Posted 9:09 a.m. Thurs., June 11 - The word is Tweetup.

n. A real-world meeting of people who follow each other through the microblogging service Twitter.

Language of origin: Very modern English.

Used in a sentence: This Friday starting at 5:30 p.m., arts enthusiasts will gather at the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission , 6128 Delmar Blvd., for a Tweetup.

The event, officially called artRAC Tweetup, celebrates a public art dedication as well as the opening of an exhibition, “Time Well Spent,” which chronicles collaboration among a selection of established and budding artists.

While this is the Regional Arts Commission’s first Tweetup, these gatherings have been happening with some regularity at venues elsewhere. Thus, there are already some rules of engagement. Tweetups can be organized or spur-of-the-moment gatherings. The Regional Arts Commission has been promoting this free event – also sponsored by River City Professionals and KWMU -- on its Twitter page and on the new collaborative Arts Tweets St. Louis page.

Diane Kline, the arts commission’s director of marketing, said she expects people who follow various arts groups on Twitter to make an appearance Friday. The social networking site is also factoring into the event – participants are being asked to tweet their answers to a question related to several of the works of art. The idea is to get a discussion going based on some of those audience responses.

And, of course, there’s an after party. It’s on the roof of the Moonrise Hotel.

Check back Monday for a report on the event.