#IDzinechat Recap from 6/24/10 ~ Also Announcing Shay Geyer as the Next Host!

Wow!  What another great #IDzinechat on Twitter!  The next one will be coming, within the month of July.  Don’t worry, we understand many of you have the July 4th holiday to celebrate, as well as your breath to catch after all of the activity with this chat.  We want great attendance from designers and consumers, alike!  More info will come from our next host and will be posted on this page.

We are pleased to announce, @designershay – Shay Geyer, will be taking the reigns for July!  The concept has always been to pass #IDzinechat from one designer to the next, to help share in organizing the chat, as well as to be in the driver’s seat of promoting it and asking other design peers to promote the event, too.  During each chat, we’ll take requests for the next host(s) to volunteer.  (We certainly can have more than one, as some of you operate as a team.)  First come, first serve may be the best way to do this.  The criteria will be, a design pro should be the host and have an active Twitter account and some other social media forums, in order to connect others to the event.

We’ve also had lots of conversations about the frequency.  Some would love to have this weekly, and others, monthly.  (And of course, all would be on a regularly scheduled date.)  It seems the consensus, so far, has been monthly.  The idea is to build anticipation and to not dilute the content.  Others, who suggested weekly, feel more momentum will be built this way.  From a promotional point of view, weekly may be a bit challenging for the folks coordinating the promotional activity.  (I’ve taken on keeping up this blog page and the Twub’s page, so I must say, monthly makes my calendar look a bit less hectic with all of my other volunteer work.)  It’s certainly up for discussion and with the consideration of how the task can be managed.  This was our only second event, and in a few months, one can begin to imagine how big it will become!

In the coming week, the participant’s list will grow, as names are collected from the tweets.  We’ll do our best to honor everyone who took the time to share their time and expertise.  You are all rock stars in the world of design!

If you have feedback, be sure to tweet it to:  @IDzinechat4U and use the hashtag, #IDzinechat.  Please consider following that page, too.

Thank you for the gift you have given to consumers and to the world of interior design!

All my best! ~ @WandaSHorton on Twitter.  (With special thanks to the concept’s creator of #IDzinechat, Leslie Carothers, also known as @tkpleslie on Twitter!  This was made possible through your fab idea!)

#IDzineChat ~ Thursday, June 24th, at 8pm – EST, USA ~ On Twitter

Put the date and time on your calendars!  It’s back and we’re ready to chat!  We want to hear from #IDziners – aka - #Interiordesigners and from #Consumers, all over the world.  It’s the time where any question can be asked about interior-related topics.  (Read the post below for the “how-to’s”.)

While the forum is open to any question, it might be great to begin listing some preliminary topics.  Send them to this BlogSpot, and we’ll post them here, and on Twitter.  Just questions, please.  No answers as we want to share this in live time.  We can always post more content, after we collect the feedback.

Don’t forget to use the hashtag, #IDzinechat, in each tweet.  We want to be able to watch for your questions and see the answers. 

This time, for a slightly different twist, the #IDziners will also be able to ask questions to #Consumers.  After all, we are interested in you, too!

Watch for continuing announcements on Twitter.

#IDzinechat – Back by Popular Demand! – Date and Time? Help us to decide! Looking for Guest Hosts, Too!

1. – What is #IDzinechat?  It’s a forum, on Twitter, where consumers can ask question about their interior design projects/needs, and a team of industry experts will share the answers.  No gimmicks, no solicitations, no charge!  We’ll answer in the 140 characters or less – the length of a Twitter post.

2. - What’s the purpose for arranging this tweeting of tips?  We, the interior design experts, aren’t just going to begin randomly spouting out ideas in effort to promote our businesses or services.  We are really interested in engaging with the you, the consumer, by finding out what you want to know.  How about that?  Free design advice, based on your needs.  Can you believe it?  We really want to hear your questions so we can provide better and more pertinent information.  As mentioned, earlier, we’ll have interior design experts who are well-versed in everything from: eco friendly-design, color science, kitchen & bath design, remodeling, new home construction, universal design, furniture & product design, aging-in-place, organization, space planning, home accents, permanent finishes, to window treatment experts, and the list goes on.  What a unique opportunity to share this experience with the design trade and your friends!

3. – How to follow the tweets.  While pulling this off might seem complicated, it’s actually quite simple.  In Twitter, there is a little tool we refer to as a hashtag.  A hashtag means there is a #sign in front of a phrase or word which makes it easier for readers to track conversations, topics, communities, and other events.  In order for consumers and designers to be able to follow our timeline, we created the hashtag, #IDzinechat.  Some helpful places to follow the conversations would be either on TweetChat:  http://tweetchat.com/room/idzinechat or Twubs:  http://twubs.com/idzinechat  Remember, in each tweet, whether it’s a question or a response, please be sure to use the hashtag so everyone can follow the conversations.

4. – How will this be hosted/moderated and announced?  For each chat, there will be a group of design experts, who will have a predetermined regular date and time for the chat.  We’ll take turns being the host/moderator for the event.  If an expert agrees to host/moderate the chat, they will also be responsible for promoting the date and time.  Other experts will help to retweet – aka – repeat their announcements so more followers will be made aware of the information.  A specific topic can be set or it can be a totally open forum.  The consumers will ultimately decide on topics, via their questions.  The designated #Idzinechat host will promote the day and time, prior to the event, using the hashtag in twitter posts.  The design chat date and time will continue to be announced, so everyone, both designers and consumers, can plan to be on Twitter, at the same time.  About thirty minutes before the magic hour, the chat host will begin announcing for folks to prepare to join in.  (A little tip for all – use #IDzinechat in each of your tweets.  Everyone can follow the questions and answers, more readily.  We may miss you if you don’t use this.)

I’m @WandaSHorton on Twitter.  Interior Designers – come join in!  Consumers – come share with us! 

Watch for an announcement on Sunday, June 13, 2010 for the schedule and more info.

Tweetfully yours!  Wanda - #IDzinechat first host – Creator of #IDzinechat:  Leslie Carothers - @tkpleslie on Twitter

(Please note, the occurrence or promotion of this event provides for no financial compensation for any of the participants.)