The nights are drawing in. Brussels is going into that intense what-can-we-push-through-the-EP-before-the-elections phase. And Brexit is still going nowhere. And – most important of all – one of the veterans of EU politics blogging and Twitter, Andreas – aka @kosmopolit – is back in Brussels for a visit and for a Tweetup. @jonworth will be putting in an appearance too, once he has been to celebrate the unity of his soon to be adopted country 🇩🇪.

DATE: Wednesday 3rd October – from 6pm until 9pm at least (come as and when you want to)
LOCATION: Stoemelings, Place de Londres – table reserved from 1800!
WHERE? Inside, at the far end of London Calling, past the bar! Please check @EUTweetup or #EUTweetup on the day for details

For those of you who have never been to an EU Tweetup before it’s pretty simple. No agenda, no need to sign up, just come along and chat and have a beer with the folks you’ve otherwise previously encountered on Twitter. We’ve been doing it for some years now and it has become a bit of a Brussels tradition. We can assure you these folks are friendlier in real life than they are online. And no, we still do not know who Berlaymonster is.

Two forthcoming tweetups in Belgium!

On Monday 5th March there will be a small tweetup in Bruges, where EU Twitter nerds meet @jonworth‘s students who have been learning about online communications. Travel costs to/from Brussels are covered, and we still have a few places available – please just let us know if you would like to come along using the form here.

On Wednesday 7th March in Brussels we’re happy that Michiel Van Hulten (@mvanhulten – well known in the Brussels Bubble Twitter scene!) is welcoming Twitter nerds along to the launch party of his new business venture, BOLDT. All you have to do is register here for free (there’s a pre-event about Brexit too, featuring some excellent Tweeters like @fabianzuleeg and @allierenison), and then come along to WXYZ Bar at aLoft (map) from 1730 onwards – nearest Metro Schuman.

Thanks to everyone who attended at EU Tweetup in 2017! It was a pretty momentous year tweeting about the EU, especially with regard to Brexit, and some of the connections forged through EU Tweetups ended up turning into work connections too.

We’re not resting on our laurels for 2018 though. We’re happy to be able to announce three tweetup dates for early 2018.

Brussels, EU Quarter (exact location tbc), from 1800 on Monday 29th January

Berlin (the return of the Berlin EU tweetup!), Mitte (exact location tbc), from 1800 on Monday 5th February

Bruges (with @jonworth‘s students) on Monday 5th March
(this one works a little differently – travel costs are covered for a group of 5 people from Brussels who take the same train to Bruges – after work on 5th March – register you interest for this tweetup here).

Happy Christmas from your EU tweetup team and see you in 2018!

(Image adapted from this tweet by Tauno Tõhk‏)

Those of you in Brussels (and indeed on Twitter!) for a while will remember a detemined curmudgeon of a journalist named Andy Carling (@quarsan) who used to write for New Europe before returning to the UK a couple of years ago, just when the rest of us were thinking of fleeing the island!

Anyway, Andy is back in Brussels for a few days at the start of November, so we are organising a tweetup in his honour. And yes, I know a Monday is a little bit odd, but no other day works… And yes, the (cigar) smoking ban does indeed apply at our venue.

DATE: Monday 6th November – from 6pm until 9pm at least (come as and when you want to)
LOCATION: London Calling, Place de Londres [map] (where else?)
WHERE? Inside, at the far end of London Calling, past the bar! Please check @EUTweetup or #EUTweetup on the day for details

And for those of you who have never been to an EU Tweetup: the idea is pretty simple. There’s no agenda, it’s informal, and you meet folks for a beer who you otherwise only argue with on Twitter. We’ve been doing it for years and it works. Really.

Don’t worry. He’s not actually coming to the Tweetup.

“Whadda ya want?”
“Sufficient progress to move to stage two!”
“Sorry, can’t have that, but how about a Duvel?”

As Brexit negotiations drag interminably into their fourth round this week, and no sufficient progress in sight, come and have a beer instead with some of the most insightful EU nerds in Brussels.

Meet the folks whose Twitter threads you’ve liked, whose knitting patterns you’ve appreciated, or whose awful puns have made you groan.

For those of you who have never been to an EU Tweetup before it’s pretty simple. No agenda, no need to sign up, just come along and chat and have a beer with the folks you’ve otherwise previously encountered on Twitter. We’ve been doing it for some years now and it has become a bit of a Brussels tradition. We can assure you these folks are friendlier in real life than they are online. And no, we still do not know who Berlaymonster is.

DATE: Thursday 12th October – from 6pm until 9pm at least (come as and when you want to)
LOCATION: London Calling, Place de Londres [map] (where else?)
WHERE? Inside, at the far end of London Calling, past the bar! Please check @EUTweetup or #EUTweetup on the day for details

As previously announced, at the next Brussels tweetup on Thursday 13th July, Jason Knoll (@JasonLKnoll) and 8 of his High School students from Madison, Wisconsin will meet the Twitter nerds. As the students are still at school, this is going to be more of a dinner than a pub night tweetup!

So how will it work?

We’ve reserved a room at Ellis Gourmet Burger, Place Jourdan 20 (map), upstairs. Jason and the students will be there from 1800, and people can arrive from then onwards. If you want to eat something, can you please tell us your order by Wednesday 12th June, 1800 at the latest (i.e. 24 hours before the tweetup!) using the form below – the options on the form below correspond to the menu options here (PDF). You can submit the form for up to 4 people. Kindly DM @jonworth if you then subsequently cannot make it, or will be late. If you just want to drink something you do not need to fill in the form – just come along. And you will have to pay for your own food on the spot! As ever keep an eye on #EUtweetup for updates!

We look forward to seeing you on Thursday!

Food pre-order form

We are happy to announce two summer tweetups in Brussels.

Thursday 8th June (the day of the UK General Election!) from 1800 at Wild Geese, Avenue Livingstone 2, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium [map] from 1800.

Thursday 13th July from 1800, venue tbc – but this is a special tweetup as Jason Knoll (@JasonLKnoll) is in Brussels with his students. We first met Jason at a Tweetup back in 2015 and we’re happy to welcome him back. He’s a high school teacher in Madison, Wisconsin who uses Twitter as an educational tool with his students – so come along and meet them!

Autumn becomes winter. The Brussels hacks huddle inside, with hands wrapped around glasses of dark beer, and wonder about the phoney war. And Theresa May still hasn’t sent the Article 50 notification.

Meanwhile the kind folks over at Euractiv have blogged about EU Tweetups, and James Crisp is encouraging us all to be more positive about Belgium. So why not come along for a beer? Everyone is very welcome!

Put the details in your diary!

DATE: Tuesday 15th November – from 6pm until 9pm at least (come as and when you want to)
LOCATION: London Calling, Place de Londres (where else?)
WHERE? Inside, at the far end of London Calling, past the bar! Please check @EUTweetup on the day for details

So the summer is over. Brussels is back in business. And we still have no sodding clue how Brexit is going to work. So join us for a beer to drown your sorrows about all of those things and, in typical Brussels EU Tweetup style, meet all the folks who talk about the EU on Twitter. We’ve got no special guests confirmed for this tweetup yet (although rumour has it that two prominent EU Twitter nerds are in Brussels for good, from Brighton and Den Haag) but we’ll update this blog entry as and when we know more.

But for now put the details in your diary!

DATE: Wednesday 21st September – from 6pm until 9pm at least (come as and when you want to)
LOCATION: London Calling, Place de Londres (where else?)
WHERE? Outside or inside, depending on the weater! Please check @EUTweetup on the day for details