I joke about moving back to Kitchener and living in the hood. The shiny, hi-tech minions of Waterloo have typically had a less than stellar opinion of it’s sister city. I know people who won’t venture downtown after 9pm. Then there’s Cambridge which gets lumped together with no regard for the distinct identities of Preston, Galt and Hespeler. It tends to get collectively dismissed. Brantford – not even in the picture.

Brantford wants to change that and there’s an engaged group of leaders working to bring the awesome to the city with Tweetstock. Now Tweetstock can’t take attendance for granted. Past events found Twitter users in the distinct minority and the Social media Kool-aid hasn’t been entirely drunk. So they have to try a bit harder. The event pulls out the stops and really works it, securing social media keynotes like Mark Kuznicki from ChangeCamp, T-shirts, “paparazzi”, DJs, live musicians and no shortage of marketing muscle thanks to Tik Tok Media and Octopus Red.

Even more exciting for me is the chance to speak at the event about Ignite Waterloo. Let’s get one thing straight. I am not the mastermind behind Ignite Waterloo. I am not now nor ever have been the leader. I’m not even close to being the hardest working member of the group. I’m just a volunteer that shares the distinction with many others of having been involved since the very beginning. I guess that was good enough. I just hope I can do the Ignite Waterloo experience justice. It’s truly an incredible event.

Brantford’s a beautiful city and being part of another engaged community is reason enough to make the trip. The day after Ignite Waterloo VI, Tweetstock is on Thursday June 16th at Freedom House. Come on out and get your tickets now.