Using Social Media to Get the Most out of Conference Season
With the holidays behind us, conference and trade show season is officially beginning! If you’re headed to an event this year and are just planning to show up, attend sessions and network with those who sit nearby, you’re likely to gain some great new knowledge and connections, but you could be missing out on amazing opportunities. By adding a social media strategy to your conference to-do list, you’ll maximize your time and get the most for your money.
Before Conference:
Follow Twitter hashtag
This day and age, most, if not all, conferences and trade shows have a designated hashtag for attendees to use. Head to Instagram and Twitter and follow the conference hashtag so that you can be aware of any important updates that come out. You can also take this opportunity to begin building by your network by reaching out to other followers of the conference hashtag, or tweeting and using the conference hashtag to get responses.
Join Facebook event and/or group
Like hashtags, most conferences, trade shows, and events can be found on Facebook in the form of an event, and some even have groups for attendees to join. Do a quick search on Facebook or check the website of the event you’re attending to find the right page to join. This is another great opportunity to get to know fellow attendees and their backgrounds, make connections, and maybe even find a roommate or carpool buddy to split costs.
Learn more & follow speakers
When the conference program is announced and shared, a good way to get some background on speakers is to find and follow them on social media. If there’s someone you’re particularly interested in learning from, why not let them know and invite them to meet you for a coffee at the conference. If you’re torn between two sessions that are happening in the same time slot, the speakers’ social media pages might be able to give you a bit more insight to their presentation style and expertise, helping you decide which would be the best use of your time.
Schedule related posts
If the thought of holding an active presence on social media is overwhelming, schedule conference-related posts out ahead of time. See an article on a related topic? Schedule it to share with the conference hashtag or to the conference group.
During Conference:
Tweet your notes
Pen and paper might be your jam, but if something shared is super insightful, interesting, or thought-provoking, tweeting about the quote or idea allows you to easily spread the wealth. Using the conference hashtag here will spread the message to anyone interested, even those who couldn’t make it to the event in person. This gives you the opportunity to expand your network even farther and make meaningful connections with people you’d never get the chance to meet face to face.
Follow the new ‘friends’ you meet
When you make your way through networking lunches and even chat with your neighbors before sessions, ask them to connect with you on social media. To keep it professional, we recommend sticking to LinkedIn and Twitter here. This allows you to keep in touch after the conference and see any interesting projects and articles your connection shares.
Scan the conference hashtag to gain insight from sessions you couldn’t make it to
We already talked about tweeting your notes, so now let’s move onto utilizing someone else’s. At any conference you go to, it’s likely that you’ll have to pick and choose between overlapping sessions. We know you can’t actually be in two places at once, but scanning through the conference hashtag at the end of each session (or each day) will give you the chance to pick up useful tidbits from the sessions you couldn’t make it to. Take it a step farther by trading notes with someone who attending a session you were interested in but ultimately didn’t get to.
Share others’ content with your audience
Building off of the idea of using the conference hashtag to enhance your learning, don't forget to share the insightful notes from others to your audience!
Meet up with new ‘friends’
If your conference has a Facebook group for attendees, it’s a great platform to utilize to find other attendees to explore the city you’re visiting with. Business travel can be tough, especially if you’re solo, so combat boredom and loneliness by inviting other conference goers to join you for dinner.
After Conference:
Keep in touch
As with family and old friends, social media is a great place to keep in touch with contacts you meet at conferences and trade shows. You never know what awesome projects your new acquaintance might work on in the future, and you may be able to help one another grow your networks sometime down the line. We’re not saying you need to be best buds, but why stop learning from each other just because you had to go home?