The Grate Tweet Up

February 23, 2013, ALOFT Hotel, Broomfield, CO

I followed her and she followed him, I retweeted her post, he retweeted her video. I liked his tweets and we started DM-ing to get better acquainted. He started a #FF -- Follow Friday mention-athon. And so it began. A little Grateful Dead Twitter family was born. On a regular basis, there are set lists tweeted, news about band members, hopes for Furthur tour dates and news and videos about all sorts of musicians and life events. And, there we were a group of friends devoted to one another, devoted to a band and, yet, completely virtual. The majority of us had never met one another. Sometimes I'd tell other friends about something one of my Twiends was going through and they'd look at me a little strangely and then say, "yea, but you don't actually know them, right?" Over the past year, I've pondered what it means to become close with people you don't know in person, yet who you cheer for and cry with. I guess for me the best way to describe it is it's like a modern-day pen pal system.

Many of us were planning to a trip to Colorado for the Furthur winter shows. And so the idea began growing that we'd all meet one another. And we did! On a cold, but clear Saturday afternoon, we congregated at the ALOFT bar adjacent to 1st Bank Center in Broomfield. One by one, different people entered the bar looking around to see if they recognized anyone from a Twitter profile picture. Soon we were a group of about ten -- laughing hilariously and feeling like we were with our closest family members or our best friends from college. We stayed and stayed as the drinks kept being served and show time approached.

One friend remarked the day after the get-together, "it was the most fun I've ever had." I felt the same exact way and remarked back to her, "then what the heck had we been doing all the years before?" I think it's pretty safe to say, we all felt something very special that afternoon in Broomfield, and had created lasting IRL -- "in real life" bonds that started as music fans getting to know one another in 140 character. Viva la Twitter!