Another Tosa Resident Tweets His Way to the White House

Wauwatosa clearly has some talented Twitterers.

Once again, a Tosa resident has received and accepted an invitation to the White House for a Tweetup.

Malcolm McDowell Woods said Friday he and his wife, Becky Spice, would fly to Washington on Tuesday for the Wednesday morning event.

The occasion is the reception honoring the state visit of British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, Samantha. Of course, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be the official greeters.

"I'm a native of the U.K., so I'm very excited at the invitation," Woods said. "I grew up in Northern Ireland — I was born in Scotland — and came to America as an older child, first to Canada and then the United States.

"I became a citizen four years ago, so I'm relatively new to citizenship."

Wauwatosa Patch will live stream tweets and photos from Malcolm McDowell Woods and Becky Spice on Wednesday morning from the White House.

Woods lives on Church Street with his wife and three children. He was formerly a reporter, editor and managing editor with Community Newspapers Inc. but for the last 17 years has worked for , where he is now the cooperative's new media editor.

Woods also teaches as an adjunct instructor in journalism and communications at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and he said his students and the faculty were very enthusiastic about learning from his trip. He has already been asked to speak to a couple of classes about it.

"Everybody is trying to figure out where media is going, and social media is a big part of that," he said. "The White House has been very good at that, so I hope to learn from it."

Following the reception on the White House lawn at 9:30 a.m. (EDT), guests will adjourn to the Executive Office Building to meet with White House communications officials, Woods said.

The couple plan to pack as much into their short trip as possible. Woods said that his wife would be the photographer for the journey.

"We'll be having lunch at the National Press Club — a distant cousin who lives in D.C. is on the board of directors there," Woods said. "As a journalist ... I'm almost as excited about that as the White House."

On Tuesday afternoon, they will be meeting with Sen. Herb Kohl's staff for a Capitol tour.

In July, was one of 140 people in the nation invited to and attended the first White House Tweetup, and just a couple months later was invited to second as well.

Vermeulen was unable to attend the second event, a reception for the president of Mexico, but she said at the time that the White House had cast a broader net, accepting several hundred applications.

Woods, though, said it was his impression that for Cameron's visit only about 80 or fewer guests were being accepted, making it all the more exclusive — and for him, surprising.

"I was lucky, I guess," he said. "I was very eager to go because it was the prime minister.

"So I wrote up my 140-word essay, and maybe my background of years in journalism paid off."

Wauwatosa Patch will live-stream Woods' tweets from the event Wednesday morning, seasoned with Spice's photos.

Those who wish to follow the leadup to the event on Twitter may do so at #WHTweetup.