Guide to using Twitter at an event #6StepsEvents @Venues2Events
Social Media Producer yvonneadele.com
Twitter Cheat Sheet Leading up to, during and after our event, people will be tweeting about it. They will be creating up to 140 character comments on Twitter and identifying them specifically as tweets related to our event: ‘6 Steps to Successful Business Events’ by adding these characters into their tweet: #6StepsEvents. This is known as the hashtag:
A hashtag is simply a short word preceded by a hash (#), which helps someone search for a group of related tweets. When you include a hashtag in your Tweet, Twitter automatically turns it into a link. Anyone can then click that hyperlink to see a list of all the tweets by ANYONE who has used that hashtag. Cool, huh? These comments could be promoting the event coming up, logistics information such as parking, highlights from a speaker’s presentation, comments, links to further information about the current speaker or even conversations with other delegates or even Twitter users who are not at the event. This real-‐time, dynamic conversation is referred to as the ‘backchannel’. When you join in, either by simply watching along or interacting yourself, the backchannel becomes a vital communication HUB.
Join in:
Even if you don’t want to actually tweet or sign up for Twitter, you can keep an eye on the conversation about the event:
• Go to www.twitter.com/search • Search for #6StepsEvents (not case sensitive)
• At the top of the search results, make sure you click ‘All’ to see all the tweets:
OR – continue reading if you’re keen to sign up to Twitter and use it for the first time: You can take this opportunity to join up to Twitter and join into the conversation. Instructions below. Either way –Yvonne Adele will be ready and able to answer any questions you may have about using Twitter at the event.
Get prepared and have a practice before the event: With your laptop, iPhone, smartphone or iPad: Sign up or login from www.twitter.com or you can download PC, Mac, Blackberry or iPhone apps from your App Stores. Sign up instructions to follow…
Twitter :: How to do it. 1. Getting Started • Go to www.twitter.com, sign up for free. • Create your profile page by filling in the form (personal, business, community -‐ whatever you decide) If you are asked to type some random words, follow the instructions. This is just to ensure you are a real person, not a computer creating a spam account.
Follow the instructions on screen, reading each step and clicking Next when ready.
• Wherever you see it, click ‘skip this step’ under the NEXT box.. you can come back and fill any of these bits in later. • It is a good time to go to your email account and click the confirmation email from Twitter… then move to the next step. • If you know someone who is on Twitter, you can search for them here. The Venues2Events Twitter ID is Venues2Events. If you can’t find it, go to http://www.twitter.com/Venues2Events and click ‘follow’ from there. Our speakers are: Yvonne_Adele, TobyTravanner, DavidStaughton.
2. Customising your Profile • At this stage, if you’ve skipped all the previous steps, you’re following no-‐one and no-‐ one is following you. But this is not for long! • Click ‘Settings’ along the top. • In the Account settings, change your time zone. • In the Notifications settings, change your email settings to suit your preferences. It is unlikely you’ll want a new email every single time you receive a new follower, but you may like to be notified by email whenever you receive a direct (private) message.
• In the Profile settings, add a photo of yourself. It is well known that profiles with personal photos are much more widely followed than those with logos. • In the Design settings, choose an existing template or select your own background from your files by clicking ‘Change background image’. DONE! Now to find some interesting tweeps (twitter people) to follow!
@Venues2Events is a good head start!
3. Finding people to follow •
Do a search for people or topics you'd like to connect with. http://www.twitter.com/search
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Be sure to choose ‘tweets’ or ‘people’ depending on what you’re searching for.
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When you find a conversation that of interest to you, click the name of the Twitter ID next to the photo.
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That takes you to their Twitter page, where you can click the Follow button to follow them.
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Click the home icon at the top of the screen to see a list of the tweets created by the people you’re following.
4. Tweeting
• Once you're following a few people, post a few comments and you'll find people will start following you. • In the box ‘compose new tweet’ , think of answering this imaginary question: What is holding your attention right now that could be of interest to someone else? You could be reading a great book, blog post, online article, listening to a useful podcast or perhaps you’ve discovered a little known shortcut on the iPhone. Tweet it : add your comment to the ‘what’s happening’ box in 140 characters or less.
For the conference, you’ll be tweeting the highlights but don’t forget to add #6StepsEvents somewhere in your tweet. This will make sure your tweet comes up in the group of #6StepsEvents tweets when someone searches for them. Eg: Great tips from @DavidStaughton on adding value to sponsorship deals #6StepsEvents Eg: MC @TobyTravanner keeping the energy up between speakers at #6StepsEvents Eg: Loving the venue for #6StepsEvents: Melb Convention & Exhibition Centre (@mcec) To reply to someone specifically either use the Reply icon or type an @ symbol directly before their Twitter name. eg: Hi @yvonne_adele-‐ That tip on event tweeting was just what the doctor ordered. Thanks!
• To reply to someone privately, type the letter D (for direct) then a space, then the Twitter name. Eg: d yvonne_adele Can we have a breakfast meeting before the conference? (your followers will not see the reply. The person will only receive your direct message if they are following you)
Nb: Tweeting is not like sending an SMS. Your tweets are viewable by the public (unless you choose to ‘protect’ your account which is not common practice). Be aware of personal security and don’t tweet anything you wouldn’t put on the front page of your website.
Hot Tip: During the Venues2Events event, you can ask a question for any speaker or message the MC by simply tweeting your question and using #6StepsEvents in your tweet. Our MC Toby Travanner will be keeping an eye on those tweets for the duration.
Hot Tip: Once you’ve got the hang of twitter.com, graduate by downloading TweetDeck from www.tweetdeck.com. For your computer AND your mobile device. Look for an online tutorial at YouTube. It is MUCH easier to manage your followers into groups and keep ongoing searches in columns.