(1 February 2011)
Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted initiative advancing the development and deployment of renewable energy and clean technologies, announced it significantly augmented its online social media footprint throughout the fourth annual World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi, held from 17-20 January. Aiming to facilitate and enhance worldwide dialogue and discussion about the issues emerging from WFES 2011, Masdar employed social media-driven efforts including an interactive ‘Twitter Wall’ at the company’s exhibition stand, as well as a networking event commonly termed a ‘Tweetup.’
Capitalising on the international platform of WFES 2011 - the world’s largest conference and exhibition on renewable and future energy solutions - Masdar amplified its digital presence impressively throughout the week, particularly through Twitter, the social networking and microblogging service. Identified by the @Masdar handle, the company increased its global Twitter following by more than 170 percent and engaged digital participants from across the globe in conversation about critical energy and climate issues and topics.
“Innovation and cutting-edge concepts are at the core of Masdar’s vision, so using social media to connect and engage WFES attendees with a global audience for the first time is something we are extremely proud of,” said, Zainab Al Junaibi, Senior Officer of Digital Marketing at Masdar. “We recognise online and social media as an important tool for Masdar to use in sync with our broader vision to act as a global platform for discussion, cooperation and widespread awareness about future energy solutions.”
Masdar hosted for the first time a ‘Tweetup,’ an event that combined live networking with a social media discussion to unite conversation and collaboration between WFES delegates in Abu Dhabi and digital audiences from around the world. Held at the Saadiyat Story Gallery in Mararat Al Saadiyat, the event drew real-time digital participants from all over the globe and attracted live participants from business leaders, international delegates and journalists.
“The ‘Tweetup’ hosted by Masdar was an innovative and unique stage to discuss important future energy and climate issues,” said Ken Westrick, CEO and Founder of 3TIER, a US-based firm providing global renewable energy information. “After spending more than a decade in the renewable energy industry and attending dozens of summit, Masdar’s ‘Tweetup’ is one of the most creative approaches I’ve seen to engage in meaningful dialogue about the energy challenge and the viable solutions.”
Participants in the digital dialogue also included several prominent journalists from influential global online publications such as TriplePundit, Climate Progress and TreeHugger.
"The game changer with social media and Twitter is the inherent ability to stimulate widespread dialogue and discussion,” said Nick Aster, Founder of TriplePundit, a globally recognized online publication focused on economic, ecological and social issues. “Masdar recognized the power of these tools to encourage new voices from around the world to emerge and engage in important conversation and debate about future energy and climate issues.”
Brian Merchant, journalist for TreeHugger, the world’s leading sustainability-focused online publication stated: “The Masdar ‘Tweetup’ lead to the type of globe-spanning dialogue that only social media can make possible. Not only was it a unique idea for an event, but it truly enabled genuinely intriguing conversation.”
To complement the ‘Tweetup,’ Masdar featured the ‘Twitter Wall’ at its exhibition stand during each day of WFES, showcasing live Twitter conversation stimulated by questions of the day about the future energy challenge. The digital display connected active and passive attendees as well as online communities from around the globe interested in following the topics and events of WFES 2011. Conversations throughout the week were tracked by the #TweetMasdar hashtag.
Capitalising on the successes of the ‘Tweetup’ and ‘Twitter Wall’ during WFES, Masdar will continue to employ social media-driven communication to create accessible dialogue with clean energy advocates from around the world through its current activity on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
• Masdar on Twitter: @Masdar
• Masdar on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/masdar.ae
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