Tweeting from events like #RCN15


Monday 15th June 2015 by @AgencyNurse

#RCN15


With many health care professionals using twitter to connect, learn and share We thought it about time we created a guide to tweeting from events, with #RCN15 coming up and lots of nurses attending this seemed like a great time to do it!
 
We've broken the main aspects of event tweeting to 5 essential building blocks, in a nice a simple way, to help you build the foundations for some great event tweeting and each day in the run up to #RCN15 we will be expanding on each building block, to help create some nice bite sized bits of info to help you get to grips with live tweeting: 

You can download this as a PDF to share here if you like.



1. Be prepared



Like most things in life a little preparation can go a long way, tweeting from a conference is no different!

Whether you intend to take to take twitter for the conference for personal learning and connections, or to share your view with your followers, preparation is key, quite simple and not a lot of hard work! 

Preparation falls into two categories, either way steps 1&2 are key:

Category 1 – getting info to hand

Step 1 – Make sure you know the # for the event, hopefully it will be blazoned all over any organisers publicity or have a look through the organisers tweets for it.

Step 2 – Make sure you have sourced the speakers twitter names of the sessions you are interested in, maybe add them to a note on your phone or tablet with the session details so they are to hand. This is vital as you don’t want to have to concentrate on finding them during a session, when you would like to share info quickly, then get listening again. 

Category 2 – Tweeting in advance of the event

Step 3 – Don’t wait till you get to the event to start tweeting speakers; Engage with speakers and tell them you are coming and looking forward to their content and tell them why you are interested in their session, this may even help them deliver a session based on wider interests and feedback (Especially helping if they’ve not completely finished their presentation yet!). 

Step 4 – Get following! Set up a stream of the event # well in advance on your tweeting device, connect and tweet with those of like-minded and differing views in advance, ask if they are attending the event and maybe arrange a tweetmeet with them using the event to make new connections beyond twitter (that’s allowed you know).

Step 5 – Work out the best way to preserve battery life on your tweeting device, you may need it! Some tips here are dimming the screen, switching off Bluetooth, close all the apps that are running that you don’t need, put auto lock on to the shortest time out too and tweet others for tips via the # on the day or prior sharing your device model etc.

Step 6 – Make sure you pack your device charger!

Step 7 - Make sure you pack your device charger!


2. Be Calm


You are in a great session, a great slide is presented, the presenter provides some great comments that everybody should hear, Brilliant...

You take a picture of the slide, you squeeze your comment into 140 characters, you get the # in and then bang - somebody has already tweeted it!

#sadface they beat you to it :(

BUT - Be calm! - Send your tweet!!!!

Whilst there may be some duplication in the # stream don't worry, your followers may be following you but not the # so your tweet will add value to them.

It's also unlikely that your motive for sharing is exactly the same as others, evidenced by your accompanying comment, seeing peoples differing views and ideas around session content helps stimulate discussion.

If you don't send your tweet how will the presenter know their session was valuable to you? How will they respond? How will they follow?

Reviewing tweets you've sent through the day will also help you create a list of follow up research or CPD, so if you don't send the tweet you'll lose this handy use of your own tweets!

Being prepared will help cut down on scrabbling for presenters twitter names and keep you calm when you're keen to share.

Conference tweeting isn't a race, popularity competition or something to worry a lot about, so be calm and don't get stressed!

(Why not tweet and follow the person that shared a similar tweet to you, it's good to make contacts with those passionate enough to share similar content.)


3. Be a Reporter



"Be a Reporter" what does that mean? Many people are quite happy tweeting about their day, their experiences, their interests, some questions and engaging with each other, but tweeting from a conference may be new to you.

Whilst tweeting from a conference is no different in terms of how you tweet (remembering the #), you may find a need for a different way of tweeting. 

There are lot's of things to tweet about from a conference, an obvious place to start is of course with the session content by quoting speakers (Remember building block 1  and "Be Prepared" and add their twitter names), as well as  doing your best to share a slide or something from a hand out too; but there's more...

When you aren't at an event it is sometimes really useful to get a feeling of the atmosphere there, how energised are the audience by the speakers comments, what emotions are being shared by those around you? What questions are asked by the audience? How good was the session, this might help me see if I can try and listen to the session later if possible, or see when the speaker is speaking again.

A reporter will try and share both sides of a story, put things into context and find a balance between personable and factual content regurgitation, all helping us get value from your tweets and not missing out too much on not attending.

We'll be talking about how to "Be Engaging" later on, but why not share some content and seek feedback at the same time slipping "do you agree" into the shared content?

And remember to "Be Calm", don't be in hurry to send your tweet, sharing the wrong facts or ambiguous tweets isn't great, proof reading your tweets is key, especially when you are tweeting frantically and passionately!

Of course always try to thank the presenter for their session, that's just polite.
  

 
4. Be Visual


We all know the saying “a picture paints and thousand words” and we all know you will do well to fit 20 words in a tweet, especially if you are quoting a speaker and adding a hashtag too!

Sending pictures in tweets not only makes looking at a hashtag stream much more interesting but it will also draw the eye to your tweet too, that sounds like a win-win doesn’t it.

You will most likely be meeting people at events like #RCN15 that you “know from twitter” a celebratory selfie is most certainly the done thing, as well of course is the sharing of session content too! Sharing pictures from events is a great way to stimulate both those there and not there in conversation; we’ll be coving that in the next and final building block.

Some might expect a precautionary word about picture sharing by nurses on twitter, but we know that you are all fully aware of your governing bodies social media guidelines, and we know you are all digital professionals and We know you know the We view on this “nurse/doctor/physio/etc offline = nurse/doctor/physio/etc online”, so there’s no need to mention it is there!

So get snapping and Be Visual, get sharing and bring the event to life for those not there and create a visual record of the event via the hashtag to tempt those considering going to the next one! 

5 - Be Engaging



 

Be Engaging…I thought I had to Be a Reporter? Now I’m confused!

What if you could do both?

Twitter is a great place to share content, like a reporter, but it is in even better place to have conversations with people about likeminded passions and topics; being engaging will help this. There’s a subtle but significant difference between tweeting:

 “A @speaker said this this amazing fact 'quote' #RCN15” 

And

 “A @speaker said this amazing fact 'quote', what do you think?#” or “…, do you agree?#” or “…, would that work for you?#”

What we are looking to achieve here is starting a conversation, bringing the audience in to the event with you. Other ways might be to ask your followers “How important is 'quote' to you? @Speaker says it’s key #RCN15”

Not only will your followers get more out of you tweeting from the event, you may find new followers from the # engaging and following you. 

Getting value from the mass of information on offer at events can be tricky, you may find you are helped to reflect and plan actions from the sessions much faster having had a few tweets to share and cement your views, rather than simply quoting tweets out. 

Of course you don’t want to spend all your sessions tweeting about the first comment or slide you shared (you'll miss the rest of the session), so maybe respond to your tweets in a quiet period throughout the day, those answering your tweets will be delighted to have the conversation with you, even if it is a later on in the day we are sure.

So, to be a diamond conference tweeter Be Engaging (see what we did there!).


Now that #RCN15 is underway we've shared the montage wall for all of you Being Visual below!





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@ross_6479_RNLD
24 September 2015 21:58
It's fantastic to see tweets coming from conferences, as a student I am not always able to attend conferences where workload or timetable don't allow, but as an inquisitive learner I am keen to be up to speed on the content and discussions. It is vital in our profession to be up to date with the latest information/research, in fact it is a part of our code of conduct, this is yet another way that Twitter and SoMe can support us in our ever developing profession. Additionally, I love the montage walls , they help bring the conference to life. Thanks for this.

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