It's been a busy couple of months for the Social Media Club Providence chapter. We had an extremely successful launch event on February 24 at Aspire with over 30 attendees. One of our favorite local bloggers, @iheartrhody, gave a great recap of the event complete with some of the photos she captured on her blog. There was tweeting, chatting, iPhone photography sessions and a ton of excitement about the chapter. Attendees said they would be interested in educational events, as well as panels of local experts working in the social media field.

In March we put our social savvy towards a great cause, Twestival Local. Twestival is a single day, global movement which uses the power of social media to organize offline events that mobilize communities in support of local causes. Providence chose to support the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, a fantastic local organization that is leveraging both Facebook and Twitter to build local support for their work in feeding Rhode Island's hungry. We had a small gathering at our event on March 24 at the Italo-American Club. We raised about $400 through sponsorships and individual ticket sales for the Food Bank. Not bad for our first Twestival rodeo.

Throughout March and April we have been working on additional programming that will serve the local community and highlight what is making headlines in the social media world. Our entire organizing team was inspired by the role of Twitter and Facebook in mobilizing the Egyptian and Libyan people. We decided to organize an event that discusses the role of social media in propelling those revolutions and found the perfect speaker right in our back yard. Dr. Richard Lobban, professor Emeritus at Rhode Island College, expert on Egypt, and a professor of Military Security at the Naval War College will discuss the role of Social Media in the Egyptian rebellion. Dr. Lobban was on the ground in Egypt during the revolution and has some inspiring stories to share about how social media played a role in the events he witnessed.

Please join us on Tuesday, May 3 at 6:30 PM at Candita Clayton Studio in Pawtucket, RI for our May event. It's sure to be a memorable one!