properties in Dubai Festival City . "However, social media is all about the community and brands have to remember that if they want to interact with the community, they also have to be a part of it. Dubai Twestival is a great opportunity to bring together the UAE's Twitter community for a good cause and the InterContinental team is looking forward to hosting a great event."
Concern Worldwide's education programs target the poorest people in the poorest countries in the world, with particular emphasis on reaching out-of-school children such as girls, orphans, street children, working children, children affected by conflict, children affected by HIV and AIDS, and children with disabilities. Concern's education programs currently reach over 700,000 people in 25 countries across the regions of Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Twitter users can follow @concern to gain an insight into Concern's work, with staff tweeting from around the world.
"Information often moves faster across Twitter than any other platform and also tends to bring people closer together in times of crisis, such as recent events in Haiti and Chile," said Gulati. "And this helps to make Twitter an ideal platform for crowdsourcing help and fund-raising for worthy causes."
Dubai Twestival Global will be held on Thursday March 25th, 2010 at the InterContinental Hotel Dubai Festival City from 7pm to 11pm. For updates regarding the event follow @DubaiTwestival on Twitter.
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About Twestival Global
Twestival Global brings together people in hundreds of cities around the world to rally around
important causes by hosting local events to have fun and create awareness. Twestival Global 2010 takes place on Thursday 25 March 2010. All of the local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all donations go directly to projects.
If you would like to get involved, see the Dubai Twestival home page for more details: http://dubai.twestival.com and follow @dubaitwestival on Twitter for daily updates.
About Concern Worldwide (@Concern on Twitter)
Concern Worldwide was founded in 1968 to meet the needs of people living in extreme poverty, for whom every day is a fight for survival. Concern is a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organization dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of poverty. Their mission is to help people living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives - improvements they can sustain without ongoing support. Concern meets the needs of these people in a caring and personalized manner, respecting their human and cultural dignity. They are committed to reaching the most vulnerable, even in the most difficult of circumstances.
About du (@DuTweets on Twitter)
du, the integrated telecom service provider in the UAE, launched mobile telecommunication services in February 2007 across the UAE, in addition to internet and pay TV services that du provides in some of the free zones of Dubai. Call Select, du's nationwide fixed line services for voice telephony, was launched in July 2007. By the end of 2008, over 3 million people in the UAE chose to become du customers.
About InterContinental Hotels Group Dubai Festival City (@InterConDFC on Twitter)
The InterContinental Hotels Group properties in Dubai Festival City include InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, InterContinental Residence Suites and Al Badia Golf Club, each being active on Twitter; @InterConDFC, @CrownePlazaDFC, @ICResidencesDFC and @AlBadiaGolfClub.
Since early 2009, the hotels have become prolific with social network activities, featuring exclusive online offers and holding giveaways including one of the world's largest Twitter giveaways with 'Keast Tweets'. The hotels pride themselves on building an online community for followers of their hotels and outlets, encouraging interaction with guests.
© Press Release 2010
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