A little over a year ago, I entered the first ever Panthers Purrsuit social media challenge with @ape_smith (Twitter handle).   Twitter was still a mystery and I was  kicking the tires.   Purrsuit unlocked the true potential of Twitter for me.   My first glimpse was during a pre-Purrsuit TweetUp at local hotspot 15 North. Everyone seemed to be old friends with the only common link being Twitter. 

Guessing game

Could Twitter users really become real life friends?  Could Twitter really be a marketing tool?  I decided to stop guessing and find out firsthand by diving head first into the Purrsuit. I designed Purrsuit Tshirts for our team, Purrfect Storm, and engaged in serious smack talk with  @yarby, @constantineclt, @stravy and @nataliehymel. During Panthers Purrsuit I did things,  embarrassing things  like sing a rap song,  sing the Harris Teeter jingle with a random person, pose with mannequins....the list goes on.  It wasn't embarrassing at all, it actually was a lot of fun.   Purrsuit was the catalyst and my excuse was a Twitter research project to discover the true effectiveness of social media.  

And the winner is ...

Twitter by a landslide.  My experience has far exceeded any expectations.  Since Purrsuit,  I have made good friends and increased awareness for bitflip via Twitter.  I've also done many more "embarrassing" things.   Here is a pictorial journey through year one of Twitter.   All depicted activities inspired by Twitter.  Here are more pics from 2010 Purrsuit. 

Footnote:  This year I'll be returning to Purrsuit representing AdSpark Promos with @_adrianpegg as Team Five Alarm Purrsuit.  The smack talk has already started with our rivals, Team Biscuit Basher, consisting of Batman/Spiderman/PeterParker @yarby and Robin @billvoth.  Check out their "intimidating" video http://yar.by/purrsuit


Pre-Purrsuit smack talk photo of Team Purrfect Storm at SportClips

A Halloween TweetUp at Gin Mill not long after Purrsuit.  (This was a Wizard of Oz /Mayor of Emerald City costume converted into a foursquare mayor costume)


Uniform made of Google Places boxes  for a Laser Tag Tweet up.


Live tweet of a haircut not too long ago.  


Remember when the world was suppossed to end earlier this year? I tweeted photos like this around town.


Work outside day at bitflip and of course promoted on Twitter

Does anyone else out there have a similar Twitter story?  Please share your photos and story.  Purrsuit teams share your 2010 experience for 2011 newcomers.