Jeff Pulver is beyond a mere Twitter enthusiast; he's a Twitter evangelist preaching the good word of the social networking/micro blogging site with such sincerity it's hard not to want to ... well, follow him.

When he tweets, people listen, and then tweet back. Friendships and alliances are instantly born. Perhaps that's why Pulver believes that at the heart of Twitter -- and of his own 140 Character Conferences -- there are two very non-technological ideas: serendipity and humanity.

Long before Twitter, the 40-something Pulver was well known by those in the telecommunications business as a pioneer in the VoIP (Internet calling) industry; he was a founder of Vonage. He's also a multifaceted entrepreneur with passions that include online video, music production and now social media.

Standing on the Kodak Theatre stage this past Tuesday during the first Los Angeles 140 Character Conference, Pulver is earnest when he says Twitter -- a social media phenomenon with a cutesy name and an even cutesier blue bird icon -- can bring together common knowledge and effect real change.

He absolutely believes it, and so do the 140 speakers -- marketing execs, C-level celebrities, TV show hosts, comedians, porn stars, book publishers, software engineers, "Dr. Wave" from Google, police chiefs, social media managers, print and online newspaper folk, a 73-year-old linens and textiles company from Oklahoma -- that spent two days proselytizing about the power of Twitter.

And by the end of the 64 sessions -- that each lasted a wonderfully brief 10 to 20 minutes -- I was a believer too.

The conference wasn't entirely about jumping on the latest social media bandwagon to sell your brand or garner more readers. It was more about -- as speaker after speaker would say -- being human and engaging with other human beings.

In today's world of text messaging and cross-platform status updates and live streams, we aren't just more wired (or wireless, as the case may be); we're also more connected. So to reach your audience, whether it's newspaper readers, Kogi BBQ lovers, "Access Hollywood" watchers, concerned citizens or stay-at-home moms, you can't use Twitter as a one-way street, as a megaphone.

"Twitter is about conversation and dialogue, especially for your tribe," Jeffrey Pollack, commissioner of the World Series of Poker, said in one of the most impassioned talks of the conference.

What people who are successful with Twitter have found is that the public doesn't want to, nor will, follow a brand without a personality. They won't connect with shameless self-promoters, boring re-tweeters or someone that never responds.

 "Small talk is big again," said Stowe Boyd, a longtime "social tools" analysis.
 
But so is saying something with substance. In other words, make every tweet count.

Here are a few tweets of wisdom from the #140conf:

• TressieLong: "Beauty of this medium is that its about people " @davewiner

• heidimiller: "The idea that there *was* a golden age when we always got it [journalism] right is a myth"- @ariannahuff

• sagnewmedia: When we overtook CNN on Twitter, we realized the voice of an individual can be as big and as loud as a huge corp. - @sarah_ross

• Jason_Pollock: "Media change is coming and we haven't seen the revolution yet." ~@sarah_ross rt @markfriedlander

• ajleon: "http://twitpic.com/n6lga - Even though we are @ the Kodak Theatr, this is definitely still a geek event

• shellykramer: Twitter is a 360 opportunity. It is wit, depth, etc., and you get the most responses when you share real information via @billybush

• heidimiller: Tweets live forever, and everyone can see them. This implies abandoning your claim to your content. legal panel #140conf

• ReneeAtShens: Publishers take note: indie musician says, What the hell can a major label do for me that I can't do myself?

• Angeleenie: twitter is about truth-telling and self-correction @jeffreypollack

• tanyaahedo: "connections will be more important than ranks" - @stoweboyd (via @hensel)

Jeff Pulver (left) interviews actor Kevin Pollak (Kim Nowacki)

And while right now Twitter is the easiest representation of the real-time Web, that doesn't mean it will be in 10 years, said software developer Dave Winer.

Like AOL was for surfing the Internet, "Twitter is the training wheels for the real-time Web," noted Winer.

What is certain, though, is this is a time of "systemic change," said Pulver, "and we're not going back."