The GA, As Experienced Through Twitter

I didn't go to the GA this year. But following the conversation on Twitter was the next best thing to being there. Here are ten things I learned about the GA from following the #ga09 hashtag on Twitter: 

1. Rahm is the Mahn. Even on Twitter, Jewish ladies swoon for Rahm Emanuel. Apparently his speech will be broadcast on CSPAN-2 tonight; probably not so much with the swooning. 

2. Jewsin' and Boozin'. Twitter reports indicate that the social scene was happening. Meetups and Tweetups happened right and left, on-site and at other locations, and were alternately described as “packed” and “awesome.” There were reports of cocktails in the lobby, and at least one comedian commented that “whoever said Jews didn’t know how to drink has never been to the GA.” I believe it’s the same guy who’s now selling shirts with slogans like “yiheyeh b’seder” (check them out here). 

3. O Deli, Where Art Thou? The food at the GA was either hard to find, or not good. This is different from all past Jewish conferences where attendees complain that “the food was terrible and there was way too little of it.” When a sandwich was found, it was $18, which to some, sent a strange message, given the discussion around making Jewish life more affordable. 

4. Get Me Don Draper on the Phone! Twitterers quoted a Federation exect as saying that The Jewish Federations of North America, newly rebranded as JFNA after having been UJC for a while, "wants to rebrand." Again. The UJC.org website is now the homepage of the newly logo-ed Jewish Federations of North America, and reroutes to JewishFederations.org. Confused? Need the history? Want to discuss options and make suggestions for the next stage of rebranding? Join us (and by "us," I mean "me")  here. 

5. It's NowGen, Actually. The JFNA wants to “build Federation for the NextGen.” So what are the roadblocks? I don’t mean to oversimplify, but we’ve been talking about this for a while now. So let’s identify these obstacles and convene the right combination of innovators and institutions, so we can move past them… 

6. The Z-Word. Israel was a point that not everyone agreed on – mentions of Israel, Tweeting attendees noted, were met with diminished applause and some protests. Also, people were critical that Gilad Shalit was only first mentioned at the Tuesday plenary (by Emmanuel, I think) – but they didn’t mention him either for the first days of the GA. So to sum up, it took a mention to elicit a “hey, they haven’t mentioned him till now.” 

7. What's This Bookface Thing, Anyway? People are interested in social media – one workshop drew lots of people in their 50s. Looks like @darimonline and @lisacolton are going to be very busy. Not to mention me. But since we’re mentioning me, let’s mention my new client, the Berman Jewish Policy Archive (all the Jewish policy documents now at your fingertips online at BJPA.org – follow them on Twitter at @bjparchive). 

8. Project Runway. Fashion also had its place at the GA, most notably with the conflict over the colors in Rahm Emanuel’s wardrobe: while @rabbiyonah called the ensemble “charcoal grey suit, blue shirt, yellow power tie”, @lmarknyt insisted that the outfit was “more medium grey; and the shirt is powder blue. the tie is closer to light gold with a neat pattern than yellow.” Still missing: Joan Rivers on a red carpet shouting, “Who are you wearing?” 

9. You Should Never Namedrop: Tom Cruise Taught Me That. Most namedropped GA speakers: Bibi Netanyahu, Jerry Silverman, Natan Sharansky, Rahm Emmanuel, Kathy Manning, and @daroff. Most disappointing no-show, obviously President Obama. Most puzzling entertainer appearance: Elliot Yamin (American Idol, Season Who Cares). Up next year, whichever Real Housewife is the most Jewy.  

10. Simchat Torah. During the closing plenary of the GA in DC, a Torah scroll was completed in honor of the Jewish members of the US Army. I wasn't there, of course, but thought this act was very meaningful, as it pointed out the ideal: that we should engage in our past and protect the future.

Were you at the GA this year? Did you Tweet or follow the Tweets? Share your experiences anytime.

Comments

[What War Zone???]

Thanks, Queen Esther! I knew there was a reason I always come to the Kvetch.

Ok, I'm sleep deprived....but what's the Z-word?

[phyllis]

great sum-up! thanks...i was following but only marginally:-)

[EstherK]

Benji, seriously. You know what the Z word is. It starts with Z and rhymes with Shmionism.

[What War Zone???]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.

[Lisa Colton]

Esther, this is great! I tweeted under 2 names (@lisacolton and @darimonline -- thanks for the shout outs above!), and found my experience of the conference so much richer by engaging in the conversation. Both at the GA and the URJ Biennial, I met wonderful innovators after tweeting with them before and during the conference. It was fun, but even more so it was productive since the tweeters often are a self-selecting crowd, and the people I really want to find and get to know. It was like an ongoing discussion which added a whole other layer to the experience. I'm curious how following the twitter feed impacted your (and others') thinking about the conference? Does it make you feel like you got it all from afar, or that you now want to go to conferences even more?

[Esther]

In some moments, all the Tweeting made me wish I were there - kind of like I want to be the people on the red carpet at the Oscars that I see on my TV.

I would still go to conferences if I could afford them (which has been a major challenge when conferences are several hundred dollars to attend even before you involve transportation and lodging), because I do believe in the power of the face-to-face encounter to strengthen a connection. But if we can't be there, the tweeting does give us a little more insideryness than if we had read about it on the JTA after the fact.

It's about access to the information and the conversation - and following tweets of people who were all over the conference in myriad sessions in some ways enabled us to have a more fleshed out experience than we would have had in person.

[Alan Abbey]

It's a week since the GA, and I'm still catching up back at work in Jerusalem at Shalom Hartman Institute. I made a lot of real-time contacts there, including @lisacolton and @darimonline, as mentioned above.

So, a few thoughts from a Tweeter (@alanabbey) who didn't Tweet from the GA (I didn't have time, as I was standing in the Exhibition Hall and promoting Hartman Institute (hartman.org.il):

1) An energized, positive feeling in general.
2) Suburban Jewish women are a powerful (and fit and well-dressed - in black and purple) force at the GA.
3) Jerry Silverman is for real.
4) The crowd loved the "Torah service" with the Jewish US servicemen.
5) A group of big-name MSJM - mainstream Jewish media - executives and I held a private meeting on the sidelines of the GA and I'll give a private briefing to anyone who writes to me - [email protected] - and asks for one - or who begins following me on Twitter with a question about it. (No public spoilers, sorry.)
6) Eli's kosher food deli in Washington is pretty terrible.

[Shawn]

Best Twitter-meets-reality moment for me: a panelist (who shall remain nameless) gets a call from his/her kids:

Kids: "Wow, [parent], you're so cool! We're watching you live online! And what's with that @sethacohen33 guy and his wife's cooking?"

Parent: "And what's with the Jewish day school I pay thousands of dollars letting you go online & on Twitter during school?"

(Backstory: @presentense was streaming the panel live, and I was live tweeting via @jmpstrt, including a couple of tweets about Seth's ongoing paean to his wife's home-cooked meals.)