Tuesday, March 15, 2011

NI Assembly opened its doors to social media geeks in tonight's Tweet-Up

View down the Stormont Mile (or is it Stormont Kilometre?)

Hats off to the NI Assembly engagement team who welcomed photographers, bloggers, facebookers, tweeters and other social media hangers-on to tour Parliament Buildings this evening for what they badged as a Tweet-Up, "the first legislature in the UK and Ireland to host a social networking event".

NI Assembly tweet-up tour started outside Parliament Buildings

While some of the participants were familiar with the NI Assembly and the folks on the hill, for many others it was their first opportunity to see around and find out where the local administration is based and how it works. After a comprehensive tour - which can be arranged free of charge throughout the year - Assembly staff, MLAs, party researchers and media all happily explained their roles and answered questions.

Historic parliament papers in the Assembly Library

The Assembly Library was quite a revelation. There's an enormous collection of Irish political literature, including an extensive biography section. In an annex, papers from previous NI parliaments were neatly stacked in bookcases.

Participants in NI Assembly's tweet-up

While it was a great chance for face-to-face conversations and catching up with old friends, some folk couldn't resist the lure of their online worlds!

NI Assembly Engagement Team adopting the team pose as they tweet their event!

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