If I learned one thing from the first #builtheritage Twitter chat of 2013, it's that preservationists will be getting it done in 2013. From saving beloved places to landing the perfect job, and from submitting grad school applications to "finding ways to use preservation/planning as a proactive tool," there are a lot of really exciting things ahead for the movement in the new year.

Check out our Storify of the chat for highlights, or read the full transcript.

For our next chat, we'll be talking about the role the federal historic tax credit plays in saving places and how it can be a catalyst for revitalization for entire neighborhoods. The chat will take place at 4:00 EST on Wednesday, February 6.

Because federal historic tax credits are a bit more challenging topic (for me, at least -- perhaps you are a whiz, in which case, please join us), I've pulled together a bit of a cheat sheet of links:

• Historic Tax Credits on PreservationNation

• Third Annual Report on the Economic Impact of the Federal Historic Tax Credit (aka "the Rutgers Report")
• Maps and by-state lists of tax credit projects
• Step-by-step guide to knowing if your project is eligible for tax credits
• Top 5 Reasons to Support the Historic Tax Credit

The chat is always open to new participants -- and none of the reading above is in any way required. Here's how to get involved:

1. Sign in to Twitter, TweetDeck or TweetChat. We (the chat moderators) usually use TweetChat since it adds the hashtag automatically and allows for easy replies and re-tweets.

2. Follow and tweet with the hashtag #builtheritage.

3. Watch for the questions in the Q1 format. Provide answers using the A1 format, and interact with other participants using replies and retweets.

What we mean by the Q1/A1 format is this: Questions (we usually have four per chat) are posed by the moderators as Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 about every 15 minutes. We ask that chatters reply with A1, A2, etc. to help everyone stay clear on what they’re responding to. A lot of side conversations (often about food) still break out, but it helps keep things at least a little organized.

Hope to chat with you in a couple of weeks!

Sarah Heffern is the social media strategist for the National Trust’s Public Affairs team. While she embraces all things online and pixel-centric, she’s also a hard-core building hugger, having fallen for preservation in a fifth grade “Built Environment” class.

• Twitter
|
• More Posts (171)