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Let The Good Times Tweet

Tribune photo by JEFF HOUCK

Jen Straw, left, Rebekah Reidy and Ashley V. Routsen use various devices to send posts to their Twitter blogs about a wine and food party they were attending in Valrico.

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By JEFF HOUCK | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 26, 2009

VALRICO - It's a formal dinner party, so there are knives and forks and spoons and napkins at each chair. A lovely, towering flower arrangement anchors the middle of the dining room. Wine glasses sparkle in front of every plate.

And two laptops sit humming on the blood-red tablecloth.

This isn't just a dinner party; it's a Twitter dinner party. The guests know each other from the social networking site, where members become masters of electronic ephemera. They may share their innermost thoughts, as long as they can be "tweeted" in fewer than 140 characters, but not many share their real name.

In the kitchen, @DolceDebbie is sliding mushrooms stuffed with prosciutto into the oven. Debbie is hosting this dinner of local Twitter friends with @mmWine, a 38-year-old IT specialist who works for a security company in West Palm Beach. He's not a sommelier. He's just a guy who has a deep passion for sharing and demystifying new wines that taste more expensive than they cost. The two hit it off on Twitter.

He's pairing Italian styles with Debbie's menu and broadcasting live video of the party on a site called Twitter Taste Live. The site, started by Boston wine distributor Craig Drollett, lets fans of wine, beer and spirits gather to talk about their favorite adult beverages.

Fifteen minutes after the mushrooms emerge, @dolcedebbie pushes Spiced Lamb Pillow pastries into the oven for the first course, while one of her guests, @MissAttitude, pecks out observations on the keyboard of her BlackBerry. "I'm drinking prosecco!" she tweets to her followers on Twitter.

The menu for tonight isn't exactly a mystery. Debbie posted it on the social networking site earlier in the week, right before she told the hundreds of people who follow her tweets that she was busy cleaning her house for the party.

As the 12 guests arrive, they introduce themselves first by their Twitter names. Although they've talked online, some for many months, it's a room full of familiar strangers meeting face-to-face for the first time.

The rock star of the room, from a Twitter point of view, is @TS_Elliott, who arrives with her husband, @mikeelliott.

Fame In The Twitter World

Being followed on Twitter (having people actively choose to read what you write) is the real currency of social media. If the number of followers reading her tweets translated to offline fame, @TS_Elliott's online clutch of 24,000 followers would make her a celebrity. How big? She's only a few thousand shy of @schwarzenegger.

The Elliotts live in Lithia and run NetGenPr, a social media consulting and public relations business that helps companies "have a conversation" with their clients and customers.

"She's the real social one," he says. In her Twitter bio, @TS_Elliott says she's a "Social Butterfly - I believe in the butterfly effect and chaos theory."

The guests stick to their Twitter names throughout the dinner. Even @BarryFrangiapane calls his wife, @DolceDebbie, by her online handle (without the trademark Twitter @ sign, of course). He does this in real life as well, she says. The couple hosts culinary vacations to Italy twice a year through their Savory Adventures tour company. She also teaches local cooking classes, is a personal trainer at Shapes, works as a caterer and personal chef, and records online cooking instructional videos.

"Barry and a friend who does our marketing and Web site decided I needed to have a catchy stage name," she says. Translated from Italian, dolce means "sweet."

As dinner begins at 6:30 p.m., @mmWine starts broadcasting online, talking about the Paolo Scavino Dolcetto D'Alba 2006 he's paired with the appetizers. The wine's fresh, fruity flavor balances well with the bold flavors of the mushrooms and lamb, he announces into the camera, which then relays the video into a panel on Twitter Taste Live for several hundred members who are following the party remotely.

Every electronic publishing toy imaginable is welcome at this table, and within a few minutes, an interesting dynamic begins to take shape in the room. Each member of the party begins to grapple with a complex conundrum: Do I eat? Do I drink? Do I reintroduce myself? Do I chat or do I tweet? And how rude would it be to tweet what someone just did or said?

At one end of the table, @TheBeerWench decides not to choose. Her laptop is perched precariously on a corner, next to her plate. She's also tapping out tweets on a phone in between bites of food and sips of Dolcetto. And for good measure, she stops over at @mmWine's electronic perch to exchange tasting notes in front of the camera.

A Cyber Social Crutch

As with any dinner party, occasional gaps in conversation occur. When they do, each guest finds an outlet for the uncomfortable silence. Personal chef and wine blogger @chefjerseygirl is the chattiest and most energetic conversationalist. Sitting across the table next to @TheBeerWench, @RebekahReidy, a 23-year-old business student from St. Petersburg, folds her hair behind her ears and retreats to the keypad of her phone. @MissAttitude and @TS_Elliott do the same. Next to her, @mikeelliott gets the nerve to pull out his laptop to show off sites that help Twitter users get the most out of their tweeting.

It isn't until an hour into the party that their real-life conversation begins to flow as easily as it does online. While the guests sip a hearty 2003 Sant Orsola Barolo and nibble on beef tenderloin with creamy herbed polenta, the ice officially breaks. Several simultaneous conversations break out as the floral centerpiece is relocated. For a moment, it's as if everyone is releasing their caged-up conversation back into the wild. While posting their thoughts about that experience to Twitter, of course.

"A year and a half ago, I didn't know anything about Twitter, and now, all of a sudden. it's, like, this big thing," @MissAttitude says. A news producer at a local TV station and columnist for a Tampa women's magazine, she's also a devotee of other social sites such as Facebook and Plurk. Most everyone else at the table confesses to having a toe in one or more online homes other than Twitter as well.

"That was one of the most intriguing and interesting parts of the event for me," Debbie says after the party. "It's a dinner party, but it's not. I heard comments about how liberating it was to sit there at the table, have your computer and telephone, and be able to freely talk to these people virtually and not be in trouble with your host or your spouse."

By the time the baked stuffed peaches make it to the table for dessert, and the sweet, bubbly 2007 Sant Orsola Moscato D'Asti fills their glasses, the vibe in the room is that of a gathering of old friends. Photo albums from @DolceDebbie and @BarryFrangiapane's most recent Italy trip make their way to the table. iPhone applications are shared. Business cards and contact info are exchanged. As @mmWine signs off his video broadcast, viewers on Twitter Taste Live express deep envy at not being able to attend.

Things go so well that @DolceDebbie and @mmWine begin talking about when to hold the next shindig. Then @TheBeerWench chimes in that she would like to pair beers with the menu so that guests can decide whether they prefer beer or wine with each course.

That party is scheduled for Saturday. Debbie's making Parmesan risotto, pistachio-encrusted sea bass and rack of lamb. The wines will be lighter, less-bold Italian varietals, courtesy of @mmWine.

Not invited? That's OK. You can read about it on Twitter.

TWITTER GLOSSARY

Twitter (www.twitter.com) is a social networking Web site where users can blog up to 140 characters at a time either through their computer or by phone or mobile device. Here are some of the basic terms:

Tweet: A post published on Twitter.

Followers: Twitter users who sign up to read another user's tweets.

Twitter Taste Live: A site where Twitter users who like to post about wine, beer and spirits gather. Soon to change its name to Taste Live ( www.tastelive.com)

FTW!: Shorthand for showing enthusiasm or approval. An acronym for the phrase, "For The Win!"

RT: To "retweet," or repeat a tweet by someone else, identifying the source in that post.

Hashtag: A word posted immediately after a "#" sign, the use of which allows users to group their tweet with a particular event or conversation. (For example, the hash tag for Twitter Taste Live is #ttl.)

Tweetup: A meeting of Twitter users at a specific location offline.

Failwhale: An illustration of a whale displayed by Twitter when the service has a technical malfunction.

Reporter Jeff Houck can be reached at (813) 259-7324 and jhouck@tampatrib.com.

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