woman using twitter at conference

It was only a few years ago that people started using Twitter at conferences. Users connect, share what they are learning, and give feedback to conference organizers. Elizabeth Glau provides some insight into the way Twitter is used at conferences.

How I Started With Twitter

At the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) World Education Congress (WEC) in July 2009, we provided our Twitter name on the registration form. I had been reluctant to join Twitter up until that point. When I saw that on the registration form, I signed up for Twitter, then signed up for WEC. I didn’t want to miss out on any of the education at the event. They did a great job of providing one-on-one training. I started to get the hang of it and am very glad that I was given a good foundation on how to use Twitter to network and learn about topics important to my professional development. If your audience is multi-generational, consider providing this type of education to your attendees so they don’t get left behind.

The Benefits

On Twitter, I have connected to and become better acquainted with many people who live in different parts of the world. I found a few Twitter mentors whom I could emulate. And, I quickly found people who were tweeting interesting and educational things. In the beginning, I mostly re-tweeted things I liked sent out by people I was following. Then, I learned how to use a hashtag to see tweets from other event professionals (i.e. #eventprofs or #mpi).

Most Twitter users have their blog, website, or LinkedIn profile listed on their Twitter profile so that you can learn more about them. You can follow big brands and celebrities, but they won’t follow you back, and you will quickly lose interest. If you follow real people who are tweeting good content and engaging with others on Twitter, you will have a much better experience. If you want more people to follow you, write something interesting in the bio section of your Twitter profile.

After a Year

By the time WEC 2010 came around, I had a year of Twitter under my belt. I was experienced in how to use Twitter at conferences. It takes some practice, but you can get the hang of taking a learning “nugget” from a speaker and quickly turning it into 140 characters. By doing this, you are sharing what you are learning with the people who are following you. At larger conferences, someone will inevitably organize a tweet-up, and everyone that has been tweeting from the conference will then meet in person. This is an excellent way to extend your professional network.

In addition to sharing content presented by the speakers, Twitter is a conference evaluation tool. The attendees will comment on the food, technical difficulties, and maybe even the temperature in the room. If you, as a conference organizer, are monitoring the Twitter feed (i.e. #wec10), there may be issues that you can remedy immediately. Otherwise, you may not get this feedback until after the conference. The feedback you get from your evaluation forms is directly related to the questions you ask. In contrast, Twitter feedback is exactly what your attendees think while thinking it – whether good or bad! Your audience will increasingly expect you to be paying attention to what they are tweeting.

About today’s guest blogger:

Sadly, Elizabeth Glau passed away in July 2021. I am preserving this post to honor her friendship and her contributions to the industry. Note: I periodically update this post to ensure the content remains relevant.


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