From one acorn a Michigan oak grows

Twitter.
What a waste of time, people tweeting about the fact they are checking in to a hotel, wheels down at an airport, an emergency puppy picture that you really must see NOW

It can also be useful and powerful, here's one story....

Through Twitter I'd connected with a tester in Detroit, MI

There is currently a monthly Tester Meetup in Grand Rapids, MI - but Detroit is a 2 hour drive away so a bit far even for a keen tester to drive on a Monday evening. So she was doing the next best thing and trying to set up a local group but not getting much response

She posted a Tweet about it, I ( half) jokingly suggested a mid-Michigan Meetup, Matt Heusser spotted this ( the Twitter thread can be seen here ) , suggested a contact that was actually halfway and we took it to email.

This then turned into a Skype call where tentative arrangements were made.

If all goes to plan then sometime in March a bunch of testers will get together in Michigan, talk testing, listen to a main talk, do some lightning talks and have food and drink.

Some of the attendees may be students - so the new generation can get a chance to mix and talk with real-life testers

All from one Tweet.

How cool is that ?