Tweet-Up. Meet-Up. Make More Money.

It's not news that signing-up with social networking outlets such as Twitter and Facebook can help promote business, especially in small communities in which word-of-mouth has steadily transitioned to word-of-iPhone.  But for those who graduated from business school before 2008, the world of cyber self-promotion can be formidable and confusing.

Last week, local companies House Party and Westchester140 teamed up to throw a massive "tweet-up," networking event at XV Motorsports in Irvington.  More than 100 local business people—from real estate agents to home decorators—attended to mingle with fellow enterprising tweeters, learn about the evolution of online conversation, and finally put faces to the Twitter names they've been following for so long.

"The idea is to bring social media to Main Street," Sara O'Grady, co-founder of Westchester140 said.  Westchester140 plans "tweet-ups" or in-person networking events in Westchester—the 140 comes from the number of characters allowed in a single tweet. 

House Party, an Irvington-based company co-founded in 2005 by Parker Reilly and Gene DeRose, provides new-age marketing services, the largest of which is planning and throwing parties for consumers that center around a particular product or company.

"Our goal at House Party is to plan a great party and then get out of the way," Kitty Kolding, CEO of House Party, said. "The purest by-product of our services is conversation."

Last Thursday's event, aptly titled, "House Party at Home," was of particular importance for company officials who, for the first time, had the chance to engage members of their own community.

However, despite great turnout overall, free drinks, delicious treats from The Cupcake Kitchen and entrees from Chutney Masala, there was very little Rivertowns representation. 

"I think many businesses haven't started to use the online networking opportunities yet," Eric Spino, former president of Irvington's Chamber of Commerce, said.  Spino, who owns Tappan Cleaners on Main Street, believes that as younger people move into the Rivertowns from the City, local businesses will need to change their modus operandi to keep up.

"People don't understand how to use Twitter to promote their businesses and are uncomfortable with the idea of in-person meet-ups planned online. They wouldn't feel safe," Spino said.

Westchester140's O'Grady understands this reservation—that's why she went into business helping locals network more effectively.

"It's great to give people the opportunity to meet people they've met only online," O'Grady said.

And when pressed for a reason that a consumer would ever want to follow a local bakery on Twitter said: "There's a bakery we work with that came up with a marketing strategy in which they tweeted, 'come in and whisper 'ganache' for a free cookie.'  It was enormously successful." 

O'Grady partnered with House Party to plan "House Party at Home" to inspire and influence local businesses.  Although the party was not exclusively for twitter-users, House Party asked attendees to include on name tags their real names and Twitter names. 

Nearly everyone in attendance was familiar with the progressive and internet-savvy world of tweet-ups, carried Blackberries or iPhones yet came to the event armed with old-fashioned business cards to hand out guiltlessly throughout the evening.

"The idea of these parties is that you can walk up to anyone and say, 'hi,' without any reason," House Party's Kolding said.  "It's about having fun, meeting people and promoting your business.  Our numbers show that when people talk about products in a relaxed atmosphere, they're likely to spread the word about them later."

Most gratifying for attendees, though, seemed to be finding the people whose tweets are consistently most engaging.  "Linda Rey sells insurance in Tarrytown. But because her tweets are so funny and interesting—and not necessarily about insurance—people read them and follow her," O'Grady said.

Rey, who attended last week's tweet-up, was equally effusive and bubbly in person.

"Twitter is like a megaphone to the world," O'Grady said. "It can be used as a great marketing tool, but it also needs to reflect you as a person and your own voice." 

Howard Landeck, of knowtoriousPIG.com in Tarrytown, said attending such online events plays an important role in linking the cyber world to the real world.

Landeck's website, which uses social media to drive business, posts recent deals from local companies all in one place.

"Business owners have been generally receptive to the idea of working with us because we approach them and make it simple for them to participate," Landeck said.

And Spino believes it won't be long before Rivertowns businesspeople jump on the online networking bandwagon.

"A few years ago everyone said they would never buy a computer you could read books on because they liked the feel of real paper," Spino said. "Now everyone on the train is reading from a Kindle."