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Do You Twitter at Conferences? Why I Don't …

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I Can’t Be There and Be Here Too

Some folks, when they travel, keep track of the timezone they left. They’ll tell you what time it is at home and then talk about how tired they are. I find what works for me is to be in the timezone I’m and to leave the other timezone behind totally. Jet lag is much less when I let my mind adjust to the time I’m in.

I get more from the experience if I live in the moment.

I’ve found I can’t be two places at once efficiently.

In the last two weeks I’ve been to three conferences and I’ve realized that the same is true about trying to twitter my experiences as I listen and interact. Each time I look down to type what was just said, I miss the next moment that is happening. I miss being where I am.

And what I send back to Twitter is only a glimpse out of context.

I admire the folks who can Twitter events and feel that they’ve attended them. I can’t.

Do you Twitter at conferences?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your web presence.

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Comments

  1. Good for you for staying in the moment. I appreciate multitasking and being productive, but actually believe doing too much at once is counterproductive. And rude! Presenters (hopefully) put a lot of thought into what they’re doing; if you’re trying to transmit simultaneously, you’re missing some of it. I’m a reporter; I take notes, but I don’t have to think about them until afterwards when, as you note, I can write them with the context added. And by the way, I hate it when I’m at lunch with someone and they insist on tweeting, checking email, etc. on their phone. If you don’t want to be with me, then don’t. Same for at conferences, etc. If you don’t want to fully participate in the event, then don’t.

    Reply

    • Hi Kay,
      I’m finding that many folks feel as you do. More and more people have said they don’t like to try to tweet and listen, that they feel they’re missing something.

      I only check my phone when people leave me out of the conversation. heh heh

      Reply

  2. I use Twitter at conferences a bit, but it’s usually it’s when trying to coordinate schedules with people. When I’m talking with people, meeting with vendors, or trying to absorb information, you won’t see as many tweets from me. As you noted, if one is focused on tweeting, they’re not focused on the people around them.

    Reply

    • Hi Aaron,
      Twitter is great for finding folks and passing on the occasional profound statement. As someone said at BlogWorld, “If I tweet for them, I’m not getting what I might and I paid to be here. “

      Reply

  3. Hi Liz – I have not twittered from conferences for the reasons you cite. But I have been wondering if I am missing something (or some capability I should be developing). So this past weekend I tweeted from a Brad Paisley concert as an experiment. It definitely took me away from the moment rather than enhanced it. I enjoy things far more when I totally immerse myself where I am.

    One of the entertainers chided a few people in the front row for being on their phones. In that moment I thought about how it might feel to be speaking out to a room full of people with their heads down typing away. Showing up does not equate to giving someone the gift of your listening. I prefer to listen.

    Reply

    • Hi Susan,
      I don’t mind people tweeting when I’m speaking. In some ways that’s great promotion and extends what I’m saying. On the other hand, when folks are present and asking questions, an in-person conversation happens that is so much more than just presentation.

      Reply

  4. Liz, you are doing this the way that works best for you and incidentally for your brain as well. The brain focuses well on only one thing at a time. That’s why it’s impossible to Twitter and drive.

    I learned to touch type at a very young age, but find that though I can pay attention since the typing is on auto-pilot, it’s still hard to keep up so I only type the memorable points I may want to revisit. I do keep my head with the speaker as I do this.

    I did notice that some folks type at lightning speed – Brayden Kelly of Innovate, for instance can pull this off.

    My sense is that we have to work in the moment to meet the targets we have for being at the conference. We will only be present at that particular conference once and like you, I want to be there in the moment. 😉

    Reply

    • Hi Robyn,
      For me, conferences provide connections and fodder for new ideas. Every bit and nuance is important. I want to experience it all. I hardly can do a phone call … it’s exhausting but fruitful. Sometimes I wish I could just take notes. heh heh

      Reply

  5. I’ve done this in the past, but I typically don’t broadcast solely for the benefit of others. I just take notes using twitter that “happen” to be broadcast to the world. So in part I agree with your post, however if your posts are geared towards personal reflection, then I see this being no different then typing notes into a word doc. It just so happens that in the case of twitter, you are sharing them real time with the twitter community.

    Reply

    • Hi Alex!
      I hear what you’re saying and understand how it works for you. For me, often if I type it, I lose what happens while I’m typing. I disagree only about the Word.doc in that the document will be there a lot longer than the tweets will. But I don’t Word.doc either for the most part.

      Reply

  6. Hey Liz,

    You are so right on with this. When I was at BlissDom, I was overwhelmed with all that was going on around me — there was no way I could tweet too. But I saw some people who could tweet and share good things. I don’t know that they felt fully there or not, but I couldn’t. I probably would have passed out!

    Oh, and I don’t know that I could give a presentation to a bunch of heads staring at a computer screen like at these conferences. Who knows if they are actually paying attention to what you’re sharing or farming on Facebook? Maybe it shouldn’t matter, but questions and interaction from the audience would support the speaker better I think.

    Lisa B.

    Reply

    • Hi Lisa,
      I’ve talked to enough r”tweeting” rooms that it’s almost weird if everyone is looking up at me now. heh heh

      I realize that different people engage in different ways. For some people it’s not real until they capture it, tweeting is one way to do that. For me, I need to experience things to make them my own.

      Reply

  7. I don’t multitask very well. In fact I have a hard time twittering when I’m at home. When I’m listening to a lecture, I like to put my full attention on the speaker.

    And yes, I also find that forgetting about the last timezone makes my travels much more easy. 🙂

    Reply

    • Hi Todd,
      Truth is multitasking is a myth. We just do things very quickly in serial. I’m like you, though, I don’t like to split my attention whatever we call it. 🙂

      Reply

  10. liz,
    It is hard for me to efficiently tweet at conference as i live in the moment as you do. my mind races too much and the process of typing while absorbing data is not how my mind is wired. I do however try to quickly tweet in the breaks sometimes and even share some pics of the people at the event or those speaking.

    there are enough people besides me tweeting the events for the remote people to learn; i simply am not efficient at it.

    great question Liz.

    Reply

  11. I totally get what you mean about being “in the moment.” I had conversations with several people at the conference. I take note of my habits and mannerisms (I think you should). Anyway, I recall a conversation with Chris Garrett wherein I completely ditched my phone and spoke to him in the exhibit hall for a good 20 minutes. My eyes *never* wandered, I never checked my phone when it vibrated and I was 100% into the moment and the conversation. It was one of the best conversations I’ve ever had!

    You don’t need technology to connect. Well, technology helps us get connected (like you can tweet “hey, where are you”) but then the rest of the magic happens when you put yourself in the moment with the particular person or group of people you’re hanging out with.

    Does that make sense?

    Anyway, so great to see you again Liz! I’m telling you, either you just keep getting taller and more fabulous or I’m getting shorter and uglier 😉

    Reply

  12. Liz, thanks for sharing this. I made the same observation and tweeted it (in the a.m. before going to the conference). I cannot tweet and pay attention at the same time. I lose the following content that’s being shared so after the first session, I just stopped trying. I scribbled notes the old fashioned way — with a pen in a notebook — to jot down ideas and sites I want to check out.

    Reply

  13. well…I for one (literally it seems)am glad people tweet at conferences!

    Sitting in rural Iowa I got a pretty good glimpse into Blog World Expo thru #bwe09. I was so happy and felt so connected to a creative group of people.

    I think the use of hashtags for tweeting at conferences is a great thing, not only for marketing but for continuing to expand the community.

    Some people can tweet and listen well enough to enjoy both things. I think it is a matter of personal preference and learning style (visual, auditory, kinesthetic).

    Please keep tweeting at conferences.

    Reply

    • Phyllis,
      We understand the value of broadcasting and sharing. Sometimes though we give away at our own expense. We can’t do that and grow ourselves. I think we’re all learning how this works.

      Reply

  15. I have an old antiquated cell phone and don’t like lugging my laptop around every day. If I have it with me I might Tweet between sessions or back in the hotel, but not while other people are talking. I feel having everyone tweet and post updates while someone is talking on stage is akin to heckling or talking while someone else is, so I wait until later.

    However, the other side of the coin is how those who can’t attend conferences would also like to be a part of the conversation and enjoy reading live tweets.

    Reply

  16. Yeah, I sort of feel this way, too. What helps is I have a cheap pay as you go cell phone. So, if I’m tweeting at a conference, it’s from my laptop and there are only certain times when I have that out. For example, for the first 24 hours I was in Orlando for IZEAFest, I didn’t tweet. The hotel access was $15 and I didn’t feel like paying it. So, I waited until there was wifi at the conference the next day and sent some messages over there.

    I love to get off stage and then read what people said about my talk or panel on Twitter, but I think that the act of doing so is more for the few, than the many. Just my experience. 🙂

    It was good to see you at BWE.

    Thanks,

    Patrick

    Reply

  17. I hear ya- it’s hard to get the full experience when you’re online all the time. I often feel like I’m missing out if I don’t keep an eye on the social media stream, though, so I try to balance my interactions accordingly.

    Reply

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