For months now, I've been trying to tell people about Twitter. I was constantly getting either blank stares, a great deal of skepticism, and/or good natured ribbing. No one seemed to understand the power of Twitter. 
 
Last week, our school received news that two of our administrators were going to be studying for a week in China. One of the administrators asked me to look into finding out the best way to communicate from China back to the United States so that she could keep in touch with her family while out of the country. I decided to put into practice what I've been preaching for the past couple of months. 
 
I tweeted out to my followers (at the time only 90 followers) the following tweet: 
 
"Help please. Anyone been to China?What options are available for communication back here? Cell service? Skype? Any help is appreciated." 
 
The first thing I received was a tweet back from a fellow tech coordinator (Ryan Collins) telling me to get in touch with a specific person. I followed that person and directed a reply to them.  
 
It turned out that this person was an American teaching in China. Next, I looked at who that person followed and who followed them. In doing so, I found even more Americans that are currently teaching in China. I followed some, contacted them, and got an incredible amount of current, valid, information. Specifically, exactly what we needed. 
 
Long story short, within hours of my initial tweet, I had: 
 
*Information about pre-paid cell phone service available in China. 
*Information about the types of phones you should bring over to China. 
*Information about free Wi-Fi available in Beijing. 
*Information about Skype functionality from China back to the states. 
*Information about pre-paid calling cards. 
 
If I had any doubt about the capabilities of Twitter, it has now been completely erased. I'll be sending out the link to this blog post to friends and colleagues in the hopes that they too will finally understand the power of Twitter.