Schedule of Events

SOME DETAILS MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. FOLLOW @SXSE TO STAY UP TO DATE.

PARKING INFO • FOOD/DRINK & OTHER SPECIALS

Thursday, May 20
Some guests arrive at hotel -- free time at your leisure. Possible group dinner in Fort Lauderdale, location TBA.

For free time @vicequeenmaria recommends:

• Hyatt Pier 66 free shuttle to beach for hotel guests.

• Via water taxi: tour of New River; breakfast at The Floridian; lunch at historic Downtowner Saloon or Himmarshee; shopping on Las Olas; tour of historic Stranahan House and/or Bonnet House.

Visit Sunny.org and follow @visitlauderdale for to learn more about Fort Lauderdale activities and attractions.  There's even a Visit Lauderdale iPhone app.  For recreation deals visit lauderDeals.

Friday, May 21
More guests arrive.  Free time at your leisure.  Possible group dinner and water taxi fun ride in Fort Lauderdale, location TBA.

Saturday, May 22
9 AM - 5 PM Poolside @SxSe Cabana at the Hyatt Pier 66.  Hotel guests may join and/or enjoy Fort Lauderdale at their leisure.  No real set schedule, come and go. Possible appearance by @poolboy.

SOMETIME IN THE AFTERNOON Casual unconference talks poolside or IN the pool or in the cabana or whatever, @vicequeenmaria moderating.  If @preppydude wears Madras swim trunks, he may do some baptizing as well.  Possible topics:

• The Art of Interaction @SxSe by keynote speakers @annohio and @preppydude.  Learn how to hug the stuffin' out of people.

• Power of the Pussy discussion led by @preppydude with @vicequeenmaria @dearyvette and @annohio speaking on this very important topic -- not rated X but definitely grown-up!

Non-hotel guests: a $20 day pass is available at the hotel spa if you need a shower and locker facility.  You'll also have use of the spa's sauna, jacuzzi and steam room.  The spa closes at 6 PM.

6 PM - ? Big Tweetup at Pelican Landing, located in marina at Hyatt Pier 66.  All welcome.  Please RSVP for head count. Bring your business cards for a chance to win one "his" or one "her" Aveda gift bag, courtesy of Lucid Salon.

Sunday, May 23
11:30 AM Brunch at Pier Top.  No additional @SxSe guest coupons available and SxSe table has reached maximum capacity, but if you wish to enjoy brunch, please make your own reservation and seating time.

Rest of day at leisure for remaining guests.

Hyatt Pier 66 Room Reservation Info

We're good to go with our room reservations!  Please click HERE to get your special SxSe rate at the Hyatt Pier 66. @vicequeenmaria personally saw the Deluxe Lanai rooms and totally recommends them.  They're going for $139/per night, double occupancy.  These rooms are right by the big-ass pool and marina surrounded by tropical landscaping ... nothing says SxSe like rolling out of bed and straight to the Twitter poolside cabana, which we'll have setup on Saturday. (@poolboy optional.)

The Tower Rooms do boast great views though, but are slightly pricier.  It's still an easy saunter down to the pool.

The Hyatt Pier 66 has reserved a block of different styles of rooms for us, so you can pick and choose.  Please request one king or two queen size beds when you make your reservation.

If you would rather make your reservations by phone, please call (954) 525-6666 or (888) 421-1442.  You must request “SOUTH-BY-SOUTHEAST GROUP” in order to receive the special rate.

Remember, our official event dates are May 21-23, but you may choose to come earlier or stay longer.  The same room rates will still apply a few days before and after SxSe.

We really appreciate Hyatt's collaboration and encourage everyone to stay in one place, but hey, if you find other lodging that works better for your budget and taste, that's ok too.  We just hope to gather for the big tweetup Saturday night, which is currently scheduled at the Hyatt.  There is absolutely no obligation to stay at the Hyatt to attend the tweetup, but if you do, make sure you reserve a room via our SxSe reservations form.

Save the Date!

It's happening again!  Mark you calendars for the biggest tweetup in South Florida, now celebrating its third year!

From May 21-23 we will be hanging out in and around the fabulous Hyatt Pier 66 property on Fort Lauderdale's intracoastal.  Just minutes from the beach, the hotel will be SxSe central.  For those who wish to stay at the Hyatt, we've secured an excellent rate for deluxe Lanai rooms at $139/night, double occupancy.  Stay tuned for more information on reservation codes and instructions.

We've got discounts for brunch on Sunday at the Pier Top, which boasts breathtaking views.  Other drink and food specials are in the works.

For those of you flying in, Hyatt Pier 66 is a short cab ride from Fort Lauderdale International Airport.  We're arranging for possible complimentary transportation to and from FLL, details to follow.  You will not need to rent a car in Fort Lauderdale unless you want to go further afield.  All SxSe activities and cool stuff to see and do will be close by via water taxi or the city's local trolley.  The hotel offers a free shuttle to the beach.

The big tweetup will most likely take place on Saturday, May 22 at Pelican Landing on site at the hotel.  This casual spot is right on the intracoastal next to the marina.  We will also have a special SxSe pool cabana during the day on Saturday.  (We're negotiating a flat rate for @poolboy to service the ladies.)

If you'd like to learn more about SxSe, please visit our FAQ page.  Make sure you follow @sxse on Twitter for updates.

OK, now that all the info is out there, we can stop sounding like a freakin' press release!  Remember this is a big-ass tweetup and a barrel of fun!

SxSe Wrap-Up

"Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect."

-- E.M. Forster,

Taken at Rum Runner's in Islamorada by @annohio.

SxSe 2009 was everything it promised to be and more. Old friendships were further strengthened and new ones were made. I'm simply amazed at how seamlessly we moved from Twitter to real life in two seconds flat. It's a testament to the power of social media that so many people who would otherwise have never connected came together for a weekend of fun and frolicking. And the best part is -- we'll continue to connect online, until next time we meet.

We had Twitter friends visiting from: Nebraska, Texas, Colorado, Missouri and Norway. Yes! Freakin' Norway! Locally, a few folks flocked over here from West Palm Beach as well as Fort Myers and Naples. And of course, the rest were from Dade and Broward.

We missed one dear friend from St. Louis because of a health condition, though he was present in our hearts. Two other friends, one from Pennsylvania and the other from Massachusetts, didn't make it because of financial constraints. We probably would've had more attendees, but the weekend coincided with Barcamp Orlando.

We come from all walks of life and backgrounds. Among us are military veterans, historians, writers, geeks, teachers, musicians, photographers, businessmen, dental technicians, full-time moms and more. We even have a couple of cancer survivors. Everyone is so beautiful and creative in their own way.

All the events went without a hitch, except for the inevitable fact of Cuban timing, plus the fact that one of the organizers had broken a bone in her leg and was on crutches, and also, someone parked there car in a gated lot that closed after hours and could not get to it until the next morning. But other than that ... dinner at Versailles was perfect, followed by a wonderful performance at Kimbaracumbara with PALO!. We loved listening to Leslie Cartaya's beautiful voice and even got an extra treat when Albita, who was in the audience, got up on stage to sing a tune! The following day, we had brunch at JJ's Diner in South Miami, followed by the big tweetup at Carrabbas in Miami Beach.

We can't thank our supporters enough. PALO! put on a great show. Thanks to everyone who chipped in to make it happen! Annie's Costumes gave us some great schwag, including leis that were just marvelous. We thoroughly enjoyed drinking Stormhoek wine out on the beach after hanging out at Carrabbas and a few people took bottles home as gifts. The next day, a group of us got a very comfortable ride to the Islamorada courtesy of Miami Tour Company. We stopped at Rumrunner's first to enjoy a cool drink and balmy breezes on the look-out platforms, followed by a leisurely meal at Morada Bay.

Special thanks also go out to @brendajos, who sewed the schwag bags and to @dearyvette, who brought all the giant underwear. And above all, thanks to all who attended, shared and connected. We could list everyone's Twitter name here, but the list would be quite long!

And even though Carrabbas did not technically support the event, we appreciate that they put up with our underwear-signing shenanigans!

(And in case you are wondering, the signed underwear is being sent to our dear friend who is sick and couldn't make it.)

We'll let the slideshow do the rest of the talking ... it's quite possible some of us won't laugh as hard all year as we did this weekend. But we have the photos to remind us of the joy of great friendship and company.

Until next year, everybody! It was a blast!

Slightly Revised Itinerary ...

We will be gathering at Versailles restaurant around 6ish on Friday and try to be seated for dinner by 7 PM. It is a work day so many local folks will have to come from work.

See you there or at any of the other gatherings! Complete itinerary here.

PALO! Flyer

Check out this great flyer PALO! put together for the Friday night performance. Thanks to everyone who has contribute so far. Remember, it's $10 in advance or at the door to support the band. Hope to see everyone there! We have a very funny surprise sheninigan planned for the evening.

A special thanks goes to Miami Beach 411 for their generous support!

Miami Tour Company Offer

Miami Tour Company has generously offered complimentary tours to SxSe attendees who want to fill in any free time they may have while visiting Miami.

The tour of the beach and mainland Miami is unlike anything else offered in the area. Using GPS guided audio, the tour features a beautifully-written and well-researched script by local experts and focuses on interesting facts and history. Even the locals love this!

To make a reservation for the tour, call (305) 754-2206 or book online here: Miami Tour Company. The coupon code is SXSE and is valid Friday, April 17th through Sunday, April 19th.

If anyone has questions about the area please visit Miami Beach 411's excellent forum.

Our Supporters

SxSe is really a Miami party for a group of friends who stay in touch via Twitter, yet a few folks have stepped in to help us make this an even better tweet-up than we could possibly imagine! We'd love to thank you ... so here goes:

Annie's Costumes (@ShariMcConahay) is providing some goodies for our schwag.

Mind Active Media, (@preppydude) is helping with a donation to support the PALO! concert, not to mention being part of the organizing "committed" ... (we'd call it a committee, but that would be WAY too formal and boring).

Miami Tour Company is offering complementary tours to our attendees and Miami Beach 411 (@miamibeach411) will help out with transportation logistics.

PALO! (@gopalo) has scheduled a special musical performance for us on Friday, even though they have a busy schedule that weekend. We look forward to some Afro-Cuban funk goodness!

Stormhoek Wines (@stormhoek) is donating some wine, which we will consume and/or share as gifts. And if you miss Miami too much (as you most likely will), a Gaping Void (@gapingvoid) South Beach print will make an excellent souvenir.

Last, but not the very least, are great folks like @brendajos, @dearyvette and @preppydude, who are helping put everything together. @dearyvette and @preppydude have been instrumental in planning and @brendajos has sewn some wonderful schwag bags. Oh, and I hear @vicequeenmaria kind of did a thing or two, maybe putting this blog together with crazy glue ... who knows what that girl is up to!

We Haz Schwag Bags!

zOMG! Y'all! Look at the amazing hand-sewn and lovingly crafted bags by @brendajos! Do you know of any supporters who will help us fill them up? Already, @Anniescostumes is going to give us some sartorial treats!

A bazillion thanks to @brendajos for the effort ... the bags alone will be a really unique SxSe gift. You gotta love the @preppydude-inspired argyle!

Thanks also go out to Mind Active Media and PALO! for supporting SxSe. Don't forget! We're accepting matching donations to make the PALO! concert happen on April 17th. This is hands-spank-me-down the grooviest Afro-Cuban Funk band in town. It's going to be a great Little Havana night -- what with super delicious Cuban eatz at Versailles and @vicequeenmaria going on and on about local history and everything ... please do join us!

Support the PALO! Show

We're planning a wonderful, culturally rich evening in the heart of Miami's Little Havana district on Friday, April 17. We'll start with dinner at famous Cuban restaurant Versailles, followed by some awesome Cuban Afro-funk music by PALO! at Kimbaracumbara music lounge down the street. Club owner Fabio has agreed to open doors for us and Steve Roitstein, musical director of PALO! has generously offered to gather his musicians for a special performance.

A full bar will be available at the usual reasonable prices. A refreshing mojito will be a must at this cozy, intimate venue!

We made a genuine effort to get sponsors so that this performance would be completely free of charge, but that fell through. (Many thanks to @JamiMiami for trying -- she rocks!) The thing is, we gotta cover basic costs for the musicians.

@Preppydude has stepped up to the plate with $200 out of his own pocket to support the show. Let's each pitch in $10 minimum to match and make it happen! If you can, please pay via the Chipin widget before April 17. All funds will go directly to the band's Paypal account. Otherwise, it'll be $10 at the door.

For those of you who have never experienced Cuban food and culture, you're in for a real treat. PALO!'s music is funky, jazzy and fun and features an outstanding vocalist accompanied by great saxophone, keyboards and percussion. Many of us local tweets have quickly become fans. Listen to some samples on PALO!'s website.