Peel Plaza issue goes into the Twittersphere

Today’s Telegraph-Journal had a great article about people using Twitter to let everyone know what was happening during the recent Peel Plaza meeting at City Hall.

I was following along that evening, and I found these tweets to be very informative.

I really like how it allows everyone reading to be connected to what was happening in the room.

Below is a blurb from the article:

Anne McShane knows not everyone wants to sit through a council meeting to find out what’s going on.

But that doesn’t mean they’re not interested.

And when it came to common council’s vote on Peel Plaza on Monday night, she knew it would be no different.

So as council members debated whether to issue tenders for the multimillion-dollar project, McShane used her iTouch to post comments – called “tweets-” on Twitter, a popular social-networking website.

“I just tweet so some of those people can know what’s going on,” said McShane, who owns the Feel Good Store on Germain Street.

“It’s just another way to get the information out.”

McShane was one of several people lighting up Twitter with a Peel Plaza play-by-play Monday night.

Twitter allows users to post short bits of information, in 140 characters or less.

“Chase trying to slow the train down. Mayor throwing more coal on,” McShane wrote at one point, referring to Deputy Mayor Stephen Chase and Mayor Ivan Court, who were engaged in a heated debate.

Nathalie Godbout, a lawyer and the former chairwoman of the Saint John Board of Trade, was also posting live tweets right from the council chambers, using her BlackBerry.

She said politicians need to realize this debate is happening on the Internet.

“There’s a whole other demographic that’s having that discussion online – so you can’t be afraid of it, you’ve got to get in there and at least follow it, and if you feel so inclined, participate,” she said in an interview Tuesday.

“It’s a discussion that’s just being immortalized in a whole different way.”

Godbout said she’s tweeted from other events. She knew a lot of people would be interested in council’s Peel Plaza decision, so she wanted to get the information out there.

“Sounds like Pat Woods leaving door open for council backing out after tender process if #s that come back are not favorable,” she wrote at one point in reference to city manager Patrick Woods.

Thanks again to Anne and Nathalie!

Be sure to check out the tweets from that night, and beyond, using the hashtag #peelplaza!