Arizona Travel Blogger Meet Up!
Howdy friends, it has gradually come to my attention that Arizona is an often overlooked powerhouse for independent, travel minded bloggers and travel based social media personalities. Many of us cross paths online via twitter, blogs or social forums on a regular basis – but seldom put 2 and 2 together/meet face to face.
For a group that highly values social interact, meeting new friends and stories of adventure, this just doesn’t strike me as acceptable. The solution? An Arizona Travel Blogger meet up. I’m not talking about anything fancy – just coffee or a beer, a few hours of conversation and a chance to share wisdom while putting names with faces, blogs and twitter handles.
Date: Saturday, March 6th at 11:30AM.
Location: Xtreme Bean which is located on the South West Corner of McClintock and Southern in Tempe, near the US 60/101. Yelp profile here.
Coordination: Use twitter hash tag #aztw. My phone number is 480.313.2441 if you want to confirm anything or are having issues finding the coffee shop.
Spread the Word: So, here’s the challenge. Let’s make sure we don’t miss anyone. Are you aware of travel tweeps, bloggers or industry personalities that might like to join? Make sure to either send them to this post, or get me their e-mail and I’ll reach out to them.
Arizona Travel Bloggers:
@AlexBerger – Virtualwayfarer – Scottsdale, AZ
@DonnaLHull – MyItchyTravelFeet – Tucson, AZ
@dkeahey – Adventurous Wench – Arizona
@girlfromarizona – Girl From Arizona – Tempe, AZ
@GoSeeAz - AZ Central Travel – Phoenix, AZ
@khegre – Phoenix, AZ
@pen4hire – A Traveler’s Library – Southern Arizona
@roamingboomers – The Roaming Boomers – Scottsdale, AZ
@tomtravel2 – Tom Travel 2 – Scottsdale, AZ
@TravelWriting – Travel Writers Exchange – Arizona
@upupandagay – Up Up and A Gay – Phoenix, Arizona
-Post below to be added to the list.
I look forward to the opportunity to meet you all face to face. If you have any additional thoughts/feedback/etc. don’t hesitate to shoot me a message or respond here. Let’s make this happen!
-Alex
Hi Alex, my blog is at http://www.tomtravel2.com @tomtravel2
Alex, Nice to meet you. I'm interested in the tweet up. Can you keep me in the loop?
@girlfromarizona – Tempe
Perfect – updated, thanks Tom! Sorry about that!
Fantastic! Added to the list Angela. Looking forward to meeting you.
Nice to hear about this – so far as I know, the S.F. Bay Area has been the only place in the USA with a formal travel writers' organization (BATW.org) with regular meetings. I'm in S.F. (@ehasbrouck) but like many others from around the world I'll be in Scottsdale for the PhoCusWright conference this November. The PhoCusWright schedule is always chock-full, but if you held a meet-up the night before it starts, it might be a chance for visitors and local AZ travel writers to meet each other.
Thanks Edward, great to learn about BATW – definitely drop me a line when you get into town. Depending on how things go with this, it would definitely be nice to get an organized quarterly meeting set up or something of that nature. Great idea on the Nov time frame.
Hi, Alex, please keep me in the loop! Would love to be there, if my schedule permits (I work nights, but not weekends!)
-Keri
@khegre
Hi Keri – great to connect with you. Do you operate a blog, or mostly do your travel related stuff via twitter?
I don't blog right now; it's all through Twitter.
Sounds good, i'll add you to the list above.
Thanks much!
Hi everyone! I have tweeted a few people who might be interested. Well done Alex! It looks like there is a group forming!
Hi, Alex. I'm on Twitter: @GoSeeAz
Added you to the list, looking forward to your tweets!
Hi Alex, Here's is our brand new, shiny travel website: http://www.theroamingboomers.com
Please keep me in the loop.
David, love the site design. Very nice work! I'll add your name and info to the list. Will you be joining us on the 6th?
Alex, thanks for the kind comments. I will have to check with my social
director. We may well be out of town that day. But, if not, I would love
to come.
Hi Alex!
I'd love to meet everyone at the tweetup, but have a 3-year old's birthday party to attend instead. Can't miss that! (-:
I'm @dkeahey and my blog is at
http://www.adventurouswench.com
Thanks for the heads up! It's going to be fairly light attendance tomorrow, so I'll definitely be trying to organize a follow up in the future. Adding your info to the list!
Hi Alex, I am still planning on attending. Maybe a follow up will be needed.
Yep, I'll see you there! Will be fun! Should be a good start to laying a decent foundation for a friendly and connected travel community here in AZ!
[...] behind the twitter handle. It was an absolute blast! You can find the details behind the meet-up here as well as a growing list of Arizona Travel blogging/twitter [...]
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How did the encounter turn out to be? From your description here it sounds like lots of people met and you had lots of fun.
We had a fun time and great people. We'll probably aim for another one late July or early August.
Are these meetings only for Travel Bloggers? I'd like to meet some fellow Arizona bloggers and pick their brains. Any idea if there are any cheap hotels there?
Eddie, not exclusively, though mostly limited to active travel bloggers/twitter personalities.
Hey Eddie! It is summer in Phoenix so all the hotels are relatively cheap right now. Contact the hotels directly for the best deals or call a travel agent.
Alex thanks for moving the ball forward on this! I plan to attend. I have started tweeting out the word so maybe a few others will join in. I have been a bit distracted this year but am getting back in the swing of things. I look forward to seeing you and all the Arizona Travel people out there.