There are many reasons to hold an event: Networking, education, showcasing, recognition, fundraising, and the list goes on. Despite widely varying reasons for staging an event, the commonality is the desire to get people together to share an experience, and chances are that the more people are involved, the more successful your event.
If greatest exposure – to your cause, your offerings, your message – is a goal of your event, don’t limit it to the folks who are able to attend in person. Live tweeting from the event can extend your reach to an exponentially greater audience and make them feel involved, pique their interest, expose them to the central ideas, and invite them to participate even if they aren’t physically present. And there’s also an additional bonus: Through tweeting, attendees take a more active role in the event, fostering greater ownership of the experience.
When planning, take event tweeting into account. Include a unique event hashtag (e.g., South by Southwest’s #SXSW) in your event communications to begin the conversation and build familiarity and anticipation. A hashtag gives those talking about the event – before, during and after – a common way to tag their tweets as belonging to the same, larger conversation. Include relevant Twitter accounts associated with the event in all communications as well so people can easily contact you.
At the event, assign those involved in its staging to tweet out information and photos of the attendees and features, but realize that your biggest bang will come from the attendees sharing with their own social networks. Make it easy for them and make it clear what you’re asking them to do. Place signage with the hashtag and relevant Twitter handles around the venue, have speakers promote the hashtag and ask their audience to share their favorite insights or to submit questions via tweets, and display monitors with live event tweetstreams both for attendee education and to encourage them to contribute tweets of their own.
Grow your next event beyond its physical venue, and create more invested and active attendees, by encouraging live tweeting of the experience.
