In order to promote progression in Starkville, the Convention and Visitors Bureau and Main Street Association will host a Twitter Town Hall Monday from 8 to 10 p.m.
Haley Montgomery, a marketing consultant for the Starkville Convention & Visitors Bureau who manages the online and social media for the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, said his @mscollegetown Twitter account will moderate the town hall. Participants can join in the discussion using the hashtag #Starkville2012 to discuss how they would like to see the city grow.
“We want it to be a transparent outlet for (people) to share their ideas in a positive way,” she said.
The town hall was conceived after a Twitter conversation on Monday discussed the role of Starkville as a college town and community, Jennifer Gregory, chief operating officer for the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, said.
“It started out in a negative way. We (the SCVB and Main Street Association) decided it was important to hear discussion,” she said. “We want to be viewed as open-minded and progressive … There needed to be an organized way for (discussion) to be done.”
Whit Waide, Mississippi State University political science instructor, and Jeremiah Dumas, a member of the Starkville Board of Alderman, will participate in the discussion and answer questions.
Although Gregory said she wants participants to share their opinions, she said they should also seek to learn from the event.
“We hope people will be open-minded and come to learn as well,” she said.
Montgomery said she hopes students will participate in the discussion.
“We feel students are an audience that’s underheard,” she said. “Progress is going to happen (and we want to) meet the needs of residents, alumni and students. This is the base of the Bulldog Nation.”
Gregory said although contributors can participate via Twitter and other platforms that use Twitter, she encourages them to use Tweetchat.com. By logging into the website with his or hers Twitter information, the user can search #Starkville2012 and see all the tweets that carry the hashtag. This will streamline the discussion like a real-time chat room.
Although the SCVB will be monitoring the discussion, Gregory said they will only block inappropriate comments. She said she is expecting some negative comments but hopes contributors will remain open-minded.
Some of the topics from the original discussion included city ordinances, such as the helmet ordinance, and city development. Gregory said people need to understand the reasons behind the ordinances and how Starkville is growing.
“New students don’t realize how far downtown and Starkville have come,” she said. “There’s not a single vacant store front on Main Street right now. It hasn’t been that way in years. That’s progress.”
She said changes will come to Starkville although they may be small.
“It’s going to be small steps,” she said. “To me, that’s what it’s going to take. We are a small town. It is unlikely we will have a Target or Whole Foods in the next few years.”
However, Gregory said the small-town atmosphere is part of Starkville’s charm.
“That’s the beauty of a college town,” she said. “There are great local shops and great local restaurants.”
She said events like Bulldog Bash, which are free and outdoors, would be hard to have with a large population.
Montgomery said change is going to happen in Starkville and strong sales tax numbers show businesses are thriving. She said students are a large part of the city and their opinion matters.
“They are coming into the community with fresher eyes,” she said. 
Gregory said she hopes the town hall will engage many college students and community members.
“It’s a really cool concept,” she said. “If it goes well, we hope to do it periodically to hear what people are saying.”
Editor’s note: Editor in Chief Hannah Rogers will be participating in the Twitter Town Hall.