I’m attending a few conferences in the upcoming weeks – the ASTD International Conference and the SHRM Annual Conference. I’m very excited to be attending and, as such, want to share my experiences. But I also want to make sure that I’m sharing the right information the right way.
One of the most common ways to share a conference experience is via Twitter. A couple years ago, I read some really great tweets from the ERE Social Recruiting Summit. Good content along with a little fun. The information was interesting so I decided that I wanted to attend a future summit. Which I did – and the event was awesome. Very reflective of the tweets I read. Good content and good fun.
But I’ve also read conference tweets that weren’t so complementary. In fact, I’ve read some that were downright snarky. Like the one that said, “If you’re not here, you’re a loser.” That doesn’t make me want to attend that event. In fact, the lack of professionalism makes me want to avoid it.
Then there are the people who just aren’t good at live tweeting. For example, the HR pro who wrote social recruiting was created to turn every employee into a talent scout. My first reaction was um, no – I was trying to build the talent scout network he referenced years ago when I was a corporate recruiter. And social media didn’t even exist – in fact, email barely existed. I’m sure I took the remark out of context. And that’s the point…too many things can be taken out of context when they’re only shared via a 140-character tweet.
Months ago, Mark Stelzner at Inflexion Advisors wrote a very popular post about conference tweeting. It’s a good read for people who are planning to live tweet an event. My big takeaway from Mark’s post is about adding value. If an event generates 3,000 tweets but 35% of them are about the chicken salad sandwich in the expo hall…that’s not value. (Unless of course, it’s a food show.)
Value is like my first example with ERE – tweeting about great speakers and conference interactions. I’d like to think speakers would encourage live tweeting during their sessions. This only benefits them and the event. And if they use PowerPoint, they could present information in a way that can be quickly converted to sound bites. This allows anyone who is tweeting to get a good quote. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always happen that way. Many speakers are anti-Twitter. Speakers should assume the people typing on their iPads, laptops and smart phones are helping them get the word out.
Lastly, when live tweeting an event, there must be a way to peacefully co-exist with other attendees. There are still plenty of participants who find live tweeting a distraction to their learning experience. I’m a back-of-the-room kinda girl, so I haven’t found it to be a major issue. But I have heard from colleagues that they’ve received plenty of funny looks when they start to tweet during a presentation.
So at this point, I’m a little confused about Twitter and conferences. I enjoy tweeting at events and have seen the plus side…but a downside is starting to emerge for all the reasons I mentioned. What do you guys think? Is Twitter still a good medium to share a conference experience? Or should people just write about it on blogs? Or maybe there’s another way?
Leave a note in the comments: What’s the best way to share a conference experience?
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Robert Smith says
I attended the Maine HR Convention last week, iPad in hand, and with designated #MEHRC2011 hashtag. I, along with several others, live tweeted the event. Sound bites from the presenters, sound bytes from their material, and personal reflections as well. All with minimal feedback, so unsure IF the time invested added value to the experience.
Twitter remains an elusive channel to much of the main stream. Until it bcomes mainstreamed acceptable, we are talking to ourselves and yelling into the fog.
Mike Sipple Jr. says
My most recent experience with a ‘live twitter feed’ during an event was at the Chick Fil-A Leadercast (#cincyleadercast and #cfaleadercast). Although, I did have a few people at my table ask me, ‘how are you keeping up?’ I learned more and took better notes than ever before. Also, I received hundreds of new followers who were either attending the event – it was spread across 600 sites across the US and Globe. Now, I am connected with other leaders that before that day I did not know. These ‘connections’ are other leaders who have a passion for learning, growing and leading! What better way to meet new connections than by identify leaders who value what you value?
By taking notes and live tweeting the entire day full of some the worlds best speakers – I learned and others learned with me; @CFALeadercast, @DaveRamsey, @JohnCMaxwell Erin Gruwell – @FreedomWriters, @SuzyWelch, @SirKenRobinson, Seth Godin – @ThissIsSethsBlog@JeremieKubicek, Frans Johansson – @medicieffect, @dancathy, Alison Levine – @Levine_Alison
I also noted that each speaker referenced twitter and tweeting more than once…it is becoming a part of our culture. Fortunately or unfortunately managing your smart phones, iPads, laptops, tweets, facebook status updates, LinkedIn updates, while at an event you paid hundreds or thousands for, is just a part of living in a connected world with live/instant communications!
I enjoy following my close friends who attend recruiting, leadership and industry specific events through twitter feeds and appreciate having the ability to live through their tweets. Some events I even feel as though I am there and learning enough from the tweet streams that I can jump in and participate.
I say TWEET ON and make sure to provide those who follow you the #hashtags for us to follow along!
(Oh and tune in next May 4th 2012 for the @CFALeadercast #CFALeadercast #CincyLeadercast)
Sharlyn Lauby says
@Robert – Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Your point about feedback is a good one. As someone who reads conference hashtags, I always think the attendees don’t have time to engage. They are just reporting the goings on. I wonder if conference attendees started getting feedback if it would be a distraction to the overall conference experience.
@Mike – Thanks for the comment. I’ve also seen where sometimes the benefit is less with the people who aren’t at the conference, but with the people who are there. There’s a bond amongst live tweeters. LOL!