Hundreds of people used Twitter during last week’s Democratic National Convention to ask locals about Charlotte. The Mecklenburg County manager’s office set up a Twitter account specifically for that called @CLTAnswers.
Need to find a parking spot, a great place to eat, or how about five synchronized swimmers for an event? Those are just a few of the questions tweeted to Charlotte locals last week. (Believe it or not, a few synchronized swimmers actually responded.)
Brian Francis in the Mecklenburg County Manager’s office runs the @CLTAnswers account. He said he wanted to connect thousands of out-of-towners here for the DNC with locals.
"So we suggested to people visiting that if they had any questions that they needed assistance with, they could just type their question on Twitter, put in the hashtag #CLTFAQ, and people from Charlotte would try to answer it for them," Francis said.
He said #CLTFAQ was used more than 900 times last week. He’d often tweet responses from @CLTAnswers, and the beauty of Twitter is that he could do it from anywhere.
"Walking around the grocery store you’re checking Twitter to see if anybody has posted any new questions, and you’re trying to come up with a good answer from the spaghetti sauce aisle," Francis said with a laugh.
Other locals also embraced the idea and tweeted their own suggestions. Francis said that’s exactly what he was going for.
"I think this does have staying power, not just for people visiting Charlotte to find out some of the best nooks and crannies around here, but for us to share it with each other," he said.
Francis said @CLTAnswers isn’t going anywhere. He tweeted Monday: “#DNC2012 is so last week. So what is next for #CLT?”
If you’ve got an idea, tweet away.