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

Brussels traditionally empties out over the Summer and there is not much on the agendas of those left behind. So, following high demand from those still here, we will hold the next Brussels Tweetup on Thursday 17 August at The Black Sheep near to Place Flagey.

We will start a little earlier than usual meeting from around 17.00 (until people want to go home).
Should the weather hold, we may be playing with a 360 camera in the fountains courtesy of our friends at @ZNConsulting.

All welcome so please spread the news. And, as always, follow the #EUTweetUp hashtag for news and updates or contact @ktowens.

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!

It’s finally happened. Article 50 has been triggered and the EU28 is becoming the EU27.

Perhaps even more noteworthy for an #EUTweetUp audience, the FT front page article opened with not one, but three tweets. You see, there is always a silver lining. The EU flag-tastic pictures filling our timelines from various grassroots initiatives across Europe also give us hope!

So, let’s seize the occasion and toast to the next 60 years of the EU at a celebratory #EUTweetUp. After a democratic vote:

The @EUTweetup crew (well @kosmopolit and I) are contemplating the next #EUTweetUp on 6 April: what do you think?

— Katie Owens (@ktowens) March 9, 2017

We are meeting on 6 April at @BrewDogBrussels from 6.30pm until 10pm (…at least) It’s right next to Gare Central (map) and has an amazing terrace if the Brussels weather decides to cooperate, but having lived in Brussels for a while, we reserved the ‘tasting room’ in the middle of the bar, you know, just in case! And, if all that doesn’t convince you, it may even be your last chance to see @kosmopolit …

As I am leaving Brussels this may be my last @EUtweetup… https://t.co/w5gHMHwOPC

— kosmopolit (@kosmopolit) March 9, 2017

No need to register, just follow the #EUTweetUP hashtag and come along. Hope to see you there!

Nearly March and no #EUTweetUp?! Did you miss us? Time to announce the first #EUtweetup of 2017!

Everything you need to know in less than 140 characters:

Brussels #EUtweetup Tuesday February 28 – London Calling – from 6.30pm*

We start at around 6.30pm* (until people want to go home). We also revive out tradition to make each #EUtweetup as topical as possible:

Building on the spontaneous @why_europe #EUTweetUp last week, we have more special guests to introduce you to. Later in the evening a group of “Dutch social media influencers” will join us!

So, make sure to stick around for a while – it’ll be worth it, we promise! The likes of @ArnoldVonk @motherboardnl, @socialevraagst @lalalalinder @datagraver @charlotteslaw and @Reporters_nl will answer all your questions about the role of social media in the upcoming Dutch elections.

Follow the #EUTweetUp hashtag for news and update.

*Carnival costumes optional