I have always had “10 Reasons” for tweeting at conferences, but I added an 11th entry this year because it is important. Enjoy!
I started tweeting at events when I realized that I was spending as much time and effort tweeting out the most relevant points of the session I was in as I spent taking notes – plus, the notes I took were less relevant than my tweets, since I was only tweeting out the best parts! Tweeting at conferences has allowed me and others to share info from sessions we may not have been able to attend. Once I committed to live tweeting conferences, I got a lot of great, positive feedback about it from other attendees. I have had many people come up to me and say
“Hello @kentbrooks”
It has been a great way to meet other conference attendees and more. Here is a summary of my top reasons to Tweet at a conference
Reasons to Tweet at a Conference
- Take Conference Notes … I type faster than I write.
- Archive Conference Notes… The Archive is immediate and public.
- Share Conference Notes… Just point people to your Twitter Feed.
- Build a Personal Learning Network PLN… This goes beyond people you meet at the conference. People not attending the conference will be following the the back channel and you will make connections there as well.
- Meet Fellow Attendees… Whether the conference is small or large, finding a way to connect is the most valuable part of any conference.
- Gain Insight to Some of Your Own Thoughts... After the conference I can go back through thread to review important items.
- Share Resources… Links, images and people to follow all will become part of your social conference experience.
- Allows you to Summarize Important Points…
140280 characters at a time forces conciseness. This helps me evaluate my understanding (or lack there of) of a conference session. - Learn from Sessions held Simultaneously…I can partially remove my frustration at not being able to to attend 3 or 4 conference tracks at a time since I can glean ideas, links and comments from different sessions.
- It helps me Confirm I am in the Right Session…Keeping an eye on the twitter stream allows me to head to a different simultaneous session if the topic in another sessions turns out to be more directly related to my work, if I am unsure of a certain content or if the session just stinks. (This may be rude, but with limited travel $$$ we have to make the most of any conference and glean the very best ideas from sessions we attend).
- It is simply a lot of fun. Conference tweeting should be fun, empowering, and inspiring. It should create opportunities for interaction. It’s all about engagement, community building and enhancing participation in the event.
Amazing, isn’t it…technology humanizing the experience of a live gathering of people.
