Join the Twitter Crowd Before Attending An Event

While you are at that meeting, sitting through a keynote speech or doodling (like I do) on your notepad, I bet if you look around the room, everone is texting on their phone.  And if you investigate further, you will find everyone Tweeting.

You say, what on earth is that?  It is Twitter...the faster growing social networking site today.  You follow me, I'll follow you...you get friends to follow me too...I recommend people to follow you.

There is a LOT of great information on Twitter and reading all the tweets from some of the people in the know (or "celebrities" as they are called on Twitter) will only help you with your internet career.  There area a lot of people who are willing to help if you just ask. 

But if you are going to an event, you can let people follow along with you as you attend the meeting, conference, etc.  If it is an interesting event, you might want to share some ideas or tips you hear.  People love information which is being "tweeted" live. 

Before you go, as early as possible, be sure to get a phone that can text.  I will not recommend any phone over another because there are SO many out there today.  I have heard a lot of people like their Blackberry or their IPhone just for the variety of applications and ease of use.

Once you have your phone, and even from your computer, start making lots of friends but don't go crazy about yourself.  And especially DO NOT advertise your business.  No one wants to know about that when you are first getting to know someone.  You can send people to your blog or website but don't overdo it.  You will get "unfollowed" and see your following drop.

Tweet that you will be attending the event on a regular basis and use search.twitter.com to find anyone else who might be attending.  To increase your chances of getting a follow back, send an @reply to introduce yourself.

Find out if there's a "hashtag", like #tcot that can help you follow tweets about the event.

When you are at the event:

You can use Twitter's mobile site, sending tweets via text and checking them on m.twitter.com so your phone doesn't get overloaded.

Use Twitter as a business card replacement.  Follow other Twitterers by texting "follow user-name to 40404" and stay connected after the event.

Listen in to get instant audience feedback if you are on a panel.

You can connect instantly via direct message (DM) so you can meet up with other Tweeters.  You don't need a mobile number to text personally.

The main thing to remember is to not get overwhelmed by all the tweets that you will see streaming by from all those you follow.  It can be a little daunting and if you click on every tweet you see that looks interesting, you will never get anything done.  It is VERY addicting!

Look for things of interest and click on only those tweets.  Just think of it like being at a party.  You usually don't stand around talking to one person or set of people all evening.  You usually work your way around the room talking a little bit to everyone.  That is the same as Twitter...."work the room" or the message board as it is called.

Tweets are 140-character bites of information streaming by all day long.  When you are at a meeting, conference, etc. just send the interesting items.  Don't Tweet everything...you will lose your readers interest.  Only put something of significance through the message board.

Moderation is the key with Twitter...remember, too much of  a good thing can work against you.