I was working at a conference using Twitter to follow what people were saying about the event. I simply went to the Twitter search page, typed in a keyword and followed the conversation. What I thought was most interesting is that I just left the browser up and could see (1)Twitter in the bottom taskbar in Windows to inform me that a new tweet had appear with the search term I was following. Not very exciting or ground breaking I admit. But here's where things start to get exciting.
On day 2 of the conference, I was hard at work but I had left Twitter open, sending out tweets to notify followers about new podcasts, upcoming sessions starting at the conference and other bits of information. I had left the Twitter search browser open and, out of curiosity, I wanted to check what people were saying. Traffic was slow, but I saw this one tweet: "In the back of main hall for opening session, sound is low and can't hear well." I pulled out my cell phone, called a colleague and informed him that I had received a complaint from an attendee who couldn't hear what was happening as he was sitting in the back. My colleague called the audio team and asked them to raise the volume. I sent a quick tweet back to the person who couldn't hear, letting him know that I was on the case.
About 15 minutes later, I refreshed the search page and saw that another attendee, who was also in the main session, had sent a thank you to the person who had complained about the sound as she also couldn't here. In a matter of a few key strokes and a quick phone call, the problem was solved. The next day the woman, who had thanked the guy who couldn't hear, sent me a direct message via Twitter asking for the sound to be raised as one of the speakers was speaking softly. I made the call again and the sound was fixed. Later another attendee praised the use of Twitter as a great way of fixing such tech issues.
I know it's a small example, but there's power in Twitter when it's used correctly. In listening to the discussion flying across Twitter at the conference, I was able to see what attendees thought was important. I learned what tweets they liked from other attendees (more on that in a minute) and could understand what they wanted more of. The tweets that were most successful were from other attendees who were in a session and were tweeting about what they were hearing. A woman, also attending the conference, but in a different session, tweeted out, "Thank you for your tweets as I'm in a different session. Nice to learn what's happening in your session." And that one tweet, crystalized what people were trying to accomplish with Twitter. Often there are concurrent sessions at big conferences and it's not possible to be in two places as once. Learning what is being said at another session, enables an attendee to make decisions on the fly. They can stay put and just listen in on what they're missing (and might choose to watch a webcast of the missed session later or to purchase the audio from it) or get up and move to the session to hear what they're missing.
According to an informal CNN.com poll, only 6% of those who answered the poll are actively using Twitter. It's not quite caught on to the masses though Oprah's use of Twitter last week might change that. Twitter, like any social network, is a tool. If you pick up a screw driver and try using it as a hammer, it might work, but not as effectively as an actual hammer. Twitter is only one of many social networking tools. I'm a firm proponent of empowering people to use Twitter to help each other. Communication need not come from the event organizer, let's say, but from all sides. That's the power of Twitter.
An organization can learn much from its attendees by just listening, but can also actively join the conversation to solve problems, help attendees and distribute information. Actively embracing Twitter and informing attendees that it'll be used sends a message to those engaged: They'll have the ability to virtually network with fellow attendees and that's where the fire starts. Ideas flow and great things begin to happen. I learned a lot from simply listening in. And, if you're in the same boat, I'd recommend that you do that same. It's not always about sending out, but keeping one's ear to the ground and listening. You might be surprised, in a good way, with what you hear.
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