All ready for Twestival KL

Okay, maybe that’s a lie but we’ve been working damn hard at it and still will until the end of tomorrow night! Yup, it’s Twestival KL and that has been what has been keeping me away from my blog the past few days (sorry about that) – that, and some personal issues I had to deal with.

But all is good because Twestival, as I blogged about last week, is for charity. The beneficiary home? Destiny Starting Point in Klang, a home for delinquents. Our aim in the beginning was to raise RM3,000 to buy the home a computer and a year’s Internet access but I am happy to say that we will raise way more than that thanks to our generous sponsors!

Here is a video of the home (or you can read the article in R.AGE here):

But if you’re not sure what Twestival KL is, here’s a quick recap (thanks to Suanie who wrote all this for us to contact sponsors with):

What is Twitter?
Twitter is a social media tool where you update your status in 140 characters or less. Facebook has since made its status updates look like Twitter’s (it wasn’t before) with no character limit. However Twitter is still very popular and its reach ever expanding, well-known for being pimped by celebrities who use Twitter to connect with their fans. People on Twitter update their Twitter followers on their everyday ongoings, they share information and news about brands, companies, events, they have conversations about everything under the sun. It has proved to be one of the social media tools that has longer staying power.

What is Twestival KL?
Twitter + Festival = Twestival! In short, it’s an event where social media users gather and raise money for charity. Some people say Twitter is useless, people on Twitter eat full nothing to do and only tell everyone what they had for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Well, now we tell everyone what we had for breakfast, lunch and dinner AND raise money for charity!

The 1st Twestival Global was held earlier this year, the theme was ‘water’. Over USD200k was raised by participating cities around the world and the money has since been used to build wells that will benefit 17,000 people in Uganda, Ethiopia and India. Since then there has been a host of Twestival Locals, where the chosen charities are closer to home. In September, Twestival Locals will be held in a bunch of cities, among them Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

From Twestival KL, and at all Twestivals, the beneficiary charity gets 100% of all proceeds. So whatever we give you that night – whether it’s the free flow beer from Tiger, or hotdogs from 1901, movie passes from GSC and Starbucks beverage vouchers in goody bags – are all sponsored!

I made a visit to the home on Sunday with Chan Hui Ling and Suanie to have a look at the condition of the place, and also to shoot the video above. There, we met Graceline M Stephan, the administrator of the home who together with her husband Pastor Stephan Samuel started Destiny Starting Point (I’m interviewing her for the camera below). Thanks to Suan for the pics (except the one with her in it).

Of course, as always, there is always time for some camwhoring. Suanie took this picture of Hui Ling and I before we interviewed the last kid in the video (she was my translator!) while I forced Suanie into the photo in the boys bedroom upstairs (who would have thought she would be so shy!).

We’ve worked really hard to put this together – the whole committee comprising of David Lian, Suanie, Eevon Chung, Radiance Leong, Nigel Sia and Hui Ling – so we hope you’ll support it as much as you can. Here’s how you can help:

1. Come to Twestival KL on Sept 12 (that’s tomorrow night) from 7-10pm at Mist Club, Bangsar. Invites go for RM30 minimum donation (pre-sale) or RM40 at the door. Please donate more if you can – it’s for a good cause!

2. Participate in our pre-event auction. Currently up for grabs are a HP Mini Netbook from DiGi going for RM1,100, return tickets for two on AirAsia to Bangkok going for RM500 and a limited edition Nooka x Spongebob going for RM450. Please bid? Thanks!

3. You could show up on the night and purchase some smaller items we have for auction including Moleskine notebooks and Starbucks bear and mug sets. Bring cash!

For more information on Twestival KL, visit our blog or follow us on Twitter.

See you there! And I promise to get back to my regular blogging soon!

9.04am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

Tags: 1901, airasia, david lian, destiny starting point, DiGi, gsc, hp mini netbook, nigelais, nooka, social media, starbucks, suanie, twestival, twestival kl, Twitter