About 50 local Twitter users came together Friday at hotel Aloft Tempe for the second-ever Arizona Twestival, a charity event to benefit St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance.

Chris Lee, organizer of the Twitter festival, defined the event as, “A meet-up of people organized over Twitter.”

“It’s [adding] a common hashtag or mention on Twitter that gets talked about, and people show up [to the event],” he said.

The event was primarily organized through a Twitter hashtag: a way of categorizing information from tweets about a specific topic into a database. Outside of the hashtag, #twestivalphx, it was publicized through word-of-mouth.

The event included a silent auction, raffle and a party-like atmosphere for Twitter users to enjoy each others’ company.

Heather Lee, a co-organizer of the event, said Twestival-like events take place all over the world, unbeknownst to many.

According to the official Twestival website, more than 35 countries participate in the “twestivities.” The first ever Twestival was held in London in 2008.

Though the events all share the same name, each Twestival is different and very localized, said Chris Lee.

While one Twestival in California piqued the interest of actor and comedian Joe Rogan, other Twestivals have included Rock Band events and live performances by local musicians. All profits from local Twestivals go to help charitable organizations.

Chris and Heather Lee hope the event generated a substantial donation for the St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance, a nonprofit organization that delivers more than 300,000 meals a day to families around Arizona, according to the company’s Web site.

The first Twestival to hit the Valley generated $4,700 to benefit Charity: Water with only two weeks of planning. It ranked 10th out of 203 Twestivals worldwide, Heather Lee said.

Although Chris and Heather Lee didn’t set any specific goal for donations, they hope this year’s event will match the success of last year’s Twestival.

Numbers are expected to be released Monday.

“Our goal is to exceed the previous Twestival,” Heather Lee said.

With two months of planning, the event received more than 40 donated auction items from local businesses including gift certificates, hotel accommodations and prints from local artists. Sponsors included the Phoenix Suns, CBS Outdoor and Customer Systems.

Heather Lee said she is optimistic this year’s event will generate more donations than the previous Twestival because a lot of people participated.

ASU alumnus and longtime Twitter user Heather Lynne Herr attended the first Arizona Twestival and also went Friday.

“It’s a great social event,” she said. “The charity component makes it so much easier to part with funds.”

For many, the idea of a Twestival is strange, but for others, it’s an effective way to network and meet similarly minded individuals.

Chris Lee said people are motivated to attend events like this for all different reasons.

“There are a lot of people that get enjoyment, and benefit from using Twitter for free. For me, it’s using Twitter to facilitate good,” he said.

The process of learning a new social-media tool like Twitter can be daunting, but Heather Lee said it pays off.

“I dragged my feet for a month or two,” she said. “I’ve done a complete 180. I think it’s a great tool in many ways.”

Reach the reporter at wmeeth@asu.edu.