Live Tweets at Events – Tool or Distraction?

I published a series on using social media to market your events a few weeks ago and it has stirred up a few questions.  One of them being the debate over whether Twitter should be used at live events.

Now, you probably all know that I am a big proponent of Twitter and using it as a tool for not only event promotion but also to promote yourself using the event itself.  When I hear someone say that Twitter is a distraction it puzzles me.  So, I’m asking you for your opinions.

When you attend live events, do you use Twitter to send out updates to your followers?

I do and they love it.  I usually add a few followers because they know I will give them valuable information from the event. Could I possibly miss some wise tidbit that the speaker says at precisely the 3 seconds it takes me to tweet the update?  Possibly, but chances are that someone else picked it up and sent out an update which I can then pick up and retweet…giving the credit to the source.

What if the Twitterfeed is displayed behind the Presenter on stage, is that a distraction?

Hmm…maybe it can be for some people.  Although that is not actually marketing the event with social media.  It’s just there for show because if you wanted to engage with the event conversation you would just do so on your laptop.  I guess this could be a distraction.  Personally, I’m a single mom of four and have learned to tune out much more noise and distracting occurances on a daily basis just to get my work done!

For me, Twitter is a tool that can be used very effectively at events for self promotion, taking notes, staying current with where the crowds are gathering at the event, getting to know the speakers better (Twitter is the best for reaching those you thought you’d never talk to in person), and I can not support the marketing strategy of using Twitter for event promotion.

Amy Gahran, of Contentious.com, posted an excellent article on live-tweeting an event that went over the benefits of using hashtags and this to say about the importance of using Twitter to gauge community reaction:

People live-tweeting your event will do more than report on what’s happening — they’ll comment on it. They may even praise it, or criticize it, or raise questions. And other Twitter users may react to those tweets. If all or most of that discourse includes the event hashtag, it’s easy to follow later and get a sense of what people thought and felt about the event. This is often important after the event as well as during, since people tend to mull things over and debate.

Your opinions on live Tweeting at events?

How do you feel?  Do you see Twitter as a tool or a distraction?  How do you use social media while attending events?  Where do you see the trends heading as far as using social media for event marketing?

Please leave your comments below.  If you tweet your comments this post will seem incomplete without your opinions, so please leave your comments here before tweeting.  Thanks mucho!!

To Your Success,

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Tagged as:  Event Marketing · Marketing With Social Media · Twitter