Photo by M.V. Jantzen

As part of an initiative by the White House’s Office of Digital Strategy, the White House has been hosting a series of tweetups, allowing individuals the opportunity to listen to and ask questions of a variety of speakers, including the President and First Lady, as well as a number of other officials from the administration.

The most recent tweetup included approximately 150 attendees from 20 states and the District. (Our friend Tom Bridge from We Love D.C. was also there.) In addition to taking a tour of the White House, tweeters listened to a range of speakers including the Director of Digital Strategy Macon Phillips (@macon44); Director of the Office of Public Engagement Jon Carson (@joncarson44); Tina Tchen, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady; Brad Cooper, Executive Director of Joining Forces (@joiningforces); Aneesh Chopra, Assistant to the President for Technology and US Chief Technology Officer (@aneeshchopra); Laura Dowling, White House florist; and Bill Yosses, White House pastry chef.

During the event, it was repeatedly impressed upon attendees the value that the administration puts on using e-mail, social media and online participation to have a conversation with constituents. They made it clear that, unlike Courtland Milloy, they don’t consider tweeters to be “myopic little twits.” Rather they rely on others to pass along information about initiatives such as Joining Forces, and We the People. Along with the discussions about policy, the fun fact attendees learned was that the official preferred dessert of the White House, and its pastry chef, is pie.

As someone who does not regularly interact with anyone who works in politics, the Hill, the White House or lobbyists, the tweetup was a unique opportunity to see and interact with people deeply involved with setting White House policy and creating White House-sponsored programs. So while many wonks might be too jaded to share my excitement, for others who fall outside of political D.C. it’s a great event to learn more about the administration and its policies, and get a closer and more personal view of the people who work in the White House.

You can check for future tweetups here or by following @WhiteHouse on Twitter.