You're attending an all-day conference and will be reporting on the event to keep your colleagues in the know. You have the option of taking notes and creating a report afterwards, but a more savvy way of broadcasting the event to your audience would be to live tweet. Here's how.
First, get a press pass. Bloggers and tweeters are treated as "new media press", so be sure to get your pass. Also ensure that free wifi coverage is available.
Create a hastag for the event, or confirm the official hashtag for the event if there is one. Using a hashtag (#) to prefix a word; for example, #hrconference, is a way to unite and add metadata to your tweets for a particular topic. This way someone can search for this hashtag to see all the comments and tweets for a particular event. Be sure to preprogram your twitter application with the hashtag, such as TweetDeck, on your laptop or smartphone.
Secure a seat at the back of the room so as not to disturb the conference attendees. You may likely find power plugs there, too. While tweeting, every couple of hours or so send a tweet describing the event, its purpose, and location, for any new followers that may tune in in the middle of your stream. From time to time, check if anyone else in the room is covering the event.
If a speaker makes a comment that is key or interesting, be sure to state the source by using quotation marks around the comment and add "per [name]" at the end. You can also reply to the speaker's comments or retweet it during a break, to perpetuate the conversation.
After the event, measure your success by visiting
What the Hashtag? or
hashtags.org to view stats, number of tweets, etc. You can also revisit the hashtag using Twitter Search to create content for your blog post or report. Be sure to thank your followers who had joined the conversation and helped spread the word.
