So, here’s the deal, you’ve got some friends on Twitter and you want to have a get together, but there’s no good organized way to handle this fragile affair. However, don’t fret! TweetMeUp is there to help! I asked Albert, creator of TweetMeUp some questions. Here is the complete interview with Compl33t. (See what I did there?)

1) So why did you create TweetMeUp? Fame and fortune? Ease of use?

Quite a few reasons, none being fame, or fortune. The short answer is that I wanted to learn a few new things and try out a few others I’ve read about. I’ve heard good things about both Python, Django and jQuery, so I knew I wanted to build something using those technologies. Then, after seeing quite a lot of Tweetups haphazardly being arranged, it popped into my head to put together a site to help Twitter users organize and manage these Tweetups.

2) Upon writing this interview, the site’s merely a week old. How has the response been so far?

To be honest, better than I expected. We’ve been fortunate to have some great support from South African Twitter users. Two Tweetups have come and gone (and another one is on the way), and the feedback has been positive. A lot of users have been contributing ideas for future features. There does seem to be some interest from the US as well, so we’ll have to wait and see that happens.

3) I was just wondering, is it possible to crash these tweetups? Or is it a morally gray area?

If you mean crash, as in show up uninvited… let’s call it a grey area. We are planning a feature where a host doesn’t have to specify a number of places, for when it doesn’t matter how many people show up. If you mean crash, as in make the site bomb out… please try your darndest! We need to track down and fix any lingering bugs.

4) What features sets TweetMeUp apart from other similar services? Gerbil-running servers?

Well, it’s quite light, it’s fast and it’s not too complicated. We’re also focused on Twitter users. The similar sites out there cater for other social networks as well, we’re Twitter all the way. We also listen to, and engage with, our users on a personal level. At the moment, there are just two of us working on the site, so it’s not some big company out to make a profit running the service. To rephrase a clichè, “For Tweeps, by Tweeps.”

5) Would you ever consider picking up chicks with the site? As in walking to the bar and handing a girl a link on a piece of paper and saying, “if you’re in town, tweetmeup”.

Wait, can geeks pick up chicks in bars now? By telling them they run a website? To answer your question: nope. Already got an awesome girlfriend.

6) Who worked on the site and how long did it take? Did you use a competitor service to get everyone together to start working on the site? ‘Cause that would be an irony gold mine.

Up to the launch it was just me. It took a month or so of working a few hours every evening. Yes, Django is amazing. After the launch, the feature requests starting pouring in, and I realized I’m going to need some help. Enter Philip Cronje (http://slyfox.za.net, http://twitter.com/foxofsly). We’ve known eachother for a while and he’s a hacker, through and through. I pay him with beer. We may recruit someone to help with the marketing and PR, soon. We’ll pay them with beer.

7) So what future features, can we expect from TweetMeUp?

Quite a few. I think the two most important ones are a “maybe” button, so you can tenatively reserve a place, and an invite feature that will auto-direct-message friends you select with an invitation to the tweetup and a link. We’re also bringing in very short, Twitter-friendly URLs for the Tweetup Pages, very soon. The other things are small changes we hope will add value. Stuff like having the option to mail yourself an iCal invite, integration with the popular Twitter picture sites like Twitpic and others, and automatic reminders.

Further in the future there’ll be a live Tweetup page with auto-updating tweets and pictures that can be projected against a wall, or displayed on a big-screen while the Tweetup is happening, and quite a bit further into the future we’ll be making an API available, so other people can integrate the service with their applications. More information, as it happens, at http://blog.tweetmeup.net, and any other ideas from users are most welcome. Let us know at http://getsatisfaction.com/tweetmeupnet if you think of something.

8) The site launched with it’s very own tweetup right here in my hometown, Stellenbosch. How was the tweetup? In my opinion it’s such a great idea to launch a site, using your own site. Classic.

I’ve been meaning to meet some of the Stellenbosch Tweeps for a while now, and the site launch was the perfect opportunity. Unfortunately, I think it may have been short notice for a lot of them, so we ended up being just a few people. Despite the numbers, it was still a legendary evening. Much beer was consumed. We’ll have to organize another one soon.

9) If your site becomes very popular, do you reckon they should change the classic Star Trek line to “Tweet me up, Scotty?”

There’s a good reason for the site’s subtle (is it subtle?) Star Trek theme, but I’m not telling. Back on topic, Star Trek fans would be very angry if the line were to be changed. Let’s not tinker with canon.

10) Anything else you would like to add?

Thanks for the opportunity to chat about the site. At this stage every bit of exposure is very much appreciated. At the next Stellenbosch Tweetup, I’ll buy you a beer.

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Thanks to Albert for the interview. See it pays to have a blog and know people, ’cause you can get free beer at tweetups.

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Tags: tweetmeup, Twitter
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