Our annual conference right around the corner! If you plan to live tweet, be sure and check out these great tips from Jeff Hurt’s Ten Tips For Successful Conference Tweeting:
1. Use the conference hashtag — #ASHAcon12.
It seems obvious but often overlooked. Make sure that every conference tweet you share has contains the conference hashtag. Use a program like Tweetchat which automatically includes the conference hashtag so you don’t have to retype it each time.
2. Announce that you’re tweeting from a conference.
Give some context to your followers so that they are aware you are live-tweeting from a conference. Invite your followers to use Proxlet, TwitBlocker or Twalala to temporarily remove your tweets from their timeline if the conference chatter is too much for them.
3. List the name and topic of the session.
Not only should you announce you are tweeting from a conference, you should also list the name and topic of the presentation or session in one of your first tweets. Context is critical so that your followers have a better understanding of the situation.
4. Give proper attribution.
When tweeting quotes from speakers, try to include their Twitter username. This helps the reader know who is making the statements. It also gets you out of trouble if the quote is controversial. Then you don’t have to defend what the speaker says.
5. Boil statements down to the main point.
Paraphrasing the speaker’s main points takes skill and practice. Rephrase the main ideas into short, succinct bite-size chunks. Not only does this help with your personal retention, it also helps the reader comprehend the meat of the matter.
6. Share information that both you and your followers would find interesting.
Imagine being the eyes and ears for your followers as you tweet. Share compelling information that they would enjoy knowing. You may be the only source of content from the conference for some of your followers.
7. Add links to speaker resources.
Capture resources and references that the speaker gives. Do a quick search and provide the shortened link in your tweets. This is extremely useful for attendees and followers.
8. Share a photo or two.
Give your followers a sense of the onsite environment and crowd. Take a picture or two and share in your tweets.
9. Ask your followers if anyone has questions for the speaker.
Give your followers the opportunity to participate in the experience.
10. Announce when the speaker or session has ended.
Just like a good story, your conference tweeting should have a beginning, middle and end. Each time you start tweeting from a session, start with the announcement, fill with good content and state when it’s ended.
The Pulse 
Posted on September 24, 2012
0