Dylan Thomas Centre wins army of new Twitter followers

Oct. 10, 2012 - PRLog -- Swansea's Dylan Thomas Centre has won hundreds of new fans on Twitter thanks to an innovative event.

Since performing Under Milk Wood on the social media website, the attraction’s following on Twitter has grown by more than 40 per cent.

Swansea Council staff at the centre performed Under Milk Wood in 28 tweets to help bring Dylan’s work into the 21st Century and win the poet a new generation of fans.

Promotional activities in the build-up to the performance generated over 300 re-tweets and mentions, many of which were from people living overseas. Some of the more high-profile re-tweets came from singer Cerys Matthews, who has more than 28,000 followers on Twitter, and Michael Rosen, a top children’s writer who has more than 22,000 followers.

Cllr Nick Bradley, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: "Performing Under Milk Wood on Twitter was a terrific idea. Dylan Thomas is Swansea’s most famous son and one of the world’s most popular writers over the last century.

"This latest performance has won the Dylan Thomas Centre hundreds more fans and means the profile of Dylan’s works have been raised among the Twitter generation.

"Feedback on the day was tremendous from everyone who followed the performance and took part in the online discussions. Some people had never read Under Milk Wood before but said they’d definitely buy hard copies of the work in the near future.

"It’s important to keep Dylan’s name in the public eye as we build towards celebrating the centenary of his birth in 2014."

Under Milk Wood features an all-knowing narrator who invites the audience to listen to the dreams and innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of a fictional small Welsh fishing village called Llareggub.

Individual cast members were given their own Twitter addresses during the performance that people were able to follow through the Dylan Thomas Centre's Twitter feed.

People followed the performance on @DTCSwansea and used the #milkwood hashtag to take part in the discussion on the day. A hashtag symbol is used before a relevant keyword or phrase in a tweet to categorize it and help people find it more easily when searching on Twitter.

Have a look at http://www.dylanthomas.com for more information about the Dylan Thomas Centre or give 01792 463980 a call.

This year's Dylan Thomas Festival takes place from October 27 to November 9. It's being headlined by top musician Stan Tracey, who will perform a jazz version of A Child's Christmas in Wales.