Engaged Learning » conferences

TWITTER / YAMMER – DAY 4 – Professional Uses

Kevin Jones — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:25:24 +0000

Yes, that’s right – Twitter is not all fun and games (although it can be – the subject for tomorrow’s post!).

Can it be used for professional reasons? Absolutely. And once you learn this it is hard to turn back because it is so useful.

Remember when I wrote about social networks and the ability to bring geographically disperse, like-minded people together? Twitter does the same thing. I follow people (from all over the world).

People I follow on Twitter

Most of the people I follow I am similar to in some way (except for maybe the llama). Twitter brings us together to allow us to have discussions (albeit short ones).

Here are a few of the most popular professional uses of Twitter.

#CHATS

Example of TweetGrid on the #lrnchat hashtag, but not during a session.

There are Twitter Chats that happen on many different subjects. Usually one hour is set aside for anyone to join in on a chat and it is assigned (by the moderator) a #hashtag. Then they use web page like TweetGrid or a downloaded app like Tweetdeck to watch the chat’s #hashtag. They will automatically update.

Then, at the appointed time, those who want to join do a short intro (every tweet will have the hashtag) and the moderator will ask the first question. Everyone else will start answering and having discussions about the topic and sharing resources (links to more information). These are very valuable discussions which help you step out of your comfy box and find out what others are doing or how they have tackled certain problems.

Sound good? Find a Twitter Chat that interests you. Here is a short list of twitter chats. There are chats for the organizational learning profession – #lrnchat (a favorite of mine); accountants – #AcctgChat; knowledge management – #KMers; children’s literature – #kidlitchat; social media – #socialmedia; young moms – #youngmoms; dogs – #WoofWkly, and a ton more.

#CONFERENCES

This is what hooked me on Twitter. Every conference nowadays will have a specific hashtag. For exmaple, the Enterprise 2.0 conference uses #e20conf. Those tweeples at the conference can use the hashtag to discuss or share the content of keynotes, sessions to those who didn’t come, which sessions to come to because they are so good or which ones to avoid, and to hook up with others for dinner after the conference. There are many more ways to use it – these are only a few.

#TOPICS

Dave Wilkins and I used to moderate a “social learning question of the day “(@slqotd). We would ask one question and everyone would answer. We used a little bit of technological magic that made it so when you DM’d @slqotd, everyone who followed received the response, but we got too much spam. I haven’t done it for a while, but need to get back on track.

Others, however, have done it differently. For example, #lrn2day – what have you learned today? Andrew McAfee asks a question a day using #andyasks. Everyone answers with that hashtag. Everyone else follows it to see all the answers.

There are lots of ways to do it.

#QUESTIONS

So many times I have thrown out a question on Twitter and received immediate responses from people who knew more than I do. These are people I would not normally have access to. What a great resource that is!

ASIDE: In a session where I spoke about Twitter, one person asked why I didn’t just Google a question. I brought up the point that the answer may not be out on Google (imagine that!). But someone from that session later emailed me his AH-HA moment which I feel is worth quoting:

I hadn’t thought much about the power of

Twitter, but yesterday’s session brought it into focus for me. When I

do a regular internet search, I’m either added or doomed by my choice of

words for the very rule-based machine search that ensues. In Twitter, I

benefit from the interpretive skills of fellow human brains that read

and interpret my need and thus are able to better design a relevant

response.

“I hadn’t thought much about the power of Twitter, but yesterday’s session brought it into focus for me. When I do a regular internet search, I’m either added or doomed by my choice of words for the very rule-based machine search that ensues. In Twitter, I benefit from the interpretive skills of fellow human brains that read and interpret my need and thus are able to better design a relevant response.”

Well said!

#THROUGHtheDAY

All day I have Twitter up on my screen. When I have a free moment, I look at it. I always find something valuable to my profession. A link to a study. A reference to a new technology I had not heard about. A new perspective that helps me broaden my own. A person in need that I can help by responding to.

BTW – there is so much coming in that I miss most of it. And remember – it is OK to let go of what you missed. Taking in more than you are able would overwhelm you. Don’t even try.

Do you have any more professional uses of Twitter that you can share with us? Use the comments below!

Tomorrow: The fun side of Twitter and great Twitter apps.

Distraction Showdown: Is it Rude at Conferences to…

Kevin Jones — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:29:51 +0000

[polldaddy poll="2325646"]

Improving Conferences – Ideas & the Year Round Conference

Kevin Jones — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:11:13 +0000

This topic has generated a lot of feedback on the blog and in the Twitterverse. Here is a review of some of the talk that has happened.

WH Says:

“…Open up the pool of presenters beyond the same 10-20 names I see at every e-learning conference…. More voices would be a good thing and shows strength (and depth) in our industry.”

Good thought. I know that anyone who wants to present can do so, but they need to turn in an RFP and be chosen. What I don’t know is how many people turn in RFPs. Maybe Brent Schlenker, Heidi Fisk, someone at ASTD or other conferences can tell us the # of RFPs vs. the # chosen.

Another comment from Bill Brandon of the eLearning Guild agrees with me. From what I have seen, Brent Schlenker, Program Manager of DevLearn, has done the best job integrating social media, networking, etc., into the conference. Using Twitter he set up a @dl08 account, a hashtag and a fabulous Twitter board in the lobby. He also created the Pageflakes page, reaching beyond Twitter to videos, picts and all things DL08. He also added in QR codes, but I don’t think they were used very well. At least I didn’t use them – maybe others did. And wireless was great. Bill goes into more details here. Thanks for the info, Bill!

When I put out the tweet on this subject, Brent and I had a short exchange:

bschlenker: @jzurovchak @kevindjones @moehlert – I’m your DevLearn09 Program Manager – Bring it on! Wireless? Check!!! Next…?

KevinDJones: @bschlenker Access to the presenters before hand – a forum for each, maybe? But this steps up the lvl of responsibility of the presenters…

bschlenker: @KevinDJones Sounds good. As a presenter I would love to engage the audience in advance. But, from experience, people don’t show up…

Ya, true. I have tried this before with a conference I co-lead and there was little (but still some) participation. Yet, still, as a presenter myself, I would love this. For example, I throw out my topics and main outline. If those who might want to attend gave suggestions or shared what they are going through I can tailor it to specific audience needs.

This was done in real-time at DevLearn08. My topic was 15 Objections and how to overcome them. After I went through the 15 I asked them for theirs. THIS is where the best learning takes place. They shared ones they were grappling with at the moment and Dave Wilkins and I were able to give ideas of how to answer them. If we could do this ahead of time we could be that much more valuable to the attendees.

YET, at the same time, that means that the idea of a conference being a one time event needs to expand for the audience to get involved before and after. Overall, I think we are slowly moving toward that goal. But I think we can go a lot further. Instead of the one time event, the conference becomes the pinnacle event of a year’s worth of learning and sharing and interaction that is facilitated by conference organizers. Get more people involved and I bet attendance would increase.

Todd Bynum also gave us this article. Although not completely scientific, it certainly drives home a point I think we all intuitively know. Now, we just need to take advantage it.

What do you think about this philosophy – the ongoing conference with the actual conference being the pinnacle event? Is it realistic? I really think it is, but I would need to devote more brain cycles to figuring out how to make it work.

More thoughts about improving conferences later….