The Upper Valley Hashtag Haiku Celebration

As many of you know, I’ve long been jealous of the impressive organization of Burlington’s Twitter community. Their unified use of the #BTV hashtag makes it very easy for me to keep my finger on the pulse of the Burlington community “goings-on.” After talking with @nhkaren at a recent Social Media Breakfast, I decided that the time had come to pick an official Twitter hashtag for New Hampshire’s and Vermont’s Upper Valley community.

Burlington’s choice was obvious. They simply (and wisely) co-opted the city’s airport code. Our task was a little more difficult. Our “Upper Valley” community spans 5 (or 7? or 9?) towns and villages—and it’s growing all the time, depending on who you talk to, and how far they care to admit that they drive every morning. So, to make things easier, I put up a poll with some of my hashtag suggestions.

The poll was up and active for a week. Many people voted and a few people added suggestions of their own. In the end, a clear winner was chosen: #upval

I like it. It’s short. It’s got a pleasing ratio of ascenders to descenders. Its definition can grow with our community.

And so, in an effort to celebrate and spread the word about the new community hashtag, I’m starting a Twitter haiku chain, and I invite all the tweeting #upval residents to play along.

Here’s how it works:

1. In your favorite Twitter manager/program, set up a search for “#upval #haiku”. This way, you can watch all the haikus as they are posted.
2. Write your own haiku that relates to the Upper Valley in some way. Add the hashtags #upval and #haiku to the tweet, and fire away!
3. We’ll comment, retweet, and enjoy each other’s contributions. Hopefully, we’ll make enough noise using the new hashtag that people will notice and it will catch on.

Here’s my initial effort:

@jsmcdougall: Traffic in West Leb / The Nugget on Friday Night / Soft serve at Fore-U #upval #haiku

I can’t wait to read yours!

If you have any questions, please post them below. Thanks and enjoy! I look forward to some serious haikuing! (Is that a word?)