We’ve all been to conferences and come home with the bag of goodies that were given out. I admit, I’ve gotten those bags, carried them around for the entire conference, and seldom done with it what I should have done. However, recently I’ve taken some habits away from conferences and trips like the National Main Streets Conference in Oklahoma City, OK.
We’ve created a list of people who are tweeting around the #MSCONF hashtag. If you don’t know what a hashtag is, it’s simply a way to connect on twitter around a specific topic. Twitter as a community will have hundreds of people tweeting, sometimes in the same room. The way they are all aggregated is via a hashtag. If you watch a hashtag, you’ll hear brief snippets of what people are saying about speakers, topics, meal plans and more. It’s a great way to find the cream of the crop, technically speaking, at conferences like this. Last year’s conference had a handful of folks tweeting along the hashtag #MAINST09. We just made it up, since no one seemed to be doing it in an official way. This year, many, many more people are already using the social media tools out there, and it’s been great to see people who are leading the way. We created a short list of those people, and hope you enjoy following them. We don’t endorse any of them, but just are noting that they are tweeting from the conference this year.
Here are some more tips I’ve learned over past conferences:
1. Friend or Follow. I have SMS enabled on my cell phone, and I often ask people I meet what their Twitter username is. I simply text “FOLLOW JOESMITH” to Twitter 40404, and I’ve instantly added them to my virtual rolodex on Twitter. This also gives me instant SMS updates on my phone when they tweet. It’s very handy to be able to quickly connect in a way that is harder to lose than a business card, and you’ll be reminded that you followed them when they tweet. You’ll get a text message each time. In many cases, the several messages a day are a good way to keep up with a new contact that I’ve met, and a nice reminder each time they tweet.
Facebook allows us to do the same thing, from smart phones, you can go to the url with the username of someone you’ve met. I use this to add them, on the spot, so I don’t have to keep up with a business card. Adding them allows me to message them, and see other contact information that my new friend may have shared.
2. Following up. The great part of these techniques is that you’ll almost always be reminded of the person, and what they do just via the social media connections. I’ve done it hundreds of times, and it’s a great way to keep in touch with people, even without carrying around a huge bag of names and numbers.
3. Organize. After an event, you might want to go back in to facebook, or twitter and make a list of the people that you met or connected with at the conference. This allows you to keep up with them in bulk, and also (if need be) communicate with them in bulk. A private twitter list, or facebook list, is a great way to do this. It will also help you remember where you met them.
I’m not against business cards, and I always keep a stack of them with me. But usually they tend to get handed out with an invitation to connect on social media. Mine have the links for connecting electronically, as well.
If you want to get the most out of a conference like the National Main Streets Conference (SAME LINK HERE PLEASE LAURA) have a plan, and keep up with folks. Use these handy tools, and you’ll be glad you did.
