Did you know there's a Military & Aerospace Electronics online community on Twitter? Neither did I until yesterday. It's happening, organically, every day, through a nifty, yet powerful, Twitter tool called the hashtag.

Welcome to the wonderful world of ad-hoc social networking, Twitter style, in which groups of people with similar interests like us form spontaneously around industries, Websites, trade shows, hobbies, tourist destinations -- anything, really.

Our hashtag looks like this: #milaero

It's quick and easy to take part, and you don't have to register for a thing -- except for a Twitter account (http://twitter.com/).

To be part of our community on Twitter, simply write the hashtag #milaero anywhere in your tweet. Twitter does the rest, in part, by making the #milaero hashtag a hotlink in your Twitter entry. Then to call forth the entire #milaero community from the vastness of Twitter, either type #milaero in the Twitter search bar, or just click on the #milaero hashtag in any tweet where you see it.

Presto. There's the community stream right on your screen.

Don't take my word for it; let me show you how easy it is. Call up a new screen or pop a new tab, and log on to http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23milaero. That's right, do it right now. I can wait ...

Back already? Did you see that? It's the entire Twitter conversation string by and for the folks who have a common interest in aerospace and defense technology -- or not. It's not just about the magazine, or the Website, or the e-newsletters and Webcasts. It's about you, and your participation in this community. The key to the clubhouse is #milaero.

When you go there, you'll find all of my most recent #milaero tweets (jkeller1959), as well as those of staffers John McHale (JMcHaleIII)and Courtney Howard (coho). From out in the field, from keeping in touch with those in our aerospace and defense community, we'll be pushing out important tidbits to you every day as we learn about them.

We'll also be updating you on the latest stories we're putting up on the Military & Aerospace Electronics Website (www.milaero.com), our Avionics Intelligence Website (www.avionics-intelligence.com) directions on how you can register for our latest Webcasts, how you can access our on-demand Webcasts, and the latest inside skinny about how our Military & Aerospace Electronics Forum, Avionics USA, and Avionics Europe conferences and trade shows are shaping up.

We'll also tell you what we're working on for upcoming news and features, and ask for your help and input. Our sales folks also will tell you about advertising and promotional opportunities and deadlines -- but not too much.

It doesn't always have to be about aerospace and defense, either. See something funny? Share it with the group. Feeling sad or mad? We want to know. Sorry, but we can't promise not to gossip about you later.

Most of the time we'll be talking about what interests all of us, as well as commenting on the issues of the day. You'll see lots of flip, irreverent comments as well; we just can't help it. We want to hear your flip comments, too. Like Dorothy Parker said, "If you don't have anything nice to say, come sit by me."

Like or don't like something in the magazine or on the Website? Let us know. Tell McHale to get back to work and quit flirting with the ladies. Ask Courtney to tweet more; we like it. You can always grab an opportunity to tell me to just go to hel ... well, you get the idea.

With our #milaero community on Twitter, it's easy. Get a Twitter account if you don't have one (that's REALLY easy at www.twitter.com), and get that #milaero hashtag in your tweets. With that community URL, http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23milaero, you update yourself and get updated any time, anywhere, even from your mobile phones.

Something else you can do; you can put an RSS feed to the #milaero community on your own Websites, if you like. Here's the URL for the #milaero RSS feed: http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=%23milaero.

So join us on Twitter. We can't wait to hear from you what's going on.

#milaero


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-- Posted by John Keller, jkeller@pennwell.com. www.milaero.com.

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