Net Tuesday San Francisco's January 8th speakers will be web developer and consultant, Nate Ritter, talking about how he used Twitter as a help center during the San Diego fires, and Jeremy Pepper, the Director of Communications for The Point, "a social platform for people to solve problems they can't solve alone."

Guayakí Yerba Mate is our beverage sponsor.

When the San Diego fires broke out in October 2007, Nate Ritter used Twitter, a microblogging tool, to provide information about everything locals, and concerned friends and family would need to know: evacuations, meeting points, places to gather and get supplies, etc. You can read more about Nate's Twittering during the fires on his blog.

Powered by tipping point methodology, The Point is an online community that helps individuals organize efficient group action, leveraging the power of the Web to solve problems and be a catalyst for change. The Point facilitates people coming together and taking action with the safety in numbers necessary to make things happen. How? No one is obligated to do anything unless a campaign reaches its "tipping point." At the tipping point, everyone springs into action, knowing they have the numbers to make a difference.

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Speaker Bios . . .

Nate Ritter hails from San Diego, California, the avocado capital of the world. The son of average suburbanites, he broke into the business world through web programming. Inspired to become a helper of humanity, he dedicated himself to learning the rules of business and programming so that he might break them altruistically and artistically. To this end, he earned a bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems (business) from Western Washington University, where he also created the first keyword filtered RSS feed. He quickly turned his attention to consulting and building small businesses and non-profits, in turn giving people products and services they were in need of. Nate is 31, a husband of one wife, an owner of one cat, and a travel addict.

Jeremy Pepper is responsible for traditional and social media programs, as well as community outreach and marketing. Jeremy has a decade's worth of experience in high-technology, consumer technology and consumer public relations, and is one of the world's earliest and well-known PR bloggers and social media strategists. His POP! PR Jots is one of the most popular PR blogs, writing on topics affecting the marketing and public relations industries.

Prior to The Point, Jeremy worked at Weber Shandwick with clients across the board on the development of social media campaigns and strategies; such companies included Cisco, BEA Systems, General Motors, MasterCard International, Verizon Wireless and VeriSign.

Prior to joining Weber Shandwick, Jeremy founded POP! Public Relations in Scottsdale, AZ, worked in-house as Public Relations Manager at Ofoto, and at Shandwick International on the Eastman Kodak and Compaq teams. Jeremy's past public relations campaigns have won the IPRA/United Nations Grand Award for outstanding achievement, the IPRA Golden Award and two Silver Anvil Awards of Excellence.