Politics & Government

#Renton5000 Celebration; Next Stop, #Renton10000

More than 100 City of Renton, WA Facebook fans gathered Thursday night to celebrate the City's social networking achievement.

The celebrated it's Facebook fan page achievement of 5,000 fans, or #Renton5000, as it's now known across the social media-sphere.

Next stop, #Renton10000.

City Economic Development Administrator Alex Pietsch (@alexpietsch), said that after a little Facebook research, he found that Renton has more friends than any other city north of San Francisco.

Find out what's happening in Rentonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The city with the most friends? That would be the Boise, Idaho Facebook page with more than 15,000.

"That's something to aspire to," he told the crowd of more than 150 people who gathered in the heart of downtown Renton at to celebrate the milestone. Renton started its fan page in December of 2009.

Find out what's happening in Rentonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As with any social media meet-up, attendees conversed in person and on their mobile devices. A live Twitter feed appeared on a flatscreen mounted on the dining room wall. Wil Samson (@WilSamson) tested the delay time while sipping beer, eating sausages and chatting with others seated at the community-style tables set near The Berliner's stage. Samson estimated the delay at about 15 seconds from his smart phone to a flatscreen monitor mounted on the wall just two table lengths away.

Attendees enjoyed music by dj100proof and food donated by Berliner Pub owners Dennis and Lydia Mascarinas, in addition to more than a dozen raffle prizes provided by local businesses.

Kellie Jordan, director of events for the Renton Chamber of Commerce, who also stopped by Thursday's celebration, said the City of Renton Facebook page is the place to go to stay connected with what's going on.

"I get the best information in the timeliest manner," she said of the page, which acts as a kind of aggregated news source, with information from the City, local media and people who live, work and visit Renton.

The City order 50 limited-edition T-shirts from Black Anchor T Shirts & Printing to commemorate the event. The commemorative tees didn't last more than seven minutes. 

Pietch and City Communications Specialists Kelley Balcomb-Bartok and Lisa Garvich collaborated on the T-shirt design, which features a thumbs-up 'Like' icon bottom above the Facebook page name 'City of Renton, WA' on the front, and a stylized letter 'r' surrounded by uniquely Renton phrases on the back.

The page's 5,000th fan Billy Cheung also attended and donned his new Commemorative shirt. Cheung, a member of Facebook since 2007, and a six-year Renton resident joined the City fan page after his college friend Dena Rosko suggested he check it out.

"There's a lot of newsworthy things on there that I otherwise would not have known about," he said.

 

Here's a look at the numbers, as provided by the City of Renton, WA Facebook fan page:

#Renton 5000 by the numbers:
150 Fans in attendance, including:
1 Mayor
1 Councilmember (Rich Zwicker)
1 School Board Member (Pam Teal
1 State Representative (Marcie Maxwell)
22 Renton businesses that donated
34 prizes
2 turntables ably manned by dj100proof
1 amazing night The Berliner Pub!
Thanks to everyone who made it happen! This is what it means to be "Ahead of the Curve!"
Next stop: #Renton10000


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