Marketing Monster

For the last several weeks, I’ve been working with a stellar team of volunteers to pull together Twestival Montreal. Twestival was started by fellow Canadian (now living in London) Amanda Rose as a global effort to raise money for charity: water. The cause is simple, raise money to fund clean water projects around the world. Some stats:

• 1.1 billion people in the world don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s 1 in 6 of us.
• Dirty water causes 80% of all sickness and disease in the world and kills more people than ALL forms of violence, including war.
• 30% of all freshwater people use comes from underground lakes and aquifers. To access this water, people need wells. This costs money
• $20 donation = 20 years of clean, safe drinking water to a person in Africa (among other places)
• 100% of all money raised by charity:water towards building wells, providing access to safe, clean drinking water.

charity: water for Twestival from charity: water on Vimeo.

Using Twitter as the primary means of spreading the word, the movement has picked up tremendous support with over 175 cities around the world signing up to host a fundraising event. From Christchurch, NZ to Hololulu, HI, the event hits almost every time zone on the planet. Want to follow the action around the world? Watch the video stream. Want to drink in the excitement from the Twitterstream? Then check out Twistori. They’ve generously surrendered their entire site to Twestival.

Closer to home, Twestival Montreal is going to be a blast! DJ Luv and DJ Maus will be sharing music duties, radio personality Winston McQuade is our MC, and we’ll have a photobooth set up for you to take home a souveninr of a great night. We also have a raffle with the grand prize of a trip to Vancouver courtesy of Air Canada and Opus Hotels.

I’d like to personally thank our sponsors for helping us put on a great event with special thanks to Aquabrass, Opus Hotels, Air Canada, Molson and Aquaovo. And my sincerest thanks to the volunteer team who have worked so hard and with such passion to make Twestival Montreal a success. It’s been a pleasure working alongside you.

If you’ve got a Twestival happening in your city tonight, I encourage you to go. If you are in Montreal, we’d love to see you:

Location: Suco Lounge in the Opus Hotel
(2108 boul. Saint-Laurent, enter through the hotel on Sherbrooke)
Time: 18:00 to 23:00
Tickets: $10 in advance (until 4 pm today) or $15 at the door