Last Updated: January 9, 2021
“SaugaTweetup is like a tweetup in Toronto… without the Toronto douchiness.”
–unattributed
SaugaTweetup is worth the trek to Mississauga.
As someone born and raised Mississaugan, I know the city hasn’t been without its shortcomings in the past. Nothing to do but hang at the mall. Next to nothing open past 9 o’clock. You need a car to get anywhere. Mississauga doesn’t scream glitz, glamour or an expansive nightlife, but no matter how long I stay away, there’s still one word that resonates with me when I think of the city just west of Toronto:
Home.
You Can Take the Boy out of Sauga….
Despite how often I make fun of Mississauga (see “Mississucka”, “Miserysauga”, “My 27-year prison stint”), I will fiercely defend it against any outsiders looking to speak ill of it. Yeah, its transit system sucks, but I spent 15 years on it and earned my stripes to know how badly it sucks. The club scene was less than ideal, but I danced on those floors and got rebuffed by more Mississaugan women than I care to remember. (Note: I also did rather well with some Mississaugan women, but that’s not the point of this post.) Square one was my mall. Hazel McCallion was my mayor. You can take the boy out of Sauga, but you can’t take Sauga out of the boy.
Which is why I support SaugaTweetup as strongly as I do.
The Skinny on SaugaTweetup
On Wednesday, August 7th, we socialized like we were out of control, making new friends and reacquainting with old ones around the wooden tables that made up the atmosphere at the newly re-christened SCADDABUSH, which was the Alice Fazooli’s just north of Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga.
One thing that makes SaugaTweetup a little different from the events you’d attend in downtown Toronto is the crowd. People were representing various parts of town that night, from Scarborough all the way across the lake to Hamilton; Oakville, Kitchener-Waterloo, Brampton, Barrie, Keswick—SaugaTweetup has cultivated its own culture, far removed from the one you find in The Big Smoke with its gridlocked traffic and sullen faces. Dozens upon dozens make the journey out to SaugaTweetup, and I haven’t heard anyone leave disappointed yet!
SCADDABUSH made sure to offer a sampling of their menu, ranging from pizzas to stuffed meatballs and fresh mozzarella. I’ll leave someone far more qualified and who was far less preoccupied with stuffing their face while trying to drink a beer, take photos and keep up conversation—but I enjoyed what I had. I found the pizza especially tasty!
Conclusion
So why go to SaugaTweetup?
More than the food, the atmosphere or the low price tag that comes with free parking and a casual dress code, you go to SaugaTweetup to belong to a community. Before I moved out East, for a long time I was steadfast that the West was the best. The East is nothing to overlook, but until a PickeringTweetup gets to the same level as this… well, let’s just say that the choice is obvious.
See you in the fall!
HYFR and YOLO,
Although I hated the 6 months I spent commuting to Mississauga for work, one thing I can say is that the people I met there were beyond friendly & nice. It’s cool to know that Tweet-up wise they are doing their own thing & doing it well!
Yeah — it’s definitely forming a social media scene of its own, which is good 🙂 It still has a ways to go, but you do have people out there who want to see others make their way out to the ‘burbs to have a good time 🙂 I think it’s a lot different from the Mississauga we knew in years past!
Thanks for the great write-up Casey, I always appreciate the support and the pictures that you take a share with all to see and appreciate everyone travelling from all around the GTA to take part in this. One of my favorite comments to come out of #SaugaTweetUp someone told me was “I walked in and didn’t see anyone on their phone, so I felt weird pulling mine out.” This quote alone makes me feel proud to see what #SaugaTweetUp has become, a place to network, talk and connect. Stay tuned for the next #SaugaTweetUp!
That’s it, man. Lots of tweetups out there have people firing tweets out on their phones all through the night with the hashtag, but SaugaTweetup keeps everyone too BUSY to do it. It’s part of the charm — a get-together that keeps everyone too ENGAGED to go back to their phones 🙂
Nah man, I know that this is going to be one of those tweetups that stick around for the long haul. Always looking forward to more, sir!
All the best and until the next one!
This is my first visit to your blog! Great post Casey!
I had a great time! As a resident of Mississauga, this was my first #SaugaTweetUp and won’t be my last! I met a lot of cool people who I interact with on Twitter, in real life! It is awesome when social media relationships spill into real life!
I love that you love Mississauga! Me too! Toronto is my birth city. So I consider both home! And represent both to the fullest!
It was great meeting you Casey!
Bhupinder
@BhuDeo
Bhupinder, great to finally put a face to the name — and you know the first is the worst, right? If you keep coming back to the blog, I assure you it’ll only get better 😉
I hope to keep having the time to keep making it out to SaugaTweetups as time goes on — it really represents some of the best things Mississauga has to offer; I really feel that.
Hopefully we keep crossing paths 🙂 All the best, and 10 & 5 for LIFE 😉
Hey Casey,
Great blog and some great pictures of the #SaugaTweetup! Thank you for adding “Keswick” to the various parts of town and I really enjoyed my pizza there, “The Butcher”, an another name we can called it, meatlover. I had a fantastic time, hanging out with you and our friends there and I’m looking forward to make it to my third upcoming “SaugaTweetup” if ROb and Christian are having it again in the near future! Peace!
Alan, thanks for checking it out 🙂 Yeah, the ingredients of The Butcher were AWESOME when I read the list 🙂
Hopefully catch you at the next one!
SaugaTweetup is the one event out of all of them that I will ALWAYS recommend people attend. I’ve attended every one of them. It was my first Tweetup in December 2010 and I’ll support it every time until Roberto & Chris finally hang it up.
Not much gets me out to the west side aside from family, so it’s definitely a testament to how awesome it is that I clear my schedule for it 🙂
I hope the next one is out before I have to bring a mandatory +1 or +2 to come 😛