Twitter On Fire!

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I like Twitter.

A lot.

I’ve also seen it do amazing things, like give me and everyone in Portland instant information about the weather. Or hearing about an earthquake that happened, seconds after it happened. I hear things on the news days after I hear about it through my Twitter network. It’s amazing. Networking, keeping in touch with friends, keeping my finger on the pulse of the tech community of Portland – all through Twitter.
I’ve also seen friends and aquaintances of mine ask questions of their tweeple (twitter+people) and have a truly amazing level of feedback, instantly. Instantly. Can you say that about forums? Or, ha, customer service? However, it’s not something that has ever happened to me.

Until now.

I’m currently helping the ORBlogs effort become an agile project. I’m also going back to IT at work (joy!) and have been approached about being a technical lead on a project at work. Being, as I am, an agile-vangelist, I thought it would be truly great if I could find a web-based agile tracking application that would help me with both of those efforts. So…I figured, I’d hit up my Twitterverse, see if they know anything. I mean, what the heck do I have 170+ people following me for if I can’t ping ’em for info now and again, right? I figured my pal and former coworker/teammate Jason (@slimstarman) would probably have some feedback about it, but I wasn’t sure if anyone else in my little network would have any ideas.

Well, I tossed out my question:

So, I figured I’d get a response or two, maybe three, right?  Boy, was I in for a surprise!  Witness:
And there was more.  That’s just the first major clump.  Wow.  I mean, wow.  Witness, the power of Twitter.  I mean, all those responses, within a minute of my question.  A MINUTE.  Instant, relevant, helpful, information.
Thanks to @hamids, @evacatherder, @mcottmeyer, @slimstarman (Ha!  See, I knew he’d have an opinon), @donpdonp, @gerrykirk, @rickwindham, @rockcogley, and @silvercatalyst for all the great feedback on my humble little question.  I ended up liking the Pivotal Tracker (@pivotaltracker!  They’re on twitter too!) and am giving it a test drive.
So to commemorate my first-hand exposure to the Power of Twitter, I will be wearing my new ThinkGeek shirt tonight at Ignite Portland 5!!!  It’s got Twitter written all over it. 
If you’re in Portland tonight around 6pm, just go.  You’ll see.  It’s free, and it’s awesome.  But get there early!