Celebrating its first anniversary next month with a spoof-genre awards show appropriately dubbed “The LRTweeties,” this strong gathering of more than 200 users will come together to celebrate a year of professional growth, promotions, friendships and philanthropy in Little Rock.

The grand awards festivity, staged to embody the tomfoolery nature and sarcastic whimsy of that of its followers, will be held Tuesday, May 18 at Juanita’s Mexican Café & Bar beginning at 5:30 p.m.  Finalist voting for all award categories such as “Most Likely To Run For Office,” “TMI Tweep of the Year,” “LOL Tweet of the Year,” “Most Creative Use of Hashtags,” and more will begin this Wednesday.

“We’re doing more than just throwing a party for a networking group that has provided a way to connect with colleagues and friends through social media,” said Keith Crawford (@tsudo), one of the founders of the LRTweetUp (@LRTweetUp). “We’re celebrating the creation and growth of a community that has transformed the way many professionals in Little Rock cultivate relationships, do business and promote advocacy and  goodwill initiatives through philanthropic efforts. The LRTweeties are a simple, light-hearted way of honoring that.”

The LRTweetUp is the result of an idea brought on by two of its co-founding members.  In May 2009 two friends, Angel Galloway (@angelmg) and Natalie Ghidotti (@ghidotti) decided to organize a local meet up to celebrate reaching 400 followers. As the word spread and interest grew, the gathering turned into a series of monthly meet ups with the goal of helping members build personal and professional connections.

The community also began to evolve as a self-proclaimed new breed of civic group. Supporting local charities through fundraising and awareness initiatives, members participated in several programs benefiting Central Arkansas charities throughout the year as well including Heifer International’s “Pass on the Gift” campaign and participation in the state’s first “Twestival” which supported Reach Out and Read Arkansas(RORA), a nonprofit that partners with pediatricians and clinics statewide to raise awareness about early childhood literacy and provides resources to families to encourage reading in the home.

Although our organization is still young in terms of longevity, our impact and reach on the community can be seen far and wide,” Crawford said.  “Approximately 35 percent of our membership represent the amazing nonprofit organizations making a difference in the lives of those in Central Arkansas every day. Pair that with the sheer volume of volunteer hours, advocacy and contributions to organizations shared across Twitter stream at any given moment, and it’s hard not to be motivated yourself to give back.”

Personal stories from members of the LRTweetUp community, links to voting and more information about the event can be found at http://lrtweetup.com/.